[Leonardo Guizzetti]

Sergiy, as a workaround to docking the do editor, have you tried tiling the windows? I have done this successfully and easily on Windows and some Linux distributions using simple keyboard shortcuts and on a single widescreen monitor. In Windows for example, use window key + direction arrow, and when two windows are arranged into a left and right pane, you can resize both of them synchronously by resizing the shared border so you can allocate more or less space to the do editor.

[Sergiy Radyakin]

If possible, I would like to see the doeditor dockable in the main Stata window as an option. This would definitely help the users of large [wide] monitors to configure and preserve the configuration of output + code in the same layout. The current mode of showing the doeditor in a separate process window is usable, and best for multiple monitors setup. But for a single wide monitor a dockable doeditor would be preferred, imho.

If possible, I would also like to see another kind of output window included. Conceptually a "document" view - which could be a viewer for common document types [html, pdf, markdown, ?latex?] which could be generated from within Stata, with perhaps some minimal control (add tabs, switch tabs, load a list of documents, scroll to beginning or end of the document, etc). The key advantage is to be able to relatively easily view the generated output combining textual, tabular and graphical information relying on built-in/cross-platform functionality, rather than on presence of any other tools/software on the user's machine.

Or the current viewer can be extended to include those file types alongside the text, smcl, and sthelp files.

Thank you. Sergiy.

[Nick Cox]

On user-friendly see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mQD_Wd6Ajo

[wbuchanan]

jerome falken

I’m a bit confused about some of the UI references that you made - node.js in particular. It isn’t necessarily a result of using any specific framework or server side technology (like node.js) that makes a UI do anything in particular, but comes down to how those tools are used. I would argue that most JavaScript based UI frameworks would actually provide the greatest responsiveness since it is a core function of all modern UI frameworks to be responsive to varying screen dimensions.

That aside, while it is possible for users to develop their own dialog boxes/menus, the current framework for doing that in Stata is a bit challenging to work in. Fixed screen dimensions can make it challenging (if not impractical) to create dialogs that are truly responsive for end users while also providing a reasonable user experience. Thankfully the staff at StataCorp have a lot of experience with that system and have found patterns that make the UI design work well for their commands within those constraints.

[jerome falken]

In respect to #256..#263:

I think the user interface is extremely usable, I wish the "Data Editor" could cycle through different frames, I think tableau/powerbi/etc. are different set of tools for a different category of users, and wouldn't want my favorite statistical software to look like powerpoint.

I like that Stata's UI is extremely responsive even on older hardware, unlike Mathematica for instance which is overly complex and very slow; I think it's also good to add that Stata's UI is modifiable (through the "User" menu). I really also appreciate the inline help and readily available pdf documentation if you want to dig a bit deeper into a specific functionality.

This is my personal opinion, Stata has a very strong user base with very knowledgeable people, I've seen too many (other) products losing their strong core user base because they decided to adopt a flashy UI (i.e. electronjs , google chrome framework, nodejs, etc.)

[wbuchanan]

Nae Khar
Are you advocating for a user interface that is more similar to something you might find in Tableau, PowerBI, or other business intelligence related software? Just trying to get a better idea/understanding about the scope of the use case that you have in mind.

[Bruce Weaver]

Hello Nae Khar. I think most members of this forum appreciate user-friendliness. But for any serious data analysis, I think that code is essential for reproducibility and documentation of exactly what has been done. If we teach students that it is essential to thoroughly document other aspects of their methodology when carrying out a study, why would we not do the same for statistical analysis?

Although he was talking about SPSS rather than Stata, I've always liked Raynald Levesque's comments on the need for syntax on this page:

• http://www.spsstools.net/en/syntax/learning-syntax/

I also like very much Raynald's statement about the main purpose of a GUI:

As far as I am concerned, the main purpose of the GUI is to facilitate writing syntax!

Cheers,
Bruce

[Nae Khar]

@William Lisowski

Thanks for your response. I am aware of that. I mean in general. Make it more intuitive. Create a “discoverable” interface that does not require too much digging to get the simplest things done. The use of analytics has spread to a wide range of people, not only professors and researchers.

This makes it comfortable for academics (but not me, because I am way to intellectual to admit a need for this), and easier to teach and engage undergrads.

A little bit of user-friendliness never hurt anyone.

[William Lisowski]

Nae Khar - From Stata's menus, the "Data > Data Utilities > Change order of variables" selection provides a menu-driven front end to the order command. Not as convenient as dragging a column, but a perhaps easier than typing commands.

[Nae Khar]

@Sven-Kristjan Bormann
This: https://www.stata.com/manuals13/dorder.pdf

[Sven-Kristjan Bormann]

What do you mean by "dragging a column"? What do you want to achieve/do?

[Nae Khar]

Sometimes you just want to drag a column, without a paragraph of code

[Nae Khar]

A more user friendly and graphical interface, to expand its user base to everyone with an interest in data analysis, and not only the small subset interested in programming

[William Lisowski]

sanjeeva ran - This topic is not the place to post a new question; this topic is an ongoing discussion of desired features in the next version of Stata.

You should return to the overview page for the General forum by clicking "General" in the line at the top of this page that says

Home > Forums > Forums for discussing Stata > General

and on that page click the button labelled "+ New topic" to start a new topic with your question.

[sanjeeva ran]

How do I create a line graph with mean and 95% CI for two groups on a single graph? I use twoway line mean ogtt, by(trt) || rcap u95 h95 ogtt ,but I get the two groups in two graphs. Many thanks,