Documentation for =exp option in syntax

[Luiza Andrade]

Hi Statalist,

I am trying to write a command with the following syntax: varname =/ exp. I'm getting the error below when exp is a string. It seems that the syntax check tests if the input is either a number of a numeric variable. However, there's nothing in the documentation stating that exp should be numeric, and the most immediate example of a command with this syntax, gen, obviously accepts strings and string variables as input.

Here is one example:

This command

capture program drop testexp
program testexp

    syntax anything =/ exp
    
    noi di `" `exp' "'
        
end

Gives me these results:

. * Using a number

. testexp exp = 1
1

. * Using a numeric variable

. testexp exp = key
key

. testexp exp = ln(key)
ln(key)

. * Using a variable that does not exist

. testexp exp = foo
foo not found
r(111);

. * Using a string

. testexp exp = "foo"
type mismatch
r(109);

Has anyone had this issue before or knows where I can find documentation on this option?

Thanks a lot!
Luiza

[daniel klein]

I did never run into this myself. I dare call this a bug in syntax.

Best
Daniel