Check whether -moremata- is installed

[Dirk Enzmann]

When writing .do-files which make use of user written commands, first I check whether these programs exist already and then I use commands to install them *only* if they do not exist already.

For example, if my .do-file will use -fre- (available at SSC), at the beginning of the .do-file I write

cap which fre
if _rc ssc install fre

However, this does not work with -moremata- (available from SSC) because -which- will not find the command -moremata- as either a built-in or an .ado-file. Is there another way to check whether -moremata- is installed so that I can use a command to install it *only* if it does not exist already?

[William Lisowski]

The output of

ssc describe moremata

lists the files it installs - choose one of those, such as lmoremata.mlib, to use with which.

[Dirk Enzmann]

Thanks a lot! I will use the help file:

cap which moremata.hlp
if _rc ssc install moremata

[Wouter Wakker]

Here are two other options:

cap findfile lmoremata.mlib
cap mata mata which mm_invtokens() // or any other mata function from moremata

[daniel klein]

A similar problem occurs if the command we check for with which does not equal the package name to be installed. For example,

capture which esttab

would have to be followed by

if ( _rc ) ssc install estout

I have written a convenience command, rqrs, to do this, which I have announced here. The command does not handle the problem that Dirk describes here.