Command "do" does not work although working directory is specified

[Hubertus Meien]

Dear Statalist Users,

I am trying to run multiple do files in a row by using the command "do" (filename).
My current working directory according to the

pwd

command is the following

E:\Stata\Masterarbeit\Datenarbeit&Analyse\Do-Files

Next, I specified a global for Stata where to access the folder with my do-files stored:

global source "E:\Stata\Masterarbeit"

Another global specifies where Stata can access the Do-Files:

global do_path "$source\Datenarbeit&Analyse\Do_Files"

Lastly I tell Stata to run the do-files in the folder "Do-Files" with the following command

do "$do_path/01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do"

However, stata gives me the following error message:

file E:\Stata\Masterarbeit\Datenarbeit&Analyse\Do_Files/01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do not found

Can someone tell me why this is happening? I really don´t understand it since the working directory looks correctly specified to me.

I am using Stata Version 16.1

If you have any further questions, please let me know and I will try to be more precise.

Thank you very much in advance!

[Rhys Williams]

Hi Hubertus,

Have you tried changing the direction of the slash?:

 
 do "$do_path\01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do"

best,
Rhys

[Maarten Buis]

Hard to say. Maybe a typo in the file name? It is pretty long, so typos can happen. I would start with the following commands:

 cd "E:\Stata\Masterarbeit\Datenarbeit&Analyse\Do_Files/"
dir

The first command will check if the directory exists (and move there). The second command will list all files in that directory. Look for the .do file and check letter for letter the name of the .do file.

[Hubertus Meien]

Hi Rhys,

thank you for your quick response! Yes I have tried that. It still gives me the same error message though:

do "$do_path\01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do"

file E:\Stata\Masterarbeit_Hubertus_von_Meien\Datenarbeit&Analyse\Do_Files\01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do not found

[Jamie Benson]

Hubertus,

In your code, you switch between back and forward slashes on the line

do "$do_path/01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do"

That may be the source of the issue. Either switch the "/" to a "" for consistency with your computer's filesystem, or move all "" to "/", as Stata is able to translate "/" as needed to "" on Windows systems. So, either

pwd
global source "E:\Stata\Masterarbeit"
global do_path "$source\Datenarbeit&Analyse\Do_Files"
do "$do_path\01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do"

or

pwd
global source "E:/Stata/Masterarbeit"
global do_path "$source/Datenarbeit&Analyse/Do_Files"
do "$do_path/01_Merging_Cleaning_Summary_Statistics.do"

Should work. Hope that helps!

Jamie

[Hubertus Meien]

I solved it. In the end it was a typo error. Thank you very much for your quick responses!

[Nick Cox]

Stata's generous about the difference between forward and backward slashes.

The only exception is a backward slash before a local macro reference, which will usually bite you.