Cannot Load Files for Table of Graphs Due to r(170) error

[Greg Hawrelak]

Hello all:

I am attempting to create a table of graphs, but I am having issues loading the files within the current directory. I am using a Mac with Stata 15,

Following from Google advice, I first typed

cd "/Users/greghawrelak/Documents/Dissertation! "

Which then gives me this:

/Users/greghawrelak/Documents/Dissertation!

It does not provide me any error messages, and the working directory when I type pwd is:

/Users/greghawrelak/Documents/Dissertation!

This tells me that the working directory should be set correctly.

As per my issue, I have three graphs I am trying to merge into a table of graphs. However, when I type this code,

graph combine "/Users/greghawrelak/Documents/Dissertation! /Omnibus 2020_DemCon:Dem False.gph" "/Users/greghawrelak/Documents/Dissertation! /Omnibus2020_DemCon:Dem Possibly True.gph" "/Users/greghawrelak/Documents/Dissertation! /Omnibus2020_DemCon:Dem DefinitelyTrue.gph"

It provides me with this error output:

could not change to directory /Users/greghawrelak/Documents/Dissertation!
chdir(): 170 could not change directory
__pathmkabsolute(): - function returned error
__filemkabsolute(): - function returned error
<istmt>: - function returned error

My confusion is why this is happening given that my working directory appears to be set correctly. I do not have a very detailed programming knowledge, so any clarification anyone can provide is appreciated!

[Nick Cox]

The last forward slash in the second and third graph filenames imply that Stata should look in a subdirectory. -- which in your case doesn't exist.

As you are already in the directory of interest, it seems that

graph combine "Omnibus 2020_DemCon:Dem False.gph" "Omnibus2020_DemCon:Dem Possibly True.gph" "Omnibus2020_DemCon:Dem DefinitelyTrue.gph"

is what you want.

As someone who started before any OS I used allowed spaces in directory or filenames, I still avoid them. But that isn't the issue here, I guess. It's the slashes.

[Greg Hawrelak]

Thank you, Nick, for the clarification. I entered the code as you have it, and the error code has changed from r(170) to r(601) file not found, which is quite baffling since I can visibly see it within the directory I have set on my Mac.

EDIT: I thought I had the same naming convention across all graph files, but I evidently had changed the spacing in one file name. Renaming it to the correct convention and using the provided advice fixed the problem. Many thanks!

[William Lisowski]

As a Mac user, let me add that colons are disallowed in file names on the Mac. Back in the day (pre macOS, pre OS X, I'm talking System 9 and earlier) colons were used as directory separators in the Mac filesystem paths.

If you use a standard macOS Save dialog box (e.g. from Stata's File > Save menu or by clicking the Save button in the Graph window) and try to save a file with a colon in the name, when you type the colon it is replaced as you type it with a hyphen: a standard feature of this macOS-supplied dialog box.

If you us a save or graph save command in Stata's command window and include a colon in the name, Stata replaces the colon with a slash.This is confusing, but backwards compatible for Do-files written in the Neolithic era of Macintosh computing.