Display local with blank space between each element

[Chen Samulsion]

Dear Stata users,

I have an elementary question however for which I cannot find an answer. Suppose we have a local that is composed of many elements. When we display this local, how can we add blank space between each element? For example: AMC Concord AMC Pacer AMC Spirit Audi 5000 Audi Fox BMW 320.Thank you.

sysuse auto
levelsof make, local(make_local)
display `make_local'

. sysuse auto
(1978 Automobile Data)

. levelsof make, local(make_local)
`"AMC Concord"' `"AMC Pacer"' `"AMC Spirit"' `"Audi 5000"' `"Audi Fox"' `"BMW 320i"' `"Buick Century"' `"Buick El
> ectra"' `"Buick LeSabre"' `"Buick Opel"' `"Buick Regal"' `"Buick Riviera"' `"Buick Skylark"' `"Cad. Deville"' `
> "Cad. Eldorado"' `"Cad. Seville"' `"Chev. Chevette"' `"Chev. Impala"' `"Chev. Malibu"' `"Chev. Monte Carlo"' `"
> Chev. Monza"' `"Chev. Nova"' `"Datsun 200"' `"Datsun 210"' `"Datsun 510"' `"Datsun 810"' `"Dodge Colt"' `"Dodge
>  Diplomat"' `"Dodge Magnum"' `"Dodge St. Regis"' `"Fiat Strada"' `"Ford Fiesta"' `"Ford Mustang"' `"Honda Accor
> d"' `"Honda Civic"' `"Linc. Continental"' `"Linc. Mark V"' `"Linc. Versailles"' `"Mazda GLC"' `"Merc. Bobcat"'
> `"Merc. Cougar"' `"Merc. Marquis"' `"Merc. Monarch"' `"Merc. XR-7"' `"Merc. Zephyr"' `"Olds 98"' `"Olds Cutl Su
> pr"' `"Olds Cutlass"' `"Olds Delta 88"' `"Olds Omega"' `"Olds Starfire"' `"Olds Toronado"' `"Peugeot 604"' `"Pl
> ym. Arrow"' `"Plym. Champ"' `"Plym. Horizon"' `"Plym. Sapporo"' `"Plym. Volare"' `"Pont. Catalina"' `"Pont. Fir
> ebird"' `"Pont. Grand Prix"' `"Pont. Le Mans"' `"Pont. Phoenix"' `"Pont. Sunbird"' `"Renault Le Car"' `"Subaru"
> ' `"Toyota Celica"' `"Toyota Corolla"' `"Toyota Corona"' `"VW Dasher"' `"VW Diesel"' `"VW Rabbit"' `"VW Scirocc
> o"' `"Volvo 260"'

. display `make_local'
AMC ConcordAMC PacerAMC SpiritAudi 5000Audi FoxBMW 320iBuick CenturyBuick ElectraBuick LeSabreBuick OpelBuick Reg
> alBuick RivieraBuick SkylarkCad. DevilleCad. EldoradoCad. SevilleChev. ChevetteChev. ImpalaChev. MalibuChev. Mo
> nte CarloChev. MonzaChev. NovaDatsun 200Datsun 210Datsun 510Datsun 810Dodge ColtDodge DiplomatDodge MagnumDodge
>  St. RegisFiat StradaFord FiestaFord MustangHonda AccordHonda CivicLinc. ContinentalLinc. Mark VLinc. Versaille
> sMazda GLCMerc. BobcatMerc. CougarMerc. MarquisMerc. MonarchMerc. XR-7Merc. ZephyrOlds 98Olds Cutl SuprOlds Cut
> lassOlds Delta 88Olds OmegaOlds StarfireOlds ToronadoPeugeot 604Plym. ArrowPlym. ChampPlym. HorizonPlym. Sappor
> oPlym. VolarePont. CatalinaPont. FirebirdPont. Grand PrixPont. Le MansPont. PhoenixPont. SunbirdRenault Le CarS
> ubaruToyota CelicaToyota CorollaToyota CoronaVW DasherVW DieselVW RabbitVW SciroccoVolvo 260

.

[alejoforero]

levelsof make, local(make_local) clean
display "`make_local'"

[Chen Samulsion]

Thank you alejoforero. I should remember that circumstance of `"compound double-quoted string"'. Sorry for my stupid question.

[Leonardo Guizzetti]

The issue in #1 is because the local macro was not wrapped in appropriate compound quotes:

display `"`make_local'"'

What happened was that Stata expended the local macro correctly, but then display interpreted the result as a bunch of text to be displayed as one concatenated string, hence the loss of spaces separating makes.

A safer approach to looking at the contents of local macros is to use -macro list-, noting that you need to append an underscore before local macro names as that is how Stata differentiates locals from globals.

macro list _make_local

This will show exactly the contents of this macro .

[Chen Samulsion]

Thank you Leonardo Guizzetti for your detailed explanation. Somebody wrote a piece of code using

display `localname'

I find the results too hard to read, and I forget to try to use `""'