0 real change made problem // if command

[Salma Stati]

Hi everyone , I have a problem with my code. the if and replace do not seem to work
Here is my code :

gen latitude=.
replace latitude=11.464948199534232 if geo_bj2017==01 & geo_bj2011==01 & geo_bj2006==01 & year==2017 & year==2006 & year==2011
replace latitude=10.716051499479113 if geo_bj2017==02 & geo_bj2011==02 & geo_bj2006==02 & year==2017 & year==2006 & year==2011
replace latitude=6.54082899942049 if geo_bj2017==03 & geo_bj2011==03 & geo_bj2006==03 & year==2017 & year==2006 & year==2011
replace latitude=9.709745299424814 if geo_bj2017==04 & geo_bj2011==04 & geo_bj2006==04 &year==2017 & year==2006 & year==2011
replace latitude=8.108547899390357 if geo_bj2017==05 & geo_bj2011==05 & geo_bj2006==05 & year==2017 & year==2006 & year==2011

Thank you for your help

[Ken Chui]

the if and replace do not seem to work

"Do not seem to work" is rather broad. Can you describe what does not work?

[Carlo Lazzaro]

Salma:
as an aside to Ken's wise advice, take the first line of your code and replace the ampersand (-&-) with pipe (-|-).
Does anything change?

[Ken Chui]

Ah... good find by Carlo. Perhaps use inlist. The year variable cannot be 2006 & 2011 & 2017 at the same time. Also, because you typed "01" instead of just "1", check also if those geo_bjYYYY variables are string or numeric as well.

gen latitude=.
replace latitude=11.464948199534232 if geo_bj2017==01 & geo_bj2011==01 & geo_bj2006==01 & inlist(year, 2006, 2011, 2017)
replace latitude=10.716051499479113 if geo_bj2017==02 & geo_bj2011==02 & geo_bj2006==02 & inlist(year, 2006, 2011, 2017)
replace latitude=6.54082899942049   if geo_bj2017==03 & geo_bj2011==03 & geo_bj2006==03 & inlist(year, 2006, 2011, 2017)
replace latitude=9.709745299424814  if geo_bj2017==04 & geo_bj2011==04 & geo_bj2006==04 & inlist(year, 2006, 2011, 2017)
replace latitude=8.108547899390357  if geo_bj2017==05 & geo_bj2011==05 & geo_bj2006==05 & inlist(year, 2006, 2011, 2017)

It'd be nice to know how those "geo_bjYYYY" variables work. For instance, if it's year 2017, what would be entered into geo_bj2006 and geo_bj2011? If they are entered as missing, then the above will not work either. Perhaps take a look at this:

foreach x in 2006 2011 2017{
replace latitude=11.464948199534232 if geo_bj`x'==01 & year==`x'
replace latitude=10.716051499479113 if geo_bj`x'==02 & year==`x'
replace latitude=6.54082899942049   if geo_bj`x'==03 & year==`x'
replace latitude=9.709745299424814  if geo_bj`x'==04 & year==`x'
replace latitude=8.108547899390357  if geo_bj`x'==05 & year==`x'
}

Please also use dataex to post some sample data so that we can actually understand the challenge.

[Rich Goldstein]

do you really have numeric entries such as "01"? this type of issue is why the FAQ strongly advises the giving of real(istic) data examples using -dataex-; if your variable is really a string variable, you need double quotes

[Nick Cox]

Cross-posted at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...-work-on-stata