How do I find out which excel file was imported into STATA (origin of data?)

[Rajiv Rama]

Hey all,


Months ago, I imported an excel file into stata for analysis. However, I would like to do this again but in a new dta but I cannot remember which excel file I imported into stata. Is there a way to find this out through history?


Thank you,

Rajiv

[Nick Cox]

You can save metadata (e.g. data source) within a .dta file as a dataset label or as notes (more generally characteristics).

You may have do files with your code and/or log files with your code and results.

If No to all of that, then .dta files don't record their own history otherwise, and I guess you need other ways to re-discover the information.

[Maarten Buis]

It is probably too late, but any data preparation should be done in its entirety in a .do file. This includes importing the raw data from excel files. If you had done that, then the answer would be straightforward: look it up, it is probably near the top of your .do file.

import excel does not leave behind any notes or chars or data labels that identify the source file. So it looks like you are out of luck.