table X tab commands behavior on %tc clock format

[Luis Pecht]

Hi, based on the followind data sample.

clear
input double datastatus
2026107070200
2026020284107
2026280684440
2026196029990
2026107085497
2024818643800
2.0222784e+12
2023947443500
2.0222784e+12
2.0222784e+12
2025939214983
2025939214983
2025939183233
2026453983037
2026020284147
2026540906450
2023947435587
2023947435503
2026540906290
2025939183233
2023947435550
2.0222784e+12
2026365565373
2026540906293
2025939208080
2024818643703
2026365565097
2026540906407
2026195997763
2026195997767
2026453983130
end
format %tc datastatus

I was expecting to receive back the same output, regardless of table or tab commands.

. tab datastatus

 DataStatus |      Freq.     Percent        Cum.
------------+-----------------------------------
  31jan20.. |          4       12.90       12.90
  19feb20.. |          1        3.23       16.13
  19feb20.. |          1        3.23       19.35
  19feb20.. |          1        3.23       22.58
  19feb20.. |          1        3.23       25.81
  29feb20.. |          1        3.23       29.03
  29feb20.. |          1        3.23       32.26
  13mar20.. |          2        6.45       38.71
  13mar20.. |          1        3.23       41.94
  13mar20.. |          2        6.45       48.39
  14mar20.. |          1        3.23       51.61
  14mar20.. |          1        3.23       54.84
  15mar20.. |          1        3.23       58.06
  15mar20.. |          1        3.23       61.29
  16mar20.. |          1        3.23       64.52
  16mar20.. |          1        3.23       67.74
  16mar20.. |          1        3.23       70.97
  17mar20.. |          1        3.23       74.19
  18mar20.. |          1        3.23       77.42
  18mar20.. |          1        3.23       80.65
  19mar20.. |          1        3.23       83.87
  19mar20.. |          1        3.23       87.10
  20mar20.. |          1        3.23       90.32
  20mar20.. |          1        3.23       93.55
  20mar20.. |          1        3.23       96.77
  20mar20.. |          1        3.23      100.00
------------+-----------------------------------
      Total |         31      100.00


. table datastatus

---------------------------------
                     |  Frequency
---------------------+-----------
DataStatus           |           
  04jan2024 15:06:40 |          1
  29apr2024 08:53:20 |          1
  Total              |         31
---------------------------------

Am I missing something here?

thks

[Jeff Pitblado (StataCorp)]

This is another example of a bug in modern (Stata 17 and newer) table command. We hope to have this fixed in the next Stata update.

For reference, here is the earlier post about this bug in table: link

[Jeff Pitblado (StataCorp)]

The Stata 18 update on 04apr2024 fixes this.
The fix for this in Stata 17 will be in its next update.