Data Entry - Agricultural Statistical Data Analysis Using Stata - page 35

can then paste the command into an editor, word processor, or the
Command region of the Main window. This can be helpful in learn-
ing the command line structure. You can change different parameters
in the dialog window and see how the command line is changed.
There are three buttons in the lower right of the dialog window that
act as they would in most GUI (graphical user interface) programs. The
Submit button executes the command, but leaves the dialog window
open. The Cancel does just that, cancels the command and closes the
dialog. The OK button executes the command and closes the dialog.
This may be a good time to talk about computer file types. Programs
have specific file types that they use. For example, Microsoft Word or
Excel have specific file types they use with specific extensions, .docx
or .xlsx files. There are other file types that are generic that are meant
to be shared between programs. Files of this type can be text or data
types with identifying extensions, such as .txt or .csv. These latter
file types are set up in a standard fashion so that many programs can
interpret them. Stata also can interpret many of these files if they con-
form to specific layouts, such as a spreadsheet format of columns and
rows. This does not mean Stata is incapable of reading files that don't
conform to this layout as we shall see shortly.
All of Stata's commands available as specific menu items can be
invoked by typing the command in the Command area of the Main
window. In the case of Text data created by a spreadsheet, this com-
mand can be invoked by typing insheet using followed by the
filename. The filename must contain the entire pathname (all the
subdirectories), which are entered in a specific format based on your
operating system. In Windows, subdirectories are separated with the
back slash (\), and with Unix and Macintosh, the forward slash (/) is
used. Stata, however, is smart enough to recognize either back slash
(\) or forward slash (/) on all operating systems. The entire pathname,
however, is not required if you have changed the working directory
(Change Working Directory…) under the File menu to the directory
where the data file is stored. This can make using this command much
easier because only the filename is now required to be entered, not the
entire pathname. It is a good practice to change the working directory
each time you start Stata to the directory where your working files are
stored. With this topic, the example iles will be stored in the Data
folder and available to you.