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I would like to get the list of CSV files in the directory but, as always, I messed up something with quotes.

* Path and files global importfolder /// `"`C:\Users\me\files\data to play with'"' global filelist : dir $ *.csv

• Join Date: Mar 2014
• Posts: 34439

global importfolder "C:\Users\me\files\data to play with" global filelist : dir "$importfolder" *.csv

You just need plain " " here to bind over the spaces. The single quotes suggest some sort of local macro but you don't have one, so they are mistaken here.

EDIT: Copied a point from Maarten Buis.

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• Join Date: Mar 2014
• Posts: 3323

I suspect you want:

global importfolder /// `"C:\Users\me\files\data to play with"' global filelist : dir `"$"' files *.csv

i.e. no inner single quotes, as that would assume your path is actually a local macro and added quotes around the global macro again, as quotes get stripped off.

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• Join Date: Apr 2014
• Posts: 496

Thanks for all the comments. Following the "help quotes" section, I was trying to be fancy and encapsulate "" in the macro so I could call the path without typing "" around macro.

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• Join Date: Apr 2014
• Posts: 496

. global importfolder /// `"C:\Users\me\files\data to play with"' . global filelist : dir `"$"' files *.csv varlist not allowed

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• Join Date: Mar 2014
• Posts: 34439

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• Join Date: Apr 2014
• Posts: 496

* Define path and get CSVs. local importfolder /// `"C:\Users\me\stuff for stata"' di `""`importfolder'*.csv""' global filelist : dir `""`importfolder'*.csv""' invalid syntax

The naming of the files does not adhere to any naming convention, so have spaces capital and small letters and different lengths.

To add to my previous post, it appears that the problem relates to the macro definition:

dir "C:\Users\me\stuff for stata\*.csv" 1853.6k 8/29/14 9:32 Age_24_and_under.csv global files : dir "C:\Users\me\stuff for stata\*.csv" invalid syntax r(198);

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• Join Date: Mar 2014
• Posts: 34439

Indeed: your syntax is invalid; it's just fantasy syntax that you would like to work. Stata requires you (1) to separate the directory name and the wildcard pattern and (2) to use the keyword files .

This is documented. Start with help macro .

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• Join Date: Apr 2014
• Posts: 496

I'm trying to follow the advice found here, but it doesn't seem to work. To my mind what is in the filelist doesn't make sense.

* Alternative cd "C:\Users\me\stuff" local filelist: dir . files "*.csv" di `filelist' aged 18-24, claiming for over 6 months.csvage_24_and_under.csv * Import files. foreach datafile of local filelist < preserve insheet using `datafile', clear save temp, replace restore append using temp > invalid '18' r(198); end of do-file

I find it hard to believe that this can't be more simplified, this would take two lines of code in R:

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• Join Date: Mar 2014
• Posts: 34439

I think this is exactly the same problem as explained earlier, indeed more than once in this thread.

insheet using "`datafile'", clear

There are spaces in the filename, and you must bind with " ".

I wrote fs (SSC) to make handling lists of files easier.

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• Join Date: Apr 2014
• Posts: 496

Thanks very much for showing interest. I did most of the stuff I wanted, the only outstanding task is to reshape the data with multiple stubs and certain identifiers for time series missing but I'll get there at some point, not that I wouldn't appreciate help. The attached file contains data extract (tab delimited due to forum limitations). For those who may be interested in this, full data sets are available via NOMIS.

/// Import clear cd "C:\path_with_csvs" local filelist: dir . files "*.csv" di `filelist' * Get the base data use "C:\proper_path\sns-igzs.dta", clear keep igz INTGEONAME laname * Import files. foreach datafile of local filelist < preserve import delimited using "`datafile'", clear varnames(1) save temp, replace restore merge 1:1 igz using /// "C:\proper_path\temp.dta", /// nogenerate drop v* destring, replace ignore(-) dropmiss *, force > * remove the temporary .dta file and save compress save jsadta, replace // Renvars renvars, subst(_total) renvars, subst(_tot) renvars, subst(_to) describe // Make panel data *cut out the "_may09 and other" at the end to obtain the actual stubs foreach v of varlist aged1824_oct04 - claimingforover6months_jul14 < local stubs `"`stubs' `=substr("`v'",1,length("`v'")-6)'"' > * Reshape the data to make it long for charts and analysis (doesn't work) reshape long `stubs', i(igz) j(date) * Make proper time series variable (. )

I wrote fs (SSC) to make handling lists of files easier.