IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/c/boc/bocode/s459831.html

RESHAPEHELPER: Stata module to diagnose the dataset and suggest (never run) the likely reshape command

Author

Listed:
  • Eric A. Booth

    (Texas 2036)

Programming Language

Abstract

A dry-run advisor for Stata's hardest data-management command. reshapehelper never reshapes your data. It scans variable names for wide patterns (numeric suffixes, string suffixes, @ mid-name stubs, doubly-wide double indices), finds candidate i and j variables (honoring xtset/tsset and svyset declarations), decides the likely direction, composes the reshape command, and TESTS it on a small sample inside preserve/restore, iterating on reshape's own errors (string j, spaces in j, duplicates within i-j, non-constant variables) until the suggestion runs or the blocker is diagnosed. Output: an ASCII before/after diagram of what the suggestion would do, the suggested syntax with its dry-run verdict (also stored in r(cmd) and $reshapehelper_cmd, written unwrapped to a viewable SMCL file, and offered as a click-to-run link), or - when it cannot discern the design - a numbered checklist of what to fix or specify before running reshapehelper again. Flags transpose jobs that are really xpose/sxpose problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric A. Booth, 2026. "RESHAPEHELPER: Stata module to diagnose the dataset and suggest (never run) the likely reshape command," Statistical Software Components S459831, Boston College Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:boc:bocode:s459831
    Note: This module should be installed from within Stata by typing "ssc install reshapehelper". The module is made available under terms of the MIT license (https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT).
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/e/example_reshapehelper.do
    File Function: example do-file
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/r/reshapehelper.ado
    File Function: program code
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/r/reshapehelper.sthlp
    File Function: help file
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:boc:bocode:s459831. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/debocus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.