Module 2 The Main Stata Interface

In order to be able to use Stata to create and analyze datasets, it is necessary to familiarize ourselves with the main GUI. This module provides a brief overview of Stata’s Generic User Interface, i.e, the main screen you confront when you open Stata for the first time. By the end of the module, students:

• should be familiar with Stata’s main user interface
• should know many of the common tasks that can be performed with the various GUI functions

When you work with Stata, you see a screen interface that looks similar to figure 1.1 below:

figure 1.1: Stata User Interface

A crucial part of Stata’s GUI is the toolbar which houses a collection of functions displayed as buttons that users can click on to execute various tasks. The toolbar is shown below in figure 1.2:

figure 1.2. The Stata Toolbar

As a new user, it is critical to familiarize yourself with the main buttons in Stata’s toolbar since these are what you use to communicate commands you would like Stata to execute. Referencing figure 1.2 above, here are brief descriptions of the toolbar buttons in Stata and the tasks they perform:

• 1. The Open button: This is the button you click on to open and load a file or dataset into Stata
• 2. The Save button: Used to save datasets in the current memory disk
• 3. The Print button: Prints the output displayed in the Results window.
• 4. The Log button: Starts or closes, halts or resumes the current log
• 5. The Viewer button: Opens the Viewer or brings it to the front of all active windows
• 6. The Graph button: Opens a graph window or sets it as active window
• 7. The Do-File Editor button: Opens the Do-File Editor or set it as active window
• 8. The Data Editor (Edit) button: Opens the Data Editor in Edit mode or set it as the active window
• 9. The Data Editor (Browse) button: Opens the Data Editor in browse mode or set it as the active window
• 10. Opens the Variables Manager feature or set it as active window
• 11. The Clear - more - condition button: Instructs Stata to continue during a long pause in a task execution
• 12. The Break button: Stops or break the current task execution in Stata.

For a more detailed description of the Stata user interface, see Stata’s manual.

When you open a file that contains Stata dataset, a list of the variables will show up in the Variables window (see figure 1.1). The Variables window displays the name of a variable and a label created purposefully to help enhance the description of the variable. Related information on the variable will also show up in the Properties window, such as the type of variable it is (i.e float, integer or string) or the format of the variable. For our tutorial, we will focus more on names and labels for variables.

When a command is executed in Stata, the results or output is printed on the Results window (see figure 1.1). The commands are also listed in the Review window. When a command listed in the Review window is clicked once, it appears in the Command window (see figure 1.1). If it is double-clicked, the command is executed, and the output, if any, will appear in the Results window.

There is often a gray bar at the bottom of the screen that displays the current working directory or folder (see figure 1.1). Depending on how Stata was installed, the working directory may differ from computer to computer. The working directory is where Stata searches for a file or save a file unless the full path to a different directory that contains the file is specified in a command. For instance if a user working on a term project wishes to store all files related to that project in a particular directory, say, C:/term-project, he/she could enter the command “cd C:/term-project.” This command assumes that this directory already exists on your computer. To change the working directory, you can either use the cd command or select File > Change working directory and then select a directory or folder you wish to use. It is recommended as best practice to have a working directory for each project.