Specifying the File Type

 

 

 

File Format Specification

Standard Extensions and File-Type Tags

When a COPY command is given, Stat/Transfer tries to determine the file types of both the input and output files by looking for standard extensions.

 

An alternative for specifying the file type is to use a "file-type tag" instead of a standard extension.  In some cases, this tag is needed even when standard extensions are used.

 

See the table below for a list of the standard extensions and file-type tags used by Stat/Transfer. A list of standard extensions and file-type tags can be obtained by typing:

 

   help formats

 

at the command prompt.

 

Standard Extensions

If you use standard file extensions for your input and output file names, these will usually tell the Stat/Transfer command processor what kind of file is to be read or written.  Occasionally you will need to add a file-type tag as well.

 

File-Type Tags

File-type tags are needed in two different situations:

 

  • For output files when the standard extension for different versions of a file type is the same.

 

  • For file names that do not have standard extensions.

 

Distinguishing Versions of an Output File Type

In those cases where different versions of a given file type use the same standard extension, the standard extension will not enable Stat/Transfer to distinguish between different versions on output. To write a version other than the default version, the output file name must be preceded by a file-type tag, which identifies the appropriate output version. 

 

Note: For JMP files, a file type tag may be necessary on input as well.

 

Whenever the same standard extension appears in the table below for a given file type, you must use a file-type tag.  The default version is marked with an asterisk.

 

File Names without Standard Extensions

If your file does not have a standard extension, you must precede the file name by a file-type tag, which indicates the file type.

 

For example, if you want to write a Windows SAS file that has a .dat extension instead of an .sas7bdat extension, you can type

 

  copy  indata.xls   sas outdata.dat

 

where 'sas' indicates that the output file is to be a SAS Windows file, while the standard extension .xls identifies the input file as an Excel worksheet.

 

Distinguishing Between File Names and File-type Tags

The command processor uses the presence of a period '.' to differentiate between extensions and file-type tags.  Therefore, when using the COPY command, you must either use a period in your file name or, if the name does not contain a period, then you must use one after the file name.

 

For example, if you have a Stata file named populat, and you are going to a 1-2-3 file, populat.wk3 , the COPY command would look like:

 

   copy stata populat.   populate.wk3

 

The file-type tag must be used since the input file does not have a standard extension.  The period after the file name tells Stat/Transfer that this is the file name.

 

The standard extensions and file-type tags used by the command processor are:

 

 

File Type

Extension

File-Type Tag

Default

 

1-2-3

wk?

123

 

 

Access

mdb

access

 

 

ASCII - Delimited                

txt, csv

delim

 

 

ASCII - Delimited with Schema

stsd (Schema file)

stdelim

 

 

ASCII - Fixed with Schema

sts (Schema file)

stfixed

 

 

BayseiaLab

csv

beyes

 

 

dBASE and compatibles        

dbf

xbase

 

 

DDI Schemas

xml

ddi

 

 

Epi Info

rec

epi

 

 

EViews

wf1

eviews

 

 

Excel 2007+

xlsx

excelx

 

 

Excel 97+

xls

excel

   **

 

Excel Version 2

xls

excel2

 

 

FoxPro

dbf

xbase

 

 

Gauss '96

dat

gauss

 

 

GenStat

gwb

gwb

 

 

HTML

htm*

html

 

 

JMP Version *

jmp

jmp*

 

 

     Please see the discussion of JMP in the Supported Files Section.

 

 

JSON-Stat

json

json

 

 

LIMDEP

lpj

lpj

 

 

Matlab 7

mat

matlab7

   **

 

Matlab

mat

matlab

 

 

Mineset

schema, sch

mineset

 

 

Minitab

mtw

minitab

 

 

Mplus

inp

mplus

 

 

NLOGIT

lpj

nlogit

 

 

ODBC

[none]

odbc

 

 

OpenDocument Spreadsheet

ods

od

 

 

OSIRIS

dict, dct

osiris

 

 

Paradox

db

paradox

 

 

Quattro Pro

wq?, wb?

quattro

 

 

R

rdata

r

 

 

RATS

rat

rats

 

 

SAS V6 (Windows and OS/2)

sd2

sas2

 

 

SAS V6 (Mac, Unix-HP, Sun, IBM)

ssd01

sas1

 

 

SAS V7and V8

sas7bdat

sas

 

 

SAS V9

sas7bdat

sas9

  **

 

SAS CPORT

stc

cport

 

 

SAS Transport Files

xpt, tpt

sasx

 

 

S-PLUS

.

splus

  **

 

S-PLUS (HP, IBM, Sun Unix)

.

splus-hl

 

 

SPSS Data Files

sav

spss

 

 

SPSS Data Files (HP,IBM,SunUnix)

sav

spss-hl

 

 

SPSS Portable Files

por

spssp

 

 

SPSS "Syntax" and Data File

sps

spsss

 

 

SPSS Program and ASCII data

sps

spss-dat

 

 

Stata

dta

stata

 

 

Stata Program and ASCII Data

do

stata-dat

 

 

Statistica Version 5 and 6

sta

statistica

  **

 

Statistica Version 7+

sta

statistica7

 

 

SYSTAT

sys

systat

 

 

Triple-S

xml

sss