Example 13. Using “label” to make tables more readable
#delimit In some cases, labels command may be very long. This is inconvenient when you are writing the
command because, whether you are in the Do-file Editor or the Stata Command window, you have to
scroll over to read the end of the command. The #delimit command solves this problem by allowing
you to change the symbol used to indicate the end of the command. The default is a hard-return,
called “cr” by Stata. The alternative is the semi-colon.
#delimit ;
makes the semi-colon the indicator of the end of the command
#delimit cr
makes the hard-return the indicator of the end of the command
Some facts about #delimit:
It can only be used in a Do-file. It does not work in the Stata Command window.
The semi-colon is useful if you have long commands
The hard-return is more convenient if you have short commands
For example, the regional labels could be entered like this;
lab var region “Region of Bhutan”
#delimit ;
lab def reglbl 1 West
2 Center
3 East ;
#delimit cr
lab val region reglbl
An alternative way of dealing with long lines is:
lab def reglbl 1 West /*
*/
2 Center /*
*/
3 East
Using Stata for Survey Data Analysis Minot Page 31 The #delimit command and the /* symbols can be used with any command, but they are often used
with value labels.
