stata2r

Summary

stata2r is an R package that allows users to translate Stata instructions into executable R code on the fly. It is currently in an alpha stage of development.

Overview

stata2r in an add-on package for R. It contains functions for parsing strings of Stata code and executing equivalent instructions in R. The main function, s2r(), allows the user to execute commmon Stata command-line instructions. The package serves two main groups of users:

1. Primary R users who prefer Stata syntax for simple tasks.
2. New R users who want a safety net / educational tool.

To better serve the first group, the package aims for robust support of Stata’s data manipulation functions and basic regression models. To aid the second group, all functions return the code translation in addition to normal output.

Installation

You can install stata2r from an R console via the devtools package.

install.packages("devtools")
library(devtools)
install_github("seanmcraig/stata2r")

Dependencies

stata2r requires the haven package, specifically its read_dta() function, in order to read Stata-formatted data files.

Basic Use

The main function, s2r(), translates a single line of Stata code. Users input stata code as a string in single quotes (''). The function will parse the string, identify the corresponding R code, and return the translated code as well as any output. For example, to load a Stata-formatted data file, the user might input the following:

s2r('use "data.dta", clear')

stata2r will return:

mydata <- read_dta("data.dta")

As Stata only permits one active data set, Stata syntax does not permit the user interact with a particular R data frame. The workaround is to use one, pre-defined data frame for all Stata instructions. Thus, in stata2r all data-related functions use a data frame called mydata. If you already have data loaded in R and you want stata2r to be able to use it, you need to assign your data frame to mydata.

mydata <- otherdata

Please note that stata2r presumes that user input is valid Stata code. Invalid code may produce opaque error messages referencing local variables temporarily created by the package functions. If you receive an error, a good first step is to make sure your Stata input contains no errors.

A list of Stata commands that work with stata2r appears at the bottom of this README.

Supported Stata Commands

The following Stata commands are at least partially supported:

Command	Notes
cd	Fully supported.
generate	Partially supported: “if” and “in” arguments are not supported; missing values are not supported.
clear	Fully supported.
pwd	Fully supported.
replace	Mostly supported: option “nopromote” is not supported.
use	Partially supported: loading subsets not supported; loading Stata value labels is not supported (command functions as if nolabel option was used)

Package Author

Sean Craig ([email protected])

License

GNU GPLv3 (GNU General Public License, Version 3)