StataReader.variable_labels() does not read variable label correctly for stata datasets saved under Stata 13 using 'save' (but it can read datasets saved using 'saveold')

[shafiquejamal]

If I use SataReader to read a Stata dataset saved in Stata 13 using the save command, I can get the data but not the variable labels.

If, however, I use the saveold command in Stata 13, I am able to get the variable labels in Python3 using StataReader.variable_labels().

Can anyone suggest how to accommodate Stata 13? Thanks,

[jreback]

docs are here: http://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/io.html#reading-from-stata-format

something like:

reader = pandas.io.stata.StataReader(file)

# labels
reader.variable_labels()

# data
reader.data(....)

look inside the pandas.io.stata.read_stata (and doc-string of StataReader)

[jreback]

closing as a usage question

[shafiquejamal]

Hello, I'm sorry if I wasn't clear earlier.

I did use the variables_label() method of reader. But this does NOT work for Stata datasets saved in later versions of Stata (e.g. Stata 13) using the save command. (It DOES work if the dataset was saved in Stata 13 using the saveold command.)

Can you please re-open this issue? It is still not resolved (I am using the latest Pandas master branch). Thanks.

[jreback]

ok, so this is a feature/bug request then? ok

[jreback]

cc @bashtage

[shafiquejamal]

Yes it is a bug/feature request. I guess Stata changed something in how they save data files, which means that the Stata reader needs to be updated to accommodate this change. Many thanks!

[bashtage]

@shafiquejamal Would be helpful if you could share a simple example file .dta which produces the problem, as well as a v12 one that works.

This looks like it is implemented in the v13 path - although it probably is buggy

[shafiquejamal]

Certainly. I have a couple of .dta files of about 450kb each that I can share (problem dataset HHRosterEducHealth_small_varwithnolabel_notsaveold and non-problem dataset HHRosterEducHealth_small_varwithnolabel_saveold).

I tried dragging them into this comment window, but I'm getting this error at the bottom of this comment window: "Unfortunately, we don't support that file type. Try again with a PNG, GIF, or JPG."

How can I share these .dta files with you? Thanks,