Speaking Stata: Finding variables

A standard task in data management is producing a list of variable names showing which variables have specific properties, such as being of string type, or having value labels attached, or having a date format. A first-principles strategy is to loop over variables, checking one by one which have the property or properties concerned. I discuss this strategy in detail with a variety of examples. A canned alternative is offered by the official command ds or by a new command, findname, published formally with this column. Copyright 2010 by StataCorp LP.