{smcl}
{* 29Jun2008}{...}
{cmd:help wfdataset}
{hline}

{title:Title}

{p2colset 5 12 24 2}{...}
{p2col:{hi:Steps when creating and saving a dataset}}{p_end}

{title:List of steps}
{p2colset 5 9 9 2}{...}

{p2col:1.}Selecting observations.{p_end}
{p2col:2.}Selecting variables.{p_end}
{p2col:3.}Creating variables.{p_end}
{p2col:4.}Adding variable labels.{p_end}
{p2col:5.}Adding notes to variables.{p_end}
{p2col:6.}Adding value labels.{p_end}
{p2col:7.}Rearranging variables.{p_end}
{p2col:8.}Internal documentation for a dataset.{p_end}
{p2col:9.}Adding a datasignature.{p_end}
{p2col:10.}Saving the dataset.{p_end}

{title:1. Selecting observations}

{it:Drop observations based on comparison}

    {cmd:keep if} {it:exp}
    {cmd:drop if} {it:exp}

For example:

    {cmd: drop if female==1}

{it:Drop observations based on observation number}

    {cmd:keep in} {it:numeric list}
    {cmd:drop if} {it:numeric list}

For example:

    {cmd: drop in 1/22}

{title:2. Selecting variables}

    {cmd:keep } {it:variable list}
    {cmd:drop } {it:variable list}

For example:

    {cmd: drop female year tempvar}
    {cmd: keep var1-var090}

{title:3. Create new variables}

    {cmd:generate }{it:newvar} {cmd:=} {it:exp} [{cmd:if}] [{cmd:in}]
    {cmd:clonevar }{it:newvar} {cmd:=} {it:sourcevar} [{cmd:if}] [{cmd:in}]
    {cmd:replace }{it:newvar} {cmd:=} {it:exp} [{cmd:if}] [{cmd:in}]

{it:Principles for creating new variables}

{p2col:1.}If a variable is new, give it a new name.{p_end}
{p2col:2.}Verify that new variables are constructed correctly.{p_end}
{p2col:3.}Document new variables with notes and labels.{p_end}
{p2col:4.}Keep the source variables used to create new variables.{p_end}

{title:4. Adding variable labels}

    {cmd:label variable} {it:varname} "{it:label}"

For example:

    {cmd:label var artsqrt "Square root of # of articles"}

{it:Commands for listing variable labels and other information}

    {cmd:codebook} [{it:varlist}] [{cmd:if}] [{cmd:in}] {cmd:, compact}
    {cmd:describe} [{it:varlist}] [{cmd:if}] [{cmd:in}] {cmd:, simple fullnames numbers}
    {cmd:nmlab} {it:varlist}
    {cmd:tab1} {it:varlist}

{title:5. Adding notes to variables}

    {cmd:note} {it:variable name} {cmd:"}{it:variable label}{cmd:"}

For example:

    {cmd:local tag "pub# truncated at 20 \ wf5-varnotes.do jsl 2008-04-09."}
    {cmd:note pub1trunc: `tag'}

{title:6. Adding value labels to variables}

{it:Step 1: Defining labels} (ideally, 10 characters or shorter)

    {cmd:label define Lyesno 1 1_yes 0 0_no}

{it:Step 2: Assigning labels}

    {cmd:label value wc Lyesno}

{title:7. Rearranging variables.}

    {cmd:aorder} [{it:varlist}]
    {cmd:order} {it:varlist}
    {cmd:move} {it:variable-to-move target-variable}

For example:

    {cmd:aorder}
    {cmd:order id}

{title:8. Internal documentation for a dataset.}

    {cmd:label data "Workflow data from Russian ISSP 2002 \ 2008-04-02"}
    {cmd:note: wf-isspru02.dta \ workflow ch 6 \ wf6-save.do jsl 2008-04-05}

{title:9. Adding a datasignature.}

    {cmd:datasignature set}

To confirm:

    {cmd:use wf-datasig02, clear}
    {cmd:datasignature confirm}

To change the signature after modifications to the dataset:

    {cmd:datasignature set, reset}

{title:11. Saving the dataset}

    {cmd:quietly compress}
    {cmd:saveold mydata, replace}

{title:Also see}

    {helpb wf}
INCLUDE help wf_footer