I am having trouble uploading data files into Stata. I have changed the working directory in stata, unzipped the data, and ran the do file but it still says that data file cannot be found. I tried reformatting the data as well but it won’t upload either. Any suggestions?
I was able to download two of your recent extracts and open both in Stata. My two suggestions for troubleshooting are as follows:
- Make sure the data have fully decompressed (I recommend 7zip if you are using Windows; the Archive Utility on a Mac).
- Ensure that your decompressed, fixed-width data file and corresponding .do file are in the same directory, and that your Stata working directory is set to that directory (or that you have updated the filepath in the .do file to point to your data file location if you prefer to keep your data files in a separate directory from your syntax files).
If your decompressed, fixed-width (*.dat) file and syntax (.do) file are in the same directory and you are able to find and initiate the .do file but continue to get an error about the data file not being found, please email ipums@umn.edu for further troubleshooting.