help for sscpax(Roger Newson)

Describe, install, or uninstall a list of SSC packages

sscpax namelist [ , action(action)
sort replace all ]

where action is

describe | install | uninstall

Description

sscpax inputs a list of SSC package names and either describes,
installs, or uninstalls the packages in the list that are present on SSC.
sscpax is useful if the user wants to install a package,
and also to install other SSC packages,
on which the first package is dependent.

Options for sscpax

action(action) specifies that the packages in the namelist
will be described, installed, or uninstalled,
depending on whether the action
is describe, install. or uninstall. respectively.
If action() is not specified,
then describe is assumed.

sort specifies that the SSC packages in the namelist
will be described, installed, or uninstalled
in alphanumeric order of package name.
If sort is not specified,
then the packages are described, installed, or uninstalled
in order of their first appearances in the namelist.

all specifies that any ancillary files associated with the
packages named in the namelist will be downloaded to your current directory, in addition
to the program and help files being installed.
Ancillary files are files
that do not end in .ado or .sthlp,
and typically contain
datasets or examples of the use of the new command.
If action(install) is not specified, then all is ignored.

You can find out which files are associated with the package by typing
ssc describe pkgname before or after installing,
or use sscpax with the option action(describe).
If you install without using the all option and then want the ancillary files,
you can ssc install again,
or use sscpax with the option action(install).

replace specifies that that any files being downloaded that already exist
on your computer be replaced by the downloaded files.
If replace is not specified and any of the files for a package already exist,
then none of the files from the package is downloaded or installed.
If action(install) is not specified, then replace is ignored.

It is better not to specify the replace option and wait to see if
there is a problem. If there is a problem, it is usually better to
uninstall the old package by using ssc uninstall or
ado uninstall (which are, in fact, the same command),
or to use sscpax with the option action(uninstall).

Remarks

sscpax should be used with caution by users of Stata versions
other than the latest version.
This is because SSC stores only the latest version of a package,
which may be written in a Stata version
that the user does not have.
It is a good idea to use sscpax
with the default action() option action(describe),
to find out the Stata version
in which each package is written,
before installing the packages.

If the packages are written by Roger Newson,
then an alternative possibility exists.
If the user types, in Stata,

findit instasisay

then the user will find a package of do-files instasisay,
to describe, install, and uninstall all Roger Newson's SSC packages
in their latest versions from SSC,
and also a series of packages of do-files, with names of the form instasisay_k,
to describe, install, and uninstall from Roger Newson's website
the latest version of each of Roger Newson's packages
compatible with Version k of Stata.
The do-files are install wizards,
generated automatically by the maintenance programs for Roger Newson's website
to enable users of obsolete versions of Stata
to continue to have access to obsolete versions of Roger Newson's packages.

Examples

The following examples involve a list of packages dependent on the SSC packages
somersd and expgen.
The scsomersd package depends on somersd and expgen,
and the rcentile package depends on scsomersd.
The user can find out more about these packages in their online help
after installing them.

Describe packages dependent on somersd:

. sscpax somersd expgen scsomersd rcentile

Describe packages dependent on somersd in alphanumeric order:

. sscpax somersd expgen scsomersd rcentile, sort

Install packages dependent on somersd,
and check installation using the which command::

. sscpax somersd expgen scsomersd rcentile, action(install) replace

. which somersd

. which expgen

. which scsomersd

. which rcentile

Uninstall packages dependent on somersd:

. sscpax somersd expgen scsomersd rcentile, action(uninstall)

Re-install packages dependent on somersd and download their .pdf documents to the current folder,
and check installation using the which command
and downloads using the dir command::

. sscpax somersd expgen scsomersd rcentile, action(install) all

. which somersd

. which expgen

. which scsomersd

. which rcentile

. dir *.pdf

Saved results

sscpax saves the following in r():

Macros

r(absent) input package names absent on SSC

r(present) input package names present on SSC

Author

Roger Newson, King's College London, UK.

Email: roger.newson@kcl.ac.uk

Also see

Manual: [R] ssc, [R] which, [D] dir

On-line: help for ssc, which, dir

help for somersd, expgen, scsomersd, rcentile if installed