{smcl} {* 18oct2009}{...} {cmd:help touch} {hline} {title:Title} {p 4 8 2} {bf:touch -- Create a blank data file} {title:Syntax} {p 8 17 2} {cmdab:touch} {it:filename}, [{cmd:type}({it:string})] [{cmd:replace}] [{cmd:var}({it:string})] {title:Description} {p 4 4 2} {cmdab:touch} creates a blank data file of the type specified. This is useful to avoid append loops failing on the first run due to the file not existing, and is a slightly more elegant solution than -cap append-, as append will still abort the program if there is a real problem. It is similar to the UNIX command touch. {title:Options} {p 4 8 2} {cmd:type} specifies the type of file to create. Options are {it:txt} for text-based files e.g. csv, tsv, fixed, etc. or {it:dta} for Stata data files. If not specified, the program will attempt to guess based on the extension given in {it:filename}. {cmd:var} specifies variable(s) to create. Useful for merging in loops. Version 1.1: Allows specification of the path as part of filename. {title:Example} {p 4 8 2} {phang2}{cmd:. tempfile looptempfile }{p_end} {phang2}{cmd:. touch `looptempfile' }{p_end}