RESHAPEHELPER: Stata module to diagnose the dataset and suggest (never run) the likely reshape command

Eric Booth

Statistical Software Components from Boston College Department of Economics

Abstract: A dry-run advisor for Stata's hardest data-management command. reshapehelper never reshapes your data. It scans variable names for wide patterns (numeric suffixes, string suffixes, @ mid-name stubs, doubly-wide double indices), finds candidate i and j variables (honoring xtset/tsset and svyset declarations), decides the likely direction, composes the reshape command, and TESTS it on a small sample inside preserve/restore, iterating on reshape's own errors (string j, spaces in j, duplicates within i-j, non-constant variables) until the suggestion runs or the blocker is diagnosed. Output: an ASCII before/after diagram of what the suggestion would do, the suggested syntax with its dry-run verdict (also stored in r(cmd) and $reshapehelper_cmd, written unwrapped to a viewable SMCL file, and offered as a click-to-run link), or - when it cannot discern the design - a numbered checklist of what to fix or specify before running reshapehelper again. Flags transpose jobs that are really xpose/sxpose problems.

Language: Stata
Requires: Stata version 16.0
Keywords: reshape; data management; long; wide (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07-30
Note: This module should be installed from within Stata by typing "ssc install reshapehelper". The module is made available under terms of the MIT license (https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT).
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Downloads: (external link)
http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/e/example_reshapehelper.do example do-file (text/plain)
http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/r/reshapehelper.ado program code (text/plain)
http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/r/reshapehelper.sthlp help file (text/plain)

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