PROJECTBUILDER: Stata module to scaffold a data-analysis project folder with a numbered do-file pipeline

Eric Booth and Elizabeth Teas ()
Additional contact information
Elizabeth Teas: Far Harbor, LLC

Statistical Software Components from Boston College Department of Economics

Abstract: projectbuilder builds a project folder in one command: a raw-data folder, an analytic-data folder, an output folder, a documentation folder, and a numbered do-file pipeline (000_control through 600_analysis). A control file holds every path in one place and can run the whole pipeline. If you already have the data, point data() at local files or url() at a source address and projectbuilder copies it in and writes a documentation page; with the optional convertanything and combineall installed it also converts each raw file and appends them into one analytic file. If the data comes later, scaffold now and rerun with rebuild on every refresh; rebuild never overwrites a do-file you have edited unless you add replace. The tool is self-contained (every file is written by the program, no template folder), uses only Stata's cross-platform file commands, and never overwrites an existing project. Optional companions add power when installed but are never required: convertanything and combineall (author's GitHub), descsave (SSC), srctag/srcfind (author's GitHub), and webdoc2 (author's GitHub). The command leaves the dataset in memory untouched. A test battery ships with the package as an ancillary file; retrieve it with -net get projectbuilder- and run it with -do test_projectbuilder.do-.

Language: Stata
Requires: Stata version 16.0
Keywords: reproducible research; project management; workflow; do-files (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07-30
Note: This module should be installed from within Stata by typing "ssc install projectbuilder". 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/p/projectbuilder.ado program code (text/plain)
http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/p/projectbuilder.sthlp help file (text/plain)
http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/t/test_projectbuilder.do test do-file (text/plain)

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