Run Stata in VS Code

3 minute read

Why running Stata in Visual Studio Code

Economists and statisticians often tend to use softwares (such as Stata or Matlab) as they are, without questioning the environment in which they code.
However we can learn a lot from professional programmers, who use more advanced tools and better overall environments to write code.

Below are a few are the reasons why I am currently using VS Code to write do files and why I am not planning to go back to Stata’s own do file editor anytime soon:

Text and command autocomplete
Better syntax highlight
Single environment for all my codes (Stata, python, R and even LaTex)
Seamless integration with Git
Snippets

How to Install and run Stata from VSCode

Install VS code

Look for the latest VS Code version available here: https://code.visualstudio.com
Click on Download and install VS Code

Install Plug-Ins

To install extensions in VS Code click on the icon indicated below.

Two plugins are necessary to run Stata in VS Code:

Stata Enhanced
Allows VS Code to recognize files .do and assigns them a familiar syntax highlighting
Code Runner
Allows VS Code to run custom commands with a shortcut

Download and edit custom scripts

Download Scripts

Two custom scripts are needed to run Stata from another code editor. Download the scripts here: https://huebler.blogspot.com/2008/04/stata.html.

If you are using Stata 15 or later, then rundo51.zip and rundolines51.zip should work. Otherwise if you are using an earlier version, download Rundo41.zip and Rundolines41.zip.

Extract both in a convenient location. The scripts don’t need to be in any specific path, they just need to be accessible all the time by Stata and VS Code.

Edit Scripts

In both rundo and rundolines zipped folders you will find a config file:

Open the config file and edit the following lines:

statapath = “[Path to your stata Executable]”]
Example: * statapath = “C:\Program Files (x86)\Stata15\StataSE-64.exe”*
statawin = “[Stata Version]”
Example: statawin = “Stata/SE 15.0”

Then save the config files and close them.

Edit VS Code settings

To open the VS Code settings use: CTRL + SHIFT + P. In the dialog window that opens, look for Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)

A new window should open with a json file (a text file between two curly brackets).

Paste the following line of code between the two curly brackets:

"code-runner.executorMapByFileExtension": {
    ".do": "[Path to rundo.exe]"
},
"code-runner.customCommand": "[Path to rundolines.exe]",
"stataRun.stataPath": "[Path to Stata.exe]",
"stataRun.whichApp": "stataMP",
"stataRun.pasteSpeed": 1,
"stataRun.advancePosition": false,

Make sure to modify the three paths (rundo, rundolines and Stata) with the paths to the relevant .exe files.
Note that the path don’t work if there are any spaces and require the use of double slashes to be readable.

Here you can find an example for the path where I have saved rundo.exe:

"code-runner.executorMapByFileExtension": {
    ".do": "C:\\PROGRA~2\\Stata13\\ado\\personal\\rundo41\\rundo.exe"
},

Add Shortcuts to VS Code to run Stata

In Stata’s do file editor we are used to using the CTRL + D shortcut a lot.
Fortunately there is an (almost) identical solution here in VS Code.

As for the previous step, we need to open the command bar in VS Code by clicking CTRL + SHIFT + P.
Then we need to look for Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts. Then we can look for “Run Custom Command”. This is the command that runs the highlighted lines in a do file. We can bind this to the shortcut CTRL + D.
Then we can look for “Run Code”. This is the command that runs the whole dofile. We can bind this to CTRL + SHIFT + D.

Now, whenever we open a do file with VS Code and we run either a few lines (CTRL + D) or the whole script (CTRL + SHIFT + D), VS Code will run those in a previously opened stata console.

If stata is not opened when using either command, then VS Code will simply open a new instance of Stata.

Unfortunately I am currently not aware of any way of using multiple stata consoles from VS Code.

Credits

Code Runner author Jun Han: https://github.com/formulahendry
Stata Enhanced author Kyle Barron: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/publishers/kylebarron
Rundo and Rundolines author Friedrich Huebler: https://huebler.blogspot.com/

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