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Stata All in One

One VS Code extension tailored for Stata users

| Version: 0.2.13 | Author: Zihao Viston Wang | 翻译: 中文版本 |

All-in-one Stata experience:
Syntax Highlighting + Code Hints + Smart Outline + Code Execution + Quick Editing!

Stata All in One is derived from Stata Outline.

Sponsors

Special thanks to RedNote user Rich**d and WeChat user 早起**阳光 for their generous donations and support for this project.

Features

1. Enhanced Syntax Highlighting & Code Completion

• Full Syntax Highlighting and Code Completion Support: Integrates Stata Enhanced syntax engine¹, providing precise syntax highlighting and code completion for .do files (under MIT License).
• Custom Command Highlighting: Supports highlighting for commonly used third-party commands (e.g., reghdfe, ivreghdfe, gtools), freely configurable in settings.

2. Smart Outline & Structural Navigation

• Multi-level Outline Recognition: Automatically detects comment lines from **# to **###### as hierarchical headers, supporting up to 6 levels.
  • Shortcuts: Ctrl/Cmd + 1-6 to quickly convert to the corresponding header level; Ctrl/Cmd + 0 to revert to a standard code line.
• Cursor Auto-Follow: The outline view automatically highlights and navigates to the corresponding section as the cursor moves in the editor.
  • Setup: Click the “···” button in the top-right of the Outline view and check “Follow Cursor”.²
• Multi-level Numbering: Optional display of logical numbering (e.g., 1.1, 1.2.1) within the outline (must be enabled in settings).
• Auto-Sync Numbering: When enabled, the extension automatically adds or removes numbering directly within the .do file based on the outline structure.
• program define Block Recognition: Displays program names in the outline view for easy navigation and management of custom programs.

3. Code Execution (Stata Interaction)

• Platform Support: Seamlessly integrates with Stata on both macOS and Windows without requiring additional extensions.
• Multi-Scenario Execution Strategies:
  • Section Execution: When the cursor is on a header line (e.g., ** # Title), clicking the ▶️ button or pressing Ctrl/Cmd + D will execute the entire section from that header to the next same-level or higher-level header.
  • Single Line Execution: When the cursor is on a regular code line (no selection), clicking the ▶️ button or pressing Ctrl/Cmd + D will only execute that specific line.
  • Selected Code Execution: When multiple lines of code are selected, clicking the ▶️ button or pressing Ctrl/Cmd + D will execute the selected code lines. Supports fuzzy selection - no need to precisely select the first or last line of a code segment; the system will automatically capture and run all lines covered by the selection.
• ⚠️ Note
  • On Windows, code execution relies on PowerShell automation. If your machine is slow or occasionally misses keystrokes, consider increasing the step delay (setting stata-all-in-one.stataStepDelayOnWindows).
  • On Windows, if Stata does not wake up and run the code when running code, please try to set true for the Close Stata other windows before sending code option (setting stata-all-in-one.closeStataOtherWindowsBeforeSendingCode).

4. Efficient Separator Lines & Styling

• Quick Insertion: Supports various symbols to significantly enhance code readability.
  • Standard Separators: Use Ctrl/Cmd + Symbol to quickly insert separator lines:
    • Ctrl/Cmd + - (Dash) | Ctrl/Cmd + = (Equal) | Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + 8 (Asterisk)
  • Custom Separators:
    • Ctrl + Alt + S (Windows) | Ctrl + Cmd + S (macOS), where S stands for “Separator”.
    • After pressing the shortcut, simply input your desired character to generate the corresponding separator line.
• Intelligent Wrap Mode:
  • Blank Line Insertion: Generates a full-width separator line (length adjustable in settings).
  • Non-blank Line Insertion: Pressing the shortcut once inserts above the line; pressing it again inserts below, creating a “wrapped” effect.
  • Header Decoration: Select some characters of a header and press the shortcut to generate a title with balanced decorative symbols (e.g., **# === Title ===), without affecting outline recognition.
    • Centered Header: If using Header Decoration + Custom space separator, the header content will be automatically centered.

5. More Features

1. Enhanced Comments

   • Toggle Comments: Quickly toggle line comments using Ctrl/Cmd + /.
   • Optional Styles: Defaults to //, with support for switching to other valid Stata comment delimiters in settings.

2. Built-in Help

   • Quick Help: For example, select regress and press the shortcut key Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + H to open Stata’s regress help page.

3. Smart Line Break

   • One-Key Line Break: Use Shift+Enter to insert Stata line continuation symbol /// at the cursor position.
   • Smart Indentation: Automatically indent by 4 spaces

4. Safe Rename Mode

   • Rename Variable: Select a variable and press F2 to rename all occurrences in the current do-file.
   • Smart Validation: Automatically validates the new name to ensure it follows Stata naming rules and does not conflict with built-in commands or keywords.
   • Command Protection: Intelligently prevents renaming Stata commands (e.g., reghdfe, outreg2) and their options (e.g., absorb, ctitle).

5. Auto cd to Do File Directory
   • Auto Working Directory: When enabled, automatically sets Stata’s working directory to the do file’s location on first launch.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Click Keyboard Shortcuts to view the complete list of keyboard shortcuts.

Installation

Install from Extension Marketplace

• VS Code: Search for “Stata All in One” in extensions and install.

Download and Install (for Cursor, Trae and other VSCode-based IDEs)

1. Download stata-all-in-one-x.x.x.vsix from either source:
   • Open VSX Registry
   • GitHub Releases Page
2. Open Extensions panel in your editor → ... → Install from VSIX....
3. Select the downloaded .vsix file to complete installation.

Configuration

Search for “Stata All in One” in VS Code settings and configure:

Syntax Highlighting and Code Hints

1. Custom Command Highlighting (stata-all-in-one.customCommands)
   • User-defined Stata commands to highlight as keywords (array of strings). Default: reghdfe.
   • Example: ["reghdfe", "ivreghdfe", "gtools", "winsor2", "outreg2"]
   • Requires reloading window after configuration.

Outline & Navigation

2. Display Multi-level Numbering (stata-all-in-one.numberingShow)

   • true: Outline displays 1.1, 1.2.1 style numbering.
   • false (default): Displays original headings.

3. Auto-update File Content (stata-all-in-one.numberingAdd)

   • true: When numbering is enabled, automatically update section titles in .do files to include numbers. Requires reopening .do files
   • false (default): Only displays numbering in outline, doesn’t modify file.

Code Execution

4. Show Run Button (stata-all-in-one.showRunButton)

   • true (default): Whether to show the run button in the editor title bar.
   • false: Hides button.

5. Show Action Buttons (stata-all-in-one.showActionButtons)

   • true (default): Show the “Bug report” and “Sponsor” buttons in the editor title bar.
   • false: Hide these buttons.

6. Stata Version on macOS (stata-all-in-one.stataVersionOnMacOS)

   • [macOS] Stata version. Select between StataMP, StataIC, StataSE.
   • Default: StataMP

7. Stata Path on Windows (stata-all-in-one.stataPathOnWindows)

   • [Windows] Path to Stata executable file (e.g., C:\Program Files\Stata17\StataMP-64.exe).

8. Stata Step Delay (Windows) (stata-all-in-one.stataStepDelayOnWindows)

   • [Windows] Delay between PowerShell automation steps (ms). Default: 100 (min: 50). Increase if your machine is slower or Stata misses keystrokes.

9. Close Stata Other Windows Before Sending Code (Windows) (stata-all-in-one.closeStataOtherWindowsBeforeSendingCode)

   • [Windows] true: Close Stata helper windows (such as Viewer/Data Editor) before sending run commands.
   • false (default): Keep those windows open and send code directly.

10. Enable Ctrl+Shift+D for Run Shortcut (stata-all-in-one.enableCtrlShiftD)

• true: Use Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+D as the run code shortcut.
• false (default): Use the default Ctrl/Cmd+D shortcut.

11. Auto cd to Do File Directory (stata-all-in-one.cdToDoFileDir)

    - `true` (default): Automatically `cd` to the do file's directory when Stata is first launched.
    

    • false: Stata’s working directory is not changed on startup.

Code Style

12. Comment Style (stata-all-in-one.commentStyle)

• // (default): Comment style used for toggling comments. Options include //, *, or /* ... */

13. Separator Length (stata-all-in-one.separatorLength)

• Total character length of the separator line (including the ‘** #’ prefix and separators). Default: 60

14. Separator Symmetric (stata-all-in-one.separatorSymmetric)

• true: Add ** at the end of separator lines to ensure visual symmetry (e.g., ** === title === **).
• false (default): Separator lines without the suffix.

Note: Changes take effect after reopening .do files. When numberingAdd is disabled, existing numbering in .do files will be automatically removed.

Buy me a coffee

If this extension has been helpful to you, feel free to scan the Alipay (left) or WeChat (middle) or Buy me a Coffee (right) QR code below to buy me a coffee ☕

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for full version history.