{
  "name": "Stata Command Syntax Grammar and Language Elements",
  "description": "Structural breakdown of Stata command syntax clauses, parameter positions, optionality, evaluation orders, and parser rules compiled from the Stata User's Guide [U] 11 Language syntax.",
  "page": "https://casrai.org/guides/stata-code",
  "publisher": "CASRAI",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "dateModified": "2026-11-14T01:39:05Z",
  "temporalCoverage": null,
  "spatialCoverage": null,
  "columns": [
    {
      "name": "Syntax Clause",
      "unit": "",
      "description": "Grammatical component of a standard Stata command line"
    },
    {
      "name": "Formal Notation",
      "unit": "",
      "description": "Official syntax notation specified in Stata User's Guide [U] 11"
    },
    {
      "name": "Clause Position",
      "unit": "",
      "description": "Position in the command execution string"
    },
    {
      "name": "Optional Status",
      "unit": "",
      "description": "Whether the clause is mandatory or optional"
    },
    {
      "name": "Evaluation Order",
      "unit": "sequence",
      "description": "Sequence in which the Stata parsing engine processes the clause"
    },
    {
      "name": "Functional Role",
      "unit": "",
      "description": "Operational behavior executed by the Stata syntax parser"
    }
  ],
  "rows": [
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Prefix Modifier",
      "Formal Notation": "[by varlist:]",
      "Clause Position": "Pre-command",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 1,
      "Functional Role": "Repeats the command across subsets defined by distinct values of varlist"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Command Verb",
      "Formal Notation": "command",
      "Clause Position": "Head",
      "Optional Status": "Mandatory",
      "Evaluation Order": 2,
      "Functional Role": "Specifies the core action, transformation, or estimation procedure to execute"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Variable Arguments",
      "Formal Notation": "[varlist]",
      "Clause Position": "Post-command",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 3,
      "Functional Role": "Specifies the target dependent, independent, or operational variables"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Expression Assignment",
      "Formal Notation": "[=exp]",
      "Clause Position": "Post-varlist",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 4,
      "Functional Role": "Supplies algebraic or boolean formulas required by data creation commands"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "External File Clause",
      "Formal Notation": "[using filename]",
      "Clause Position": "Mid-clause",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 5,
      "Functional Role": "Designates an external filesystem path for reading or writing data"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Logical Filter Clause",
      "Formal Notation": "[if exp]",
      "Clause Position": "Subsetting clause",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 6,
      "Functional Role": "Restricts command evaluation to observations satisfying a boolean condition"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Observation Range",
      "Formal Notation": "[in range]",
      "Clause Position": "Subsetting clause",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 7,
      "Functional Role": "Restricts execution to specific row indices or observation number spans"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Sampling Weight Clause",
      "Formal Notation": "[weight]",
      "Clause Position": "Modifier clause",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 8,
      "Functional Role": "Applies analytical, frequency, importance, or sampling probability weights"
    },
    {
      "Syntax Clause": "Options Delimiter",
      "Formal Notation": "[, options]",
      "Clause Position": "Terminal clause",
      "Optional Status": "Optional",
      "Evaluation Order": 9,
      "Functional Role": "Modifies algorithmic convergence, standard error estimation, or output format"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Stata User's Guide: [U] 11 Language syntax",
      "url": "https://www.stata.com/manuals/u11.pdf",
      "accessed": "2026-11-13"
    }
  ]
}