Problem with downloading xfill.do

Problem with downloading xfill.do

by Amy Alagh -

Hi! I was trying to work along with the lecture 4 practice, but when I try to quietly run the xfill.do file, this comes up:

. quietly run "N:\Amy Stata Information\Assignments\week 4\do files\xfill.do"

I/O error

https://www.sealedenvelope.com/ either

  1)  is not a valid URL, or

  2)  could not be contacted, or

  3)  is not a Stata download site (has no stata.toc file).

r(691);

Any suggestions on how to get the file? I even tried downloading it straight from sealedenvelope.com...Thanks!

Re: Problem with downloading xfill.do

by Dallas Mindo-Panusis -
Hey Amy,

I'm having the same problem in the RAE. Are you using the RAE? I wonder if it has to do with our 'permissions' on RAE??


r(691):
1. Check the permissions of the Stata installation directory to which you are downloading into and make sure you have write permissions. If you do not know which directory Stata is installed into, open Stata and type sysdir in your Stata Command Window. The first path, STATA, is the path to the Stata installation directory.
1. A filesystem error occurred during input or output. This typically indicates a hardware or operating system failure, although it is possible that the disk was merely full and this state was misinterpreted as an I/O error.

Re: Problem with downloading xfill.do

by Amy Alagh -
Yes, I am using the RAE. I am attempting to contact ARS to help us out. I'm not sure if anyone else has run into the same issue. It looks like the sysdir demonstrates a C:\ location file for Stata, but I am not sure how to access that C:\ drive on RAE because it is not available...

Re: Problem with downloading xfill.do

by Crystal Langlais -
Hi Amy & Dallas -

Dallas - thank you for your help troubleshooting.

I wonder if it would help to set your working directory and then use the relative file path to run the xfill do-file.
As I recall, the Stata ran through RAE did not like to run the cd command to set the working directory. We'd advised students to set the working directory manually (through drop down menus) and then copy and paste the cd command stata gives you to your do-file. I was able to walk a student through using relative file use (after manually setting their working directory) within the RAE-ran Stata. This appeared to work fine and alleviated some of the weird errors that were occurring. Indeed, we want you to use relative file paths throughout your do-files. Have you tried using the relative file path to run the xfill do-file?

Re: Problem with downloading xfill.do

by Amy Alagh -
Hi! Yes, I tried the drop down menus and it didn't work. I still haven't figured it out but ARS returns tomorrow again so I will put in another ticket at that time. Has anyone else figured out how to pull in the file?

Re: Problem with downloading xfill.do

by Amy Alagh -
I have received information from ARS. They have closed any outgoing communication with their servers (ie, STATA RAE is not able to download any incoming user-made commands) on 8/4/2021. If anyone tries to download the xfill command from the website, it will not work on STATA RAE. They are trying to figure out around this, but it will might not be ready for class on 8/10. :(

Re: Problem with downloading xfill.do

by Crystal Langlais -
Hi All,
I just received confirmation from IT/RAE Support that the website needed to download the xfill program is now accessible/allowed through the RAE. Thus, you should be able to download the program using the xfill do file and execute your code normally for the midterm. If there continues to be any issues, please let me know. Huge THANK YOU to Amy for all her legwork on this!