[DDI-SRG] long and short integers

[Wendy Thomas]

so in effect they are defining an int as a short Integer and long as a 
long integer as w3c indicates the following relationships

decimal
   integer (decimal places = 0)
     long integer
     short integer (where in effect the short integer is a subset of a 
large integer)

very interesting


On Wed, 1 Aug 2007, I-Lin Kuo wrote:

> it's here
> http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?datatypes
>
> On 8/1/07, Wendy Thomas <wlt at pop.umn.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>> This is interesting because the default value for integers is generally 8
>> or 9 digits which makes it long by defination. In fact provided a width,
>> the only time there can be a question is when it is a 5 digit number, in
>> which case I need to know if its greater or less than 32767. Just seems a
>> bit odd is all. Can you check and see what STATA identifies as "long"?
>> Just curious.
>>
>> Wendy
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 1 Aug 2007, I-Lin Kuo wrote:
>>
>>> stata identifies byte, int, long. Other stat packages probably infer
>> this
>>> from the data.
>>>
>>> The specification of the data type as int or long can affect whether the
>>> dataset actually fits into memory or crashes with an out-of-memory error
>>> when you try to do a calculation with it. It probably also affects the
>> speed
>>> of the calculations.
>>>
>>> I don't think that in this case, the data itself really cares though.
>>>
>>> On 8/1/07, Wendy Thomas <wlt at pop.umn.edu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Data types in SPSS
>>>>
>>>> Numeric  (width, decimal places)
>>>> Comma
>>>> Dot
>>>> Scientific notation
>>>> Date (with a whole range of format options)
>>>> Dollar (with laoyout options)
>>>> Custom currency
>>>> String
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We may be moving into the world of overkill. As for allocating space,
>> all
>>>> these stats packages are space hogs. The read in the whole data set
>> store
>>>> all outputs and processes add filter variables and maintain a log. I
>> don't
>>>> think this is a function of long vs short integers
>>>>
>>>> Wendy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, 1 Aug 2007, Wendy Thomas wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> but one can set max length. Does STATA actually ask for identification
>>>> of
>>>>> longInteger shortInteger. All the statistical software I've worked
>> with
>>>>> stops at identifying integers. Actually its Numeric, length, number of
>>>>> decimals. If not declared SPSS sets a default of 8 characters with 2
>>>>> decimals.
>>>>>
>>>>> Wendy
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, 1 Aug 2007, I-Lin Kuo wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It makes a difference if you're writing stata code:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?datatypes
>>>>>>
>>>>>> According to that page, it conserves memory, which is important when
>>>> working
>>>>>> with large datasets. My wife uses stata, and sometimes she has to
>>>> explicitly
>>>>>> allocate more memory to stata because, I'm guessing, stata keeps the
>>>> entire
>>>>>> dataset in memory while working. I don't know how SAS or SPSS are
>>>> affected,
>>>>>> though.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 8/1/07, Wendy Thomas <wlt at pop.umn.edu> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> so the only difference between a long integer and a short integer is
>>>> that
>>>>>>> that short is limited to +32767 to -32768 where as a long can be
>>>>>>> +922337236854775807 to -922337236854775808. In either case I can
>>>> define
>>>>>>> the total digits. Basically the rule is "if it ain't short its
>> long"?
>>>> and
>>>>>>> if I want to be safe I just declare everything to be long so that I
>>>> don't
>>>>>>> have to check the ranges of 5 digit numbers.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Tell me this distinction has some value in the world of processing
>>>> social
>>>>>>> science data. I can see identifying an integer, but is this
>>>> necessary????
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Wendy
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Wendy L. Thomas                          Phone: +1 612.624.4389
>>>>>>> Data Access Core Director                Fax:   +1 612.626.8375
>>>>>>> Minnesota Population Center              Email: wlt at pop.umn.edu
>>>>>>> University of Minnesota
>>>>>>> 50 Willey Hall
>>>>>>> 225 19th Avenue South
>>>>>>> Minneapolis, MN 55455
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> DDI-SRG mailing list
>>>>>>> DDI-SRG at icpsr.umich.edu
>>>>>>> http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/mailman/listinfo/ddi-srg
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> I-Lin Kuo
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Wendy L. Thomas                          Phone: +1 612.624.4389
>>>>> Data Access Core Director              Fax:   +1 612.626.8375
>>>>> Minnesota Population Center              Email: wlt at pop.umn.edu
>>>>> University of Minnesota
>>>>> 50 Willey Hall
>>>>> 225 19th Avenue South
>>>>> Minneapolis, MN 55455
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> DDI-SRG mailing list
>>>>> DDI-SRG at icpsr.umich.edu
>>>>> http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/mailman/listinfo/ddi-srg
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Wendy L. Thomas                          Phone: +1 612.624.4389
>>>> Data Access Core Director                Fax:   +1 612.626.8375
>>>> Minnesota Population Center              Email: wlt at pop.umn.edu
>>>> University of Minnesota
>>>> 50 Willey Hall
>>>> 225 19th Avenue South
>>>> Minneapolis, MN 55455
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> I-Lin Kuo
>>>
>>
>> Wendy L. Thomas                          Phone: +1 612.624.4389
>> Data Access Core Director                Fax:   +1 612.626.8375
>> Minnesota Population Center              Email: wlt at pop.umn.edu
>> University of Minnesota
>> 50 Willey Hall
>> 225 19th Avenue South
>> Minneapolis, MN 55455
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> I-Lin Kuo
>

Wendy L. Thomas                          Phone: +1 612.624.4389
Data Access Core Director		 Fax:   +1 612.626.8375
Minnesota Population Center              Email: wlt at pop.umn.edu
University of Minnesota
50 Willey Hall
225 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455