EViews 9 Command and

Programming Reference
EViews 9 Command and Programming Reference
Copyright © 1994–2015 IHS Global Inc.
All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-880411-29-2

This software product, including program code and manual, is copyrighted, and all rights are
reserved by IHS Global Inc. The distribution and sale of this product are intended for the use of
the original purchaser only. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976,
no part of this product may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored
in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of IHS Global Inc.

Disclaimer
The authors and IHS Global Inc. assume no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this
manual or the EViews program. The user assumes all responsibility for the selection of the pro-
gram to achieve intended results, and for the installation, use, and results obtained from the pro-
gram.

Trademarks
EViews® is a registered trademark of IHS Global Inc. Windows, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access
are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Corpora-
tion. X11.2 and X12-ARIMA Version 0.2.7, and X-13ARIMA-SEATS are seasonal adjustment pro-
grams developed by the U. S. Census Bureau. Tramo/Seats is copyright by Agustin Maravall and
Victor Gomez. Info-ZIP is provided by the persons listed in the infozip_license.txt file. Please
refer to this file in the EViews directory for more information on Info-ZIP. Zlib was written by
Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler. More information on zlib can be found in the zlib_license.txt
file in the EViews directory. Bloomberg is a trademark of Bloomberg Finance L.P. All other prod-
uct names mentioned in this manual may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respec-
tive companies.

IHS Global Inc.

4521 Campus Drive, #336
Irvine CA, 92612-2621
Telephone: (949) 856-3368
Fax: (949) 856-2044
e-mail: [email protected]
web: www.eviews.com

March 14, 2016

Table of Contents

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER 1. OBJECT AND COMMAND BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Command Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Using Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Object Declaration and Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Object Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Object Data Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Interactive Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Auxiliary Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

CHAPTER 2. WORKING WITH GRAPHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Creating a Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Changing Graph Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Customizing a Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Labeling Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Printing Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Exporting Graphs to Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Graph Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

CHAPTER 3. WORKING WITH TABLES AND SPREADSHEETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Creating a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Assigning Table Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Customizing Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Labeling Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Printing Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Exporting Tables to Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Customizing Spreadsheet Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Table Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

CHAPTER 4. WORKING WITH SPOOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Creating a Spool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Working with a Spool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Printing the Spool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Spool Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
ii—Table of Contents

CHAPTER 5. STRINGS AND DATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

CHAPTER 6. EVIEWS PROGRAMMING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Program Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Simple Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Program Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Program Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Program Arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Program Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Control of Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Multiple Program Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Subroutines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
User-Defined Dialogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Version 4 Compatibility Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

CHAPTER 7. EXTERNAL CONNECTIVITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Reading EViews Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
EViews COM Automation Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
EViews Database Extension Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

CHAPTER 8. ADD-INS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

What is an Add-in? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Getting Started with Add-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Using Add-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Add-ins Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Managing Add-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Creating an Add-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Add-ins Design Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

CHAPTER 9. USER OBJECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213

What is a User Object? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Unregistered User Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Registered User Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
 Table of Contents—iii

Managing User Object Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Defining a Registered User Object Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
User Object Programming Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

CHAPTER 10. USER-DEFINED OPTIMIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Defining the Objective and Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
The Optimize Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

CHAPTER 11. MATRIX LANGUAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Declaring Matrix Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Assigning Matrix Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Copying Data Between Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Matrix Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Matrix Commands and Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Matrix Views and Procs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Matrix Operations versus Loop Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Summary of Automatic Resizing of Matrix Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

CHAPTER 12. COMMAND REFERENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

CHAPTER 13. OPERATOR AND FUNCTION REFERENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
Basic Mathematical Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Time Series Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
Financial Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Descriptive Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Cumulative Statistic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
Moving Statistic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Group Row Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
By-Group Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
Special Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
Trigonometric Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Statistical Distribution Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
String Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Date Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
iv—Table of Contents

Indicator Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Workfile & Informational Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Valmap Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

CHAPTER 14. OPERATOR AND FUNCTION LISTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .579

CHAPTER 15. WORKFILE FUNCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .593
Basic Workfile Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
Dated Workfile Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
Panel Workfile Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

CHAPTER 16. SPECIAL EXPRESSION REFERENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .601

CHAPTER 17. STRING AND DATE FUNCTION REFERENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .611
CHAPTER 18. MATRIX LANGUAGE REFERENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .653
CHAPTER 19. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE REFERENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .701
APPENDIX A. WILDCARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .739
Wildcard Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
Using Wildcard Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
Source and Destination Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740
Resolving Ambiguities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .741
Wildcard versus Pool Identifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .745
Preface

The EViews User’s Guide focuses primarily on interactive use of EViews using dialogs and
other parts of the graphical user interface.

Alternatively, you may use EViews’ powerful command and batch processing language to
perform almost every operation that can be accomplished using the menus. You can enter
and edit commands in the command window, or you can create and store the commands in
programs that document your research project for later execution.

This text, the EViews Command and Programming Reference, documents the use of com-
mands in EViews, along with examples of commands for commonly performed operations,
and provides general information about the command, programming, and matrix languages:

The first chapter provides an overview of using commands in EViews:

• Chapter 1. “Object and Command Basics,” on page 3 explains the basics of using
commands to work with EViews objects, and provides examples of some commonly
performed operations.

The next set of chapters discusses commands for working with specific EViews objects:
• Chapter 2. “Working with Graphs,” on page 33 describes the use of commands to cus-
tomize graph objects.
• Chapter 3. “Working with Tables and Spreadsheets,” on page 57 documents the table
object and describes the basics of working with tables in EViews.
• Chapter 4. “Working with Spools,” on page 69 discusses commands for working with
spools.

The EViews programming and matrix language are described in:

• Chapter 5. “Strings and Dates,” on page 77 describes the syntax and functions avail-
able for manipulating text strings and dates.
• Chapter 6. “EViews Programming,” on page 117 describes the basics of using pro-
grams for batch processing and documents the programming language.
• Chapter 7. “External Connectivity,” on page 175 documents EViews features for
interfacing with external applications through the OLEDB driver and various COM
automation interfaces.
• Chapter 11. “Matrix Language,” on page 257 describes the EViews matrix language.

The remaining chapters contain reference material:

2—Preface

• Chapter 12. “Command Reference,” on page 281 is the primary reference for com-
mands to work with EViews objects, workfiles, databases, external interfaces, pro-
grams, as well as other auxiliary commands.
• Chapter 13. “Operator and Function Reference,” on page 547 offers a categorical list of
element operators, numerical functions and descriptive statistics functions that may
be used with series and (in some cases) matrix objects.
• Chapter 14. “Operator and Function Listing,” on page 579 contains an alphabetical
list of the element operators, numerical functions and descriptive statistics functions
that may be used with series and (in some cases) matrix objects.
• Chapter 15. “Workfile Functions,” on page 593 describes special functions for obtain-
ing information about observations in the workfile.
• Chapter 16. “Special Expression Reference,” on page 601 describes special expressions
that may be used in series assignment and generation, or as terms in estimation spec-
ifications.
• Chapter 17. “String and Date Function Reference,” on page 611 documents the library
of string and date functions for use with alphanumeric and date values.
• Chapter 18. “Matrix Language Reference,” on page 653 describes the functions and
commands used in the EViews matrix language.
• Chapter 19. “Programming Language Reference,” on page 701 documents the func-
tions and keywords used in the EViews programming language.

There is additional material in the appendix:

• Appendix A. “Wildcards,” on page 739 describes the use of wildcards in different con-
texts in EViews.
Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

This chapter provides an brief overview of the command method of working with EViews
and EViews objects. The command line interface of EViews is comprised of a set of single
line commands, each of which may be classified as one of the following:
• object declarations and assignment statements.
• object view and procedure commands.
• interactive commands for creating objects and displaying views and procedures.
• auxiliary commands.

The following sections provide an overview of each of the command types. But before dis-
cussing the various types, we offer a brief discussion of the interactive and batch methods of
using commands in EViews.

Command Capture
Before beginning our in-depth discussion of commands in EViews, we note that a great way
to familiarize yourself with the EViews command language is to use command capture. With
command capture, when you perform an operation using the user-interface, EViews will
save the equivalent text command for display and export.

EViews offers command capture for most object views and procedures, and a large number
of interactive operations.

To enable command capture you must display the command capture window. To display the
window or set focus on the window, click on Window/Display Command Capture Win-
dow from the main EViews menu.
4—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

Once opened, you may move and resize the capture window as desired. The window may
even be pinned or moved outside of the frame of the EViews application (see “Command
and Capture Window Docking” on page 6).

Additionally, you may choose to echo any captured commands to the command window. To
enable this feature, select Options/General Options from the manu menu, and click on the
Command Capture node, and click on the Capture to Command Window checkbox.

You can copy-and-paste the contents of the capture window, or you can save the contents to
a file. Right-clicking in the window brings up a menu for copying or clearing the window,
saving the contents to a file on disk, or opening a new, untitled program containing the con-
tents of the window.

Note that not all interactive operations in EViews are capture enabled. Among the notable
exceptions are some types of graph creation and customization, and individual cell editing
for tables and spreadsheets. In addition, capture of object view graph customization is not
supported. Thus, if you wish to capture the commands for customizing the impulse
response view of a VAR object, you should freeze the view, and then customize the frozen
graph object.
 Using Commands—5

Using Commands
Commands may be used interactively or executed in batch mode.

Interactive Use
The command window is located (by default) just below the main menu bar at the top of the
EViews window. A blinking insertion cursor in the command window indicates that key-
board focus is in the command window and that keystrokes will be entered in the window at
the insertion point. If no insertion cursor is present, simply click in the command window to
change the focus.

To work interactively, you will type a command into the command window, then press
ENTER to execute the command. If you enter an incomplete command, EViews will open a
dialog box prompting you for additional information.

A command that you

enter in the window will
be executed as soon as
you press ENTER. The
insertion point need not
be at the end of the com-
mand line when you
press ENTER. EViews
will execute the entire line that contains the insertion point.

The contents of the command area may also be saved directly into a text file for later use.
First make certain that the command window is active by clicking anywhere in the window,
and then select File/Save As… from the main menu. EViews will prompt you to save an
ASCII file in the default working directory (default name “commandlog.txt”) containing the
entire contents of the command window.

Command Window Editing

When you enter a command, EViews will add it to the list of previously executed commands
contained in the window. You can scroll up to an earlier command, edit it, and hit ENTER.
The modified command will be executed. You may also use standard Windows copy-and-
paste between the command window and any other window.

EViews offers a couple of specialized tools for displaying previous commands. First, to bring
up previous commands in the order they were entered, press the Control key and the UP
arrow (CTRL+UP). The last command will be entered into the command window. Holding
down the CTRL key and pressing UP repeatedly will display the next prior commands.
Repeat until the desired command is displayed.
6—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

To look at a history of commands, press the Control Key and the J key (CTRL+J). This key
combination displays a history window containing the last 30 commands executed. Use the
UP and DOWN arrows until the desired command is selected and then press the ENTER key
to add it to the command window, or simply double click on the desired command. To close
the history window without selecting a command, click elsewhere in the command window
or press the Escape (ESC) key.

To execute the retrieved command, simply press ENTER again. You may first edit the com-
mand if you wish to do so.

You may resize the command window so that a larger number of previously executed com-
mands are visible. Use the mouse to move the cursor to the bottom of the window, hold
down the mouse button, and drag the bottom of the window downwards.

Command and Capture Window Docking

The EViews 9 command and capture windows are dockable, hideable, and floatable.

Dockable and hideable windows allow you to move frequently used windows out of the way
while keeping them close at hand. They offer space saving convenience which is particu-
larly valued when working with smaller screen devices like laptops.

Floatable windows allow you to move them out of the way of your work. You may even go
so far as to float a window outside of the EViews frame.

To re-arrange the layout of the Command or Capture window, first make sure the window
pane is not in sliding mode (the Pin icon should be IN so that it is vertical).
 Using Commands—7

Then drag the window to the desired location or dock.

Note that it is possible to drag a window into an unwanted position where it covers a por-
tion of a window with which you wish to work. In most cases, you may simply move the
window out of the way. If it is difficult to drag the window because you cannot see the title-
bar, you should be able use the scroll bars to gain easier access to the titlebar of the window.

Floating
You can drag the window to a new location just like any other window in EViews. However,
unlike other EViews windows, You can drag the command window outside of the EViews
frame:

Docking
Both the command and capture window panes can now be docked on any side inside the
main EViews window. Begin dragging the pane by left-clicking title bar and holding it down
as you drag it off the edge. At that point, you will see small docking guides appear inside the
main EViews window:
8—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

To dock the window, you will drag it to one of the docking guides. The docking behavior
will depend on which guide you select.

The docking guides allow you to dock the window pane to one of eight pre-defined areas.
The four guides on the outer edge of the main window allow you to dock the window as the
primary pane while the inner guides allow you to dock the window as a secondary pane. Pri-
mary panes take over the entire length of the selected edge and force other docked panes
that could intersect to become smaller to compensate. Secondary panes only take over the
portion of the selected edge that is not already occupied.

For example, if the capture pane is dragged to the right-most docking guide like this:
 Using Commands—9

and then released, the final layout looks like this

Because it is primary, it pushes the docked Command window pane at the top of the win-
dow to become smaller.

Alternatively, if the inner right guide was selected instead like this:
10—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

the final layout would look like this

Docking two panes onto the same primary edge can result in stacking, with the recently
moved pane being adjacent to the edge (as the primary), and any secondary panes being
stacked next to the primary pane (in the order they were docked).
 Using Commands—11

You can also dock a pane inside another pane in order to use the share the same space. If
you drag a pane over another pane, you are presented with additional docking guides inside
the other pane:
12—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

For example, selecting the inner-right guide area allows the Capture pane to appear to the
right of the Command pane with an adjustable split bar to let you resize the split:

The docking guide also offers an additional guide area directly in the center that allows you
to convert both panes into a tabbed view:
 Using Commands—13

Pinning
If your window is docked, you can “pin” it by clicking on the pin icon (so that it is horizon-
tal). When pinned, the window will be minimized and a small tab will be displayed in the
docked location.

To expand the pinned window, simply click on the tab. The window will automatically con-
tracts when it loses focus. Clicking on the Pin icon again will “un-pin” and expand the win-
dow permanently.

Keyboard Focus
We note that as you open and close object windows in EViews, the keyboard focus may
change from the command window to the active window. If you then wish to enter a com-
mand, you will first need to click in the command window to set the focus. You can influ-
ence EViews’ method of choosing keyboard focus by changing the global defaults—simply
select Options/General Options.../Window Behavior in the main menu, and change the
Keyboard Focus setting as desired.

Batch Program Use

You may assemble a number of commands into a program, and then execute the commands
in batch mode. Each command in the program will be executed in the order that it appears
in the program. Using batch programs allows you to make use of advanced capabilities such
as looping and condition branching, and subroutine and macro processing. Programs also
are an excellent way to document a research project since you will have a record of each
14—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

step of the project. Batch program use of EViews is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 6.
“EViews Programming,” on page 117.

One way to create a program file in EViews is to select File/New/Program. EViews will
open an untitled program window into which you may enter your commands. You can save
the program by clicking on the Save or SaveAs button, navigating to the desired directory,
and entering a file name. EViews will append the extension “.PRG” to the name you provide.

Alternatively, you can use your favorite text (ASCII) editor to create a program file contain-
ing your commands. It will prove convenient to name your file using the extension “.PRG”.
The commands in this program may then be executed from within EViews.

You may also enter commands in the command window and then use File/Save As... to
save the log for editing.

Object Declaration and Initialization

The simplest types of commands create an EViews object, or assign data to or initialize an
existing object.

Object Declaration
A simple object declaration has the form
object_type(options) object_name
where object_name is the name you would like to give to the newly created object and
object_type is one of the following object types:

Alpha (p. 4) Pool (p. 454) Sym (p. 699)

Coef (p. 16) Rowvector (p. 501) System (p. 729)

Equation (p. 31) Sample (p. 522) Table (p. 770)

Factor (p. 179) Scalar (p. 529) Text (p. 802)

Graph (p. 230) Series (p. 535) User (p. 810)

Group (p. 284) Spool (p. 662) Valmap (p. 819)

Logl (p. 361) Sspace (p. 633) Var (p. 827)

 Object Declaration and Initialization—15

Matrix (p. 378) String (p. 685) Vector (p. 869)

Model (p. 414) Svector (p. 692)

Details on each of the commands associated with each of these objects are provided in the
section beginning on the specified page in the Object Reference.

For example, the declaration,

series lgdp

creates a new series called LGDP, while the command:

equation eq1

creates a new equation object called EQ1.

Matrix objects are typically declared with their dimension as an option provided in paren-
theses after the object type. For example:
matrix(5,5) x

creates a 5  5 matrix named X, while

coef(10) results

creates a 10 element coefficient vector named RESULTS.

Simple declarations initialize the object with default values; in some cases, the defaults have
a meaningful interpretation, while in other cases, the object will simply be left in an incom-
plete state. In our examples, the newly created LGDP will contain all NA values and X and
RESULTS will be initialized to 0, while EQ1 will be simply be an uninitialized equation con-
taining no estimates.

Note that in order to declare an object you must have a workfile currently open in EViews.
You may open or create a workfile interactively from the File Menu or drag-and-dropping a
file onto EViews (see Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of User’s Guide I for details),
or you can may use the wfopen (p. 515) command to perform the same operations inside a
program.

Object Assignment
Object assignment statements are commands which assign data to an EViews object using
the “=” sign. Object assignment statements have the syntax:
object_name = expression
where object_name identifies the object whose data is to be modified and expression is an
expression which evaluates to an object of an appropriate type. Note that not all objects per-
16—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

mit object assignment; for example, you may not perform assignment to an equation object.
(You may, however, initialize the equation using a command method.)

The nature of the assignment varies depending on what type of object is on the left hand
side of the equal sign. To take a simple example, consider the assignment statement:
x = 5 * log(y) + z

where X, Y and Z are series. This assignment statement will take the log of each element of
Y, multiply each value by 5, add the corresponding element of Z, and, finally, assign the
result into the appropriate element of X.

Similarly, if M1, M2, and M3 are matrices, we may use the assignment statement:
m1 = @inverse(m2) * m3

to postmultiply the matrix inverse of M2 by M3 and assign the result to M1. This statement
presumes that M2 and M3 are suitably conformable.

Object Modification
In cases where direct assignment using the “=” operator is not allowed, one may initialize
the object using one or more object commands. We will discuss object commands in greater
detail in a moment (see “Object Commands,” on page 17) but for now simply note that
object commands may be used to modify the contents of an existing object.

For example:
eq1.ls log(cons) c x1 x2

uses an object command to estimate the linear regression of the LOG(CONS) on a constant,
X1, and X2, and places the results in the equation object EQ1.
sys1.append y=c(1)+c(2)*x
sys1.append z=c(3)+c(4)*x
sys1.ls

adds two lines to the system specification, then estimates the specification using system
least squares.

Similarly:
group01.add gdp cons inv g x

adds the series GDP, CONS, INV, G, and X to the group object GROUP01.

More on Object Declaration

Object declaration may often be combined with assignment or command initialization. For
example:
series lgdp = log(gdp)
 Object Commands—17

creates a new series called LGDP and initializes its elements with the log of the series GDP.
Similarly:
equation eq1.ls y c x1 x2

creates a new equation object called EQ1 and initializes it with the results from regressing
the series Y against a constant term, the series X1 and the series X2.

Lastly:
group group01 gdp cons inv g x

create the group GROUP01 containing the series GDP, CONS, INV, G, and X.

An object may be declared multiple times so long as it is always declared to be of the same
type. The first declaration will create the object, subsequent declarations will have no effect
unless the subsequent declaration also specifies how the object is to be initialized. For
example:
smpl @first 1979
series dummy = 1
smpl 1980 @last
series dummy=0

creates a series named DUMMY that has the value 1 prior to 1980 and the value 0 thereafter.

Redeclaration of an object to a different type is not allowed and will generate an error.

Object Commands
Most of the commands that you will employ are object commands. An object command is a
command which displays a view of or performs a procedure using a specific object. Object
commands have two main parts: an action followed by a view or procedure specification.
The (optional) display action determines what is to be done with the output from the view
or procedure. The view or procedure specification may provide for options and arguments to
modify the default behavior.

The complete syntax for an object command has the form:

action(action_opt) object_name.view_or_proc(options_list) arg_list
where:
action....................is one of the four verb commands (do, freeze, print, show).
action_opt ............an option that modifies the default behavior of the action.
object_name ..........the name of the object to be acted upon.
view_or_proc .........the object view or procedure to be performed.
options_list ...........an option that modifies the default behavior of the view or proce-
dure.
18—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

arg_list ................ a list of view or procedure arguments.

Action Commands
There are four possible action commands:
• show displays the object view in a window.
• do executes procedures without opening a window. If the object’s window is not cur-
rently displayed, no output is generated. If the objects window is already open, do is
equivalent to show.
• freeze creates a table or graph from the object view window.
• print prints the object view window.

As noted above, in most cases, you need not specify an action explicitly. If no action is spec-
ified, the show action is assumed for views and the do action is assumed for most proce-
dures (though some procedures will display newly created output in new windows unless
the command was executed via a batch program).

For example, when using an object command to display the line graph series view, EViews
implicitly adds a show command. Thus, the following two lines are equivalent:
gdp.line
show gdp.line

In this example, the view_or_proc argument is line, indicating that we wish to view a line
graph of the GDP data. There are no additional options or arguments specified in the com-
mand.

Alternatively, for the equation method (procedure) ls, there is an implicit do action:
eq1.ls cons c gdp
do eq1.ls cons c gdp

so that the two command lines describe equivalent behavior. In this case, the object com-
mand will not open the window for EQ1 to display the result. You may display the window
by issuing an explicit show command after issuing the initial command:
show eq1

or by combining the two commands:

show eq1.ls cons c gdp

Similarly:
print eq1.ls cons c gdp

both performs the implicit do action and then sends the output to the printer.

The following lines show a variety of object commands with modifiers:

 Object Commands—19

show gdp.line
print(l) group1.stats
freeze(output1) eq1.ls cons c gdp
do eq1.forecast eq1f

The first example opens a window displaying a line graph of the series GDP. The second
example prints (in landscape mode) descriptive statistics for the series in GROUP1. The third
example creates a table named OUTPUT1 from the estimation results of EQ1 for a least
squares regression of CONS on GDP. The final example executes the forecast procedure of
EQ1, putting the forecasted values into the series EQ1F and suppressing any procedure out-
put.

Of these four examples, only the first opens a window and displays output on the screen.

Output Control
As noted above, the display action determines the destination for view and procedure out-
put. Here we note in passing a few extensions to these general rules.

You may request that a view be simultaneously printed and displayed on your screen by
including the letter “p” as an option to the object command. For example, the expression,
gdp.correl(24, p)

is equivalent to the two commands:

show gdp.correl(24)
print gdp.correl(24)

since correl is a series view. The “p” option can be combined with other options, sepa-
rated by commas. So as not to interfere with other option processing, we recommend that
the “p” option always be specified after any required options.

Note that the print command accepts the “l” or “p” option to indicate landscape or portrait
orientation. For example:
print(l) gdp.correl(24)

Printer output can be redirected to a text file, frozen output, or a spool object. (See output
(p. 428), and the discussion in “Print Setup” on page 833 of User’s Guide I for details.)

The freeze command used without options creates an untitled graph or table from a view
specification:
freeze gdp.line

You also may provide a name for the frozen object in parentheses after the word freeze.
For example:
freeze(figure1) gdp.bar
20—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

names the frozen bar graph of GDP as “figure1”.

View and Procedure Commands

Not surprisingly, the view or procedure commands correspond to elements of the views and
procedures menus for the various objects.

For example, the top level of the view menu for the series
object allows you to: display a spreadsheet view of the data,
graph the data, perform a one-way tabulation, compute and
display a correlogram or long-run variance, perform unit root
or variance ratio tests, conduct a BDS independence test, or
display or modify the label view.

Object commands exist for each of these views. Suppose for

example, that you have the series object SER01. Then:
ser01.sheet
ser01.stats

display the spreadsheet and descriptive statistics views of the data in the series. There are a
number of graph commands corresponding to the menu entry, so that you may enter:
ser01.line
ser01.bar
ser01.hist

which display a line graph, bar graph, and histogram, respectively, of the data in SER01.
Similarly,
ser01.freq

performs a one-way tabulation of the data, and:

ser01.correl
ser01.lrvar
ser01.uroot
ser01.vratio 2 4 8
ser01.bdstest

display the correlogram and long-run variances, and conduct unit root, variance ratio, and
independence testing for the data in the series. Lastly:
ser01.label(r) "this is the added series label"

appends the text “this is the added series label” to the end of the remarks field.

There are commands for all of the views and procedures of each EViews object. Details on
the syntax of each of the object commands may be found in Chapter 1. “Object View and
Procedure Reference,” beginning on page 2 in the Object Reference.
 Object Data Members—21

Object Data Members

Every object type in EViews has a selection of data members. These members contain infor-
mation about the object and can be retrieved from an object to be used as part of another
command, or stored into the workfile as a new object.

Data members can be accessed by typing the object name followed by a period and then the
data member name. Note that all data members’ names start with an “@” symbol.

The following data members belong to every object type in EViews:

Data Member Name Description

Returns the name of the
@name
object
Returns the display name of
the object. If the object has
@displayname
no display name, the name is
returned
@type Returns the object type
Returns the units of the
@units
object, (if available)
Returns the source of the
@source
object (if available)
Returns the description of the
@description
object (if available)
Returns the remarks of the
@remarks
object (if available)
Returns the string representa-
@updatetime tion of the time the object
was last updated

Along with these global data members, each object type has a set of data members specific
to that type. For example, equation objects have a data member, @r2, that returns a scalar
containing the R-squared from that equation. Groups have an member, @count, that returns
a scalar containing the number of series contained within that group. A full list of each
object’s data members can be found under the object’s section in Chapter 1. “Object View
and Procedure Reference,” on page 2 of the Object Reference.

As an example of using data members, the commands:

equation eq1.ls y c x1 x2
table tab1
tab1(1,1) = eq1.@f
22—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

create an equation named EQ1 and a table named TAB1, and then set the first cell of the
table equal to the F-statistic from the estimated equation.

Interactive Commands
There is also a set of auxiliary commands which are designed to facilitate interactive use.
These commands perform the same operations as equivalent object commands, but do so
on newly created, unnamed objects. For example, the command:
ls y c x1 x2

will regress the series Y against a constant term, the series X1 and the series X2, and create
a new untitled equation object to hold the results.

Similarly, the command:

scat x y

creates an untitled group object containing the series X and Y and then displays a scatterplot
of the data in the two series.

Since these commands are designed primarily for interactive use, they are designed for car-
rying out simple tasks. Overuse of these interactive tools, or their use in programs, will
make it difficult to manage your work since unnamed objects cannot be referenced by name
from within a program, cannot be saved to disk, and cannot be deleted except through the
graphical Windows interface. In general, we recommend that you use named objects rather
than untitled objects for your work. For example, we may replace the first auxiliary com-
mand above with the statement:
equation eq1.ls y c x1 x2

to create the named equation object EQ1. This example uses declaration of the object EQ1
and the equation method ls to perform the same task as the auxiliary command above.

Similarly,
group mygroup x y
mygroup.scat

displays the scatterplot of the series in the named group MYGROUP.

Auxiliary Commands
Auxiliary commands are commands which are unrelated to a particular object (i.e., are not
object views or procs), or act on an object in a way that is generally independent of the type
or contents of the object. Many of the important auxiliary commands are used for managing
objects, and object containers. A few of the more important commands are described below.

Auxiliary commands typically follow the syntax:

 Auxiliary Commands—23

command(option_list) argument_list
where command is the name of the command, option_list is a list of options separated by
commas, and argument_list is a list of arguments generally separated by spaces.

An example of an auxiliary command is:

store(d=c:\newdata\db1) gdp m x

which will store the three objects GDP, M and X in the database named DB1 in the directory
C:\NEWDATA.

Managing Workfiles and Databases

There are two types of object containers: workfiles and databases. All EViews objects must
be held in an object container, so before you begin working with objects you must create a
workfile or database. Workfiles and databases are described in depth in Chapter 3. “Workfile
Basics,” beginning on page 41 and Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” beginning on page 307
of User’s Guide I.

Managing Workfiles
To declare and create a new workfile, you may use the wfcreate (p. 510) command. You
may enter the keyword wfcreate followed by a name for the workfile, an option for the fre-
quency of the workfile, and the start and end dates. The most commonly used workfile fre-
quency type options are:

a annual.
s semi-annual.
q quarterly.
m monthly.
w weekly.
d daily (5 day week).
7 daily (7 day week).
u undated/unstructured.

but there are additional options for multi-year, bimonthly, fortnight, ten-day, daily with cus-
tom week, intraday, integer date, and undated frequency workfiles.

For example:
wfcreate macro1 q 1965Q1 1995Q4

creates a new quarterly workfile named MACRO1 from the first quarter of 1965 to the fourth
quarter of 1995.
wfcreate cps88 u 1 1000
24—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

creates a new undated workfile named CPS88 with 1000 observations.

Alternately, you may use wfopen (p. 515) to read a foreign data source into a new workfile.

If you have multiple open workfiles, the wfselect (p. 532) command may be used to
change the active workfile.

To save the active workfile, use the wfsave (p. 529) command by typing the keyword
wfsave followed by a workfile name. If any part of the path or workfile name has spaces,
you should enclose the entire expression in quotation marks. The active workfile will be
saved in the default path under the given name. You may optionally provide a path to save
the workfile in a different directory:
wfsave a:\mywork

If necessary, enclose the path name in quotations.

To close the workfile, use the close (p. 310) command. For example:
close mywork

closes the workfile window of MYWORK.

To open a previously saved workfile, use the wfopen (p. 515) command. You should follow
the keyword with the name of the workfile. You can optionally include a path designation to
open workfiles that are not saved in the default path. For example:
wfopen "c:\mywork\proj1"

Managing Databases
To create a new database, follow the dbcreate (p. 342) command keyword with a name for
the new database. Alternatively, you could use the db (p. 340) command keyword followed
by a name for the new database. The two commands differ only when the named database
already exists.

If you use dbcreate and the named database already exists on disk, EViews will error indi-
cating that the database already exits. If you use db and the named database already exists
on disk, EViews will simply open the existing database. Note that the newly opened data-
base will become the default database.

For example:
dbcreate mydata1

creates a new database named MYDATA1 in the default path, opens a new database win-
dow, and makes MYDATA1 the default database.
db c:\evdata\usdb
 Auxiliary Commands—25

opens the USDB database in the specified directory if it already exists. If it does not, EViews
creates a new database named USDB, opens its window, and makes it the default database.

You may use dbopen (p. 344) to open an existing database and to make it the default data-
base. For example:
dbopen findat

opens the database named FINDAT in the default directory. If the database does not exist,
EViews will error indicating that the specified database cannot be found.

You may use dbrename to rename an existing database. Follow the dbrename keyword by
the current (old) name and a new name:
dbrename temp1 newmacro

To delete an existing database, use the dbdelete (p. 344) command. Follow the dbdelete
keyword by the name of the database to delete:
dbdelete c:\data\usmacro

dbcopy (p. 340) makes a copy of the existing database. Follow the dbcopy keyword with
the name of the source file and the name of the destination file:
dbcopy c:\evdata\macro1 a:\macro1

dbpack (p. 346) and dbrebuild (p. 347) are database maintenance commands. See also
Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” beginning on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a detailed
description.

Managing Objects
In the course of a program you will often need to manage the objects in a workfile by copy-
ing, renaming, deleting and storing them to disk. EViews provides a number of auxiliary
commands which perform these operations. The following discussion introduces you to the
most commonly used commands; a full description of these, and other commands is pro-
vided in Chapter 12. “Command Reference,” on page 281.

Copying Objects
You may create a duplicate copy of one or more objects using the copy (p. 327) command.
The copy command is an auxiliary command with the format:
copy source_name dest_name

where source_name is the name of the object you wish to duplicate, and dest_name is the
name you want attached to the new copy of the object.

The copy command may also be used to copy objects in databases and to move objects
between workfiles and databases.
26—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

Copy with Wildcard Characters

EViews supports the use of wildcard characters (“?” for a single character match and “*” for
a pattern match) in destination specifications when using the copy and rename commands.
Using this feature, you can copy or rename a set of objects whose names share a common
pattern in a single operation. This features is useful for managing series produced by model
simulations, series corresponding to pool cross-sections, and any other situation where you
have a set of objects which share a common naming convention.

A destination wildcard pattern can be used only when a wildcard pattern has been provided
for the source, and the destination pattern must always conform to the source pattern in that
the number and order of wildcard characters must be exactly the same between the two. For
example, the patterns:

Source Pattern Destination Pattern

x* y*
*c b*
x*12? yz*f?abc

conform to each other. These patterns do not:

Source Pattern Destination Pattern

a* b
*x ?y
x*y* *x*y*

When using wildcards, the destination name is formed by replacing each wildcard in the
destination pattern by the characters from the source name that matched the corresponding
wildcard in the source pattern. Some examples should make this principle clear:

Source Pattern Destination Pattern Source Name Destination Name

*_base *_jan x_base x_jan
us_* * us_gdp gdp
x? x?f x1 x1f
*_* **f us_gdp usgdpf
??*f ??_* usgdpf us_gdp

Note, as shown in the second example, that a simple asterisk for the destination pattern
does not mean to use the unaltered source name as the destination name. To copy objects
between containers preserving the existing name, either repeat the source pattern as the des-
tination pattern,
 Auxiliary Commands—27

copy x* db1::x*

or omit the destination pattern entirely:

copy x* db1::

If you use wildcard characters in the source name and give a destination name without a
wildcard character, EViews will keep overwriting all objects which match the source pattern
to the name given as destination.

For additional discussion of wildcards, see Appendix A. “Wildcards,” on page 739.

Renaming Objects
You can give an object a different name using the rename (p. 461) command. The rename
command has the format:
rename source_name dest_name

where source_name is the original name of the object and dest_name is the new name you
would like to give to the object.

rename can also be used to rename objects in databases.

You may use wildcards when renaming series. The name substitution rules are identical to
those described above for copy.

Deleting Objects
Objects may be removed from the workfile or a database using the delete command. The
delete command has the format:
delete name_pattern

where name_pattern can either be a simple name such as “XYZ”, or a pattern containing
the wildcard characters “?” and “*”, where “?” means to match any one character, and “*”
means to match zero or more characters. When a pattern is provided, all objects in the
workfile with names matching the pattern will be deleted. Appendix A. “Wildcards,” on
page 739 describes further the use of wildcards.

Saving Objects
All named objects will be saved automatically in the workfile when the workfile is saved to
disk. You can store and retrieve the current workfile to and from disk using the wfsave
(p. 529) and wfopen (p. 515) commands. Unnamed objects will not be saved as part of the
workfile.

You can also save objects for later use by storing them in a database. The store (p. 484)
command has the format:
store(option_list) object1 object2 …
28—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics

where object1, object2, ..., are the names of the objects you would like to store in the data-
base. If no options are provided, the series will be stored in the current default database (see
Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of the
default database). You can store objects into a particular database by using the option
“d=db_name” or by prepending the object name with a database name followed by a dou-
ble colon “::”, such as:
store db1::x db2::x

Fetch Objects
You can retrieve objects from a database using the fetch (p. 355) command. The fetch
command has the same format as the store command:
fetch(option_list) object1 object2 …

To specify a particular database use the “d=” option or the “::” extension as for store.
Auxiliary Commands—29
30—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics
Auxiliary Commands—31
32—Chapter 1. Object and Command Basics
Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

EViews provides an extensive set of commands to generate and customize graphs from the
command line or using programs. A summary of the graph commands described below may
be found under “Graph” on page 230 of the Object Reference.

In addition, Chapter 15. “Graph Objects,” on page 705 of User’s Guide I describes graph cus-
tomization in detail, focusing on the interactive method of working with graphs.

Creating a Graph
There are three types of graphs in EViews: graphs that are views of other objects, and named
or unnamed graph objects. The commands provided for customizing the appearance of your
graphs are available for use with named graph objects. You may use the dialogs interactively
to modify the appearance of all types of graphs.

Displaying graphs using commands

The simplest way to display a graph view is to use one of the basic graph commands.
(“Graph Creation Commands” on page 285 provides a convenient listing.)

Where possible EViews will simply open the object and display the appropriate graph view.
For example, to display a line or bar graph of the series INCOME and CONS, you may simply
issue the commands:
line income
bar cons

In other cases, EViews must first create an unnamed object and then will display the desired
view of that object. For example:
scat x y z

first creates an unnamed group object containing the three series and then, using the scat
view of a group, displays scatterplots of Y on X and Z on X in a single frame.

As with other EViews commands, graph creation commands allow you to specify a variety
of options and arguments to modify the default graph settings. You may, for example, rotate
the bar graph using the “rotate” option,
bar(rotate) cons

or you may display boxplots along the borders of your scatter plot using:
scat(ab=boxplot) x y z
34—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

Note that while using graph commands interactively may be quite convenient, these com-
mands are not recommended for program use since you will not be able to use the resulting
unnamed objects in your program.

The next section describes a more flexible approach to displaying graphs.

Displaying graphs as object views

You may display a graph of an existing object using a graph view command. For example,
you may use the following two commands to display graph views of a series and a group:
ser2.area(n)
grp6.xypair

The first command plots the series SER2 as an area graph with normalized scaling. The sec-
ond command provides an XY line graph view of the group GRP6, with the series plotted in
pairs.

To display graphs for multiple series, we may first create a group containing the series and
then display the appropriate view:
group g1 x y z
g1.scat

shows the scatterplot of the series in the newly created group G1.

There are a wide range of sophisticated graph views that you may display using commands.
See Chapter . “,” beginning on page 895 of the Object Reference for a detailed listing along
with numerous examples.

Before proceeding, it is important to note that graph views of objects differ from graph
objects in important ways:
• First, graph views of objects may not be customized using commands after they are
first created. The graph commands for customizing an existing graph are designed for
use with graph objects.
• Second, while you may use interactive dialogs to customize an existing object’s graph
view, we caution you that there is no guarantee that the customization will be perma-
nent. In many cases, the customized settings will not be saved with the object and
will be discarded when the view changes or if the object is closed and then reopened.
In contrast, graph objects may be customized extensively after they are created. Any
customization of a graph object is permanent, and will be saved with the object.

Since construction of a graph view is described in detail elsewhere (Chapter . “,” beginning
on page 895 of the Object Reference), we focus the remainder of our attention on the creation
and customization of graph objects.
 Creating a Graph—35

Creating graph objects from object views

If you wish to create a graph object from another object, you should combine the object
view command with the freeze command. Simply follow the freeze keyword with an
optional name for the graph object, and the object view to be frozen. For example,
freeze grp6.xypair(m)

creates and displays an unnamed graph object of the GRP6 view showing an XY line graph
with the series plotted in pairs in multiple graph frames. Be sure to specify any desired
graph options (e.g., “m”). Note that freezing an object view will not necessarily copy the
existing custom appearance settings such as line color, axis assignment, etc. For this reason
that we recommend that you create a graph object before performing extensive customiza-
tion of a view.

You should avoid creating unnamed graphs when using commands in programs since you
will be unable to refer to, or work with the resulting object in a program. Instead, you
should tell EViews to create a named object, as in:
freeze(graph1) grp6.line

which creates a graph object GRAPH1 containing a line graph of the data in GRP6. By
default, the frozen graph will have updating turned off, but in most cases you may use the
Graph::setupdate graph proc to turn updating on.

Note that using the freeze command with a name for the graph will create the graph object
and store it in the workfile without showing it. Furthermore, since we have frozen a graph
type (line) that is different from our current XY line view, existing custom appearance set-
tings will not be copied to the new graph.

Once you have created a named graph object, you may use the various graph object procs to
further customize the appearance of your graph. See “Customizing a Graph,” beginning on
page 38.

Creating named graph objects

There are three direct methods for creating a named graph object. First, you may use the
freeze command as described above. Alternatively, you may declare a graph object using
the graph command. The graph command may be used to create graph objects with a spe-
cific graph type or to merge existing graph objects.

Specifying a graph by type

To specify a graph by type you should use the graph keyword, followed by a name for the
graph, the type of graph you wish to create, and a list of series (see “Graph Type Com-
mands” on page 230 of the Object Reference for a list of types). If a type is not specified, a
line graph will be created.
36—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

For example, both:

graph gr1 ser1 ser2
graph gr2.line ser1 ser2

create graph objects containing the line graph view of SER1 and SER2, respectively.

Similarly:
graph gr3.xyline group3

creates a graph object GR3 containing the XY line graph view of the series in GROUP3.

Each graph type provides additional options, which may be included when declaring the
graph. Among the most important options are those for controlling scaling or graph type.

The scaling options include:

• Automatic scaling (“a”), in which series are graphed using the default single scale.
The default is left scale for most graphs, or left and bottom for XY graphs.
• Dual scaling without crossing (“d”) scales the first series on the left and all other
series on the right. The left and right scales will not overlap.
• Dual scaling with possible crossing (“x”) is the same as the “d” option, but will allow
the left and right scales to overlap.
• Normalized scaling (“n”), scales using zero mean and unit standard deviation.

For example, the commands:

graph g1.xyline(d) unemp gdp inv
show g1

create and display an XY line graph of the specified series with dual scales and no crossing.

The graph type options include:

• Mixed graph (“l”) creates a single graph in which the first series is the selected graph
type (bar, area, or spike) and all remaining series are line graphs.
• Multiple graph (“m”) plots each graph in a separate frame.
• Stacked graph (“s”) plots the cumulative addition of the series, so the value of a series
is represented as the difference between the lines, bars, or areas.

For example, the commands:

group grp1 sales1 sales2
graph grsales.bar(s) grp1
show grsales
 Changing Graph Types—37

create a group GRP1 containing the series SALES1 and SALES2, then create and display a
stacked bar graph GRSALES of the series in the group.

You should consult the command reference entry for each graph type for additional informa-
tion, including a list of the available options (i.e., see bar for complete details on bar
graphs, and line for details on line graphs).

Merging graph objects

The graph command may also be used to merge existing named graph objects into a named
multiple graph object. For example:
graph gr2.merge gr1 grsales

creates a multiple graph object GR2, combining two graph objects previously created.

Creating unnamed graph objects

There are two ways of creating an unnamed graph object. First, you may use the freeze
command as described in “Creating graph objects from object views” on page 35.

As we have seen earlier you may also use any of the graph type keywords as a command
(“Displaying graphs using commands” on page 33). Follow the keyword with any available
options for that type, and a list of the objects to graph. EViews will create an unnamed
graph of the specified type that is not stored in the workfile. For instance:
line(x) ser1 ser2 ser3

creates a line graph with series SER1 scaled on the left axis and series SER2 and SER3 scaled
on the right axis.

If you later decide to name this graph, you may do so interactively by clicking on the Name
button in the graph button bar. Alternatively, EViews will prompt you to name or delete any
unnamed objects before closing the workfile.

Note that there is no way to name an unnamed graph object in a program. We recommend
that you avoid creating unnamed graphs in programs since you will be unable to use the
resulting object.

Changing Graph Types

You may change the graph type of a named graph object by following the object name with
the desired graph type keyword and any options for that type. For example:
grsales.bar(l)

converts the bar graph GRSALES, created above, into a mixed bar-line graph, where SALES1
is plotted as a bar graph and SALES2 is plotted as a line graph within a single graph.
38—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

Note that specialized graphs, such as boxplots, place limitations on your ability to change
the graph type. In general, your ability to customize the graph settings is more limited when
changing graph types than when generating the graph from the original data.

Graph options are generally preserved when changing graph types. This includes attributes
such as line color and axis assignment, as well as objects added to the graph, such as text
labels, lines and shading. Commands to modify the appearance of named graph objects are
described in “Customizing a Graph” on page 38.

Note, however, that the line and fill graph settings are set independently. Line attributes
apply to line and spike graphs, while fill attributes apply to bar, area, and pie graphs. For
example, if you have modified the color of a line in a spike graph, this color will not be used
for the fill area if the graph is changed to an area graph.

Customizing a Graph
EViews provides a wide range of tools for customizing the appearance of a named graph
object. Nearly every display characteristic of the graph may be modified, including the
appearance of lines and filled areas, legend characteristics and placement, frame size and
attributes, and axis settings. In addition, you may add text labels, lines, and shading to the
graph.

You may modify the appearance of a graph using dialogs or via the set of commands
described below. Note that the commands are only available for graph objects since they
take the form of graph procedures.

An overview of the relationship between the tabs of the graph dialog and the associated
graph commands is illustrated below:
 Customizing a Graph—39

Line characteristics
For each data line in a graph, you may modify color, width, pattern and symbol using the
Graph::setelem command. Follow the command keyword with an integer representing
the data element in the graph you would like to modify, and one or more keywords for the
characteristic you wish to change. List of symbol and pattern keywords, color keywords, and
RGB settings are provided in Graph::setelem.

To modify line color and width you should use the lcolor and lwidth keywords:
graph gr1.line ser1 ser2 ser3
gr1.setelem(3) lcolor(orange) lwidth(2)
gr1.setelem(3) lcolor(255, 128, 0) lwidth(2)

The first command creates a line graph GR1 with colors and widths taken from the global
defaults, while the latter two commands equivalently change the graph element for the third
series to an orange line 2 points wide.

Each data line in a graph may be drawn with a line, symbols, or both line and symbols. The
drawing default is given by the global options, but you may elect to add lines or symbols
using the lpattern or symbol keywords.

To add circular symbols to the line for element 3, you may enter:
gr1.setelem(3) symbol(circle)

Note that this operation modifies the existing options for the symbols, but that the line type,
color and width settings from the original graph will remain. To return to line only or sym-
bol only in a graph in which both lines and symbols are displayed, you may turn off either
symbols or patterns, respectively, by using the “none” type:
gr1.setelem(3) lpat(none)

or
gr1.setelem(3) symbol(none)

The first example removes the line from the drawing for the third series, so only the circular
symbol is used. The second example removes the symbol, so only the line is used.

If you attempt to remove the lines or symbols from a graph element that contains only lines
or symbols, respectively, the graph will change to show the opposite type. For example:
gr1.setelem(3) lpat(dash2) symbol(circle)
gr1.setelem(3) symbol(none)
gr1.setelem(3) lpat(none)

initially represents element 3 with both lines and symbols, then turns off symbols for ele-
ment 3 so that it is displayed as lines only, and finally shows element 3 as symbols only,
since the final command turns off lines in a line-only graph.
40—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

The examples above describe customization of the basic elements common to most graph
types. “Modifying Boxplots” on page 52 provides additional discussion of Graph::setelem
options for customizing boxplot data elements.

Use of color with lines and filled areas

By default, EViews automatically formats graphs to accommodate output in either color or
black and white. When a graph is sent to a printer or saved to a file in black and white,
EViews translates the colored lines and fills seen on the screen into an appropriate black and
white representation. The black and white lines are drawn with line patterns, and fills are
drawn with gray shading. Thus, the appearance of lines and fills on the screen may differ
from what is printed in black and white (this color translation does not apply to boxplots).

You may override this auto choice display method by changing the global defaults for
graphs. You may choose, for example, to display all lines and fills as patterns and gray
shades, respectively, whether the graph uses color or not. All subsequently created graphs
will use the new settings.

Alternatively, if you would like to override the color, line pattern, and fill settings for a given
graph object, you may use the Graph::options graph proc.

Color
To change the color setting for an existing graph object, you should use options with the
color keyword. If you wish to turn off color altogether for all lines and filled areas, you
should precede the keyword with a negative sign, as in:
gr1.options -color

To turn on color, you may use the same command with the “-” omitted.

Lines and patterns

To always display solid lines in your graph, irrespective of the color setting, you should use
options with the linesolid keyword. For example:
gr1.options linesolid

sets graph GR1 to use solid lines when rendering on the screen in color and when printing,
even if the graph is printed in black and white. Note that this setting may make identifica-
tion of individual lines difficult in a printed black and white graph, unless you change the
widths or symbols associated with individual lines (see “Line characteristics” on page 39).

Conversely, you may use the linepat option to use patterned lines regardless of the color
setting:
gr1.options linepat
 Customizing a Graph—41

One advantage of using the linepat option is that it allows you to see the pattern types that
will be used in black and white printing without turning off color in your graph. For exam-
ple, using the Graph::setelem command again, change the line pattern of the second
series in GR1 to a dashed line:
gr1.setelem(2) lpat(dash1)

This command will not change the appearance of the colored lines on the screen if color is
turned on and auto choice of line and fill type is set. Thus, the line will remain solid, and
the pattern will not be visible until the graph is printed in black and white. To view the cor-
responding patterns, either turn off color so all lines are drawn as black patterned lines, or
use the linepat setting to force patterns.

To reset the graph or to override modified global settings so that the graph uses auto choice,
you may use the lineauto keyword:
gr1.options lineauto

This setting instructs the graph to use solid lines when drawing in color, and use line pat-
terns and gray shades when drawing in black and white.

Note that regardless of the color or line pattern settings, you may always view the selected
line patterns in the Lines & Symbols section of the graph options dialog. The dialog can be
brought up interactively by double clicking anywhere in the graph.

Filled area characteristics

You can modify the color, gray shade, and hatch pattern of each filled area in a bar, area, or
pie graph.

To modify these settings, use Graph::setelem, followed by an integer representing the

data element in the graph you would like to modify, and a keyword for the characteristic you
wish to change. For example, consider the commands:
graph mygraph.area(s) series1 series2 series3
mygraph.setelem(1) fcolor(blue) hatch(fdiagonal) gray(6)
mygraph.setelem(1) fcolor(0, 0, 255) hatch(fdiagonal) gray(6)

The first command creates MYGRAPH, a stacked area graph of SERIES1, SERIES2, and
SERIES3. The latter two commands are equivalent, modifying the first series by setting its
fill color to blue with a forward diagonal hatch. If MYGRAPH is viewed without color, the
area will appear with a hatched gray shade of index 6.

See Graph::setelem for a list of available color keywords, and for gray shade indexes and
available hatch keywords. Note that changes to gray shades will not be visible in the graph
unless color is turned off.
42—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

Using preset lines and fills

For your convenience, EViews provides you with a collection of preset line and fill character-
istics. Each line preset defines a color, width, pattern, and symbol for a line, and each fill
preset defines a color, gray shade, and hatch pattern for a fill. There are thirty line and thirty
fill presets.

The global graph options are initially set to use the EViews preset settings. These global
options are used when you first create a graph, providing a different appearance for each
line or fill. The first line preset is applied to the first data line, the second preset is applied to
the second data line, and so on. If your graph contains more than thirty lines or fills, the pre-
sets are simply reused in order.

You may customize the graph defaults in the global Graph Options dialog. Your settings will
replace the existing EViews defaults, and will be applied to all graphs created in the future.

EViews allows you to use either the original EViews presets, or those you have specified in
the global Graph Options dialog when setting the characteristics of an existing graph. The
keyword preset is used to indicate that you should use the set of options from the corre-
sponding EViews preset; the keyword default is used to indicate that you should use the
set of options from the corresponding global graph element defaults.

For example:
mygraph.setelem(2) preset(3)

allows the second fill area in MYGRAPH to use the original EViews presets for a third fill
area. In current versions of EViews, these settings include a green fill, a medium gray shade
of 8, and no hatch.

Alternatively:
mygraph.setelem(2) default(3)

also changes the second area of MYGRAPH, but uses the third set of user-defined presets. If
you have not yet modified your global graph defaults, the two commands will yield identical
results.

When using the preset or default keywords with boxplots, the line color of the specified
preset will be applied to all boxes, whiskers, and staples in the graph. See “Modifying Box-
plots” on page 52 for additional information.

Scaling and axes

There are four commands that may be used to modify the axis and scaling characteristics of
your graphs:
• First, the Graph::setelem command with the axis keyword may be used to assign
data elements to different axes.
 Customizing a Graph—43

• Second, the Graph::axis command can be used to customize the appearance of any
axes in the graph object. You may employ the axis command to modify the scaling of
the data itself, for example, as when you use a logarithmic scale, or to alter the scaling
of the axis, as when you enable dual scaling. The axis command may also be used to
change the appearance of axes, such as to modify tick marks, change the font size of
axis labels, turn on grid or zero lines, or duplicate axes.
• Third, the Graph::datelabel command modifies the labeling of the bottom date/
time axis in time plots. Use this command to change the way date labels are formatted
or to specify label frequency.
• Finally, the Graph::setobslabel command may be used to create custom axis
labels for the observation scale of a graph.

Assigning data to an axis

In most cases, when a graph is created, all data elements are initially assigned to the left
axis. XY graphs differ slightly in that data elements are initially assigned to either the left or
bottom axis.

Once a graph is created, individual elements may generally be assigned to either the left or
right axis. In XY graphs, you may reassign individual elements to either the left, right, top,
or bottom axis, while in boxplots or stacked time/observation graphs all data elements must
be assigned to the same vertical axis.

To assign a data element to a different axis, use the setelem command with the axis key-
word. For example, the commands:
graph graph02.line ser1 ser2
graph02.setelem(2) axis(right)

first create GRAPH02, a line graph of SER1 and SER2, and then turn GRAPH02 into a dual
scaled graph by assigning the second data element, SER2, to the right axis.

In this example, GRAPH02 uses the default setting for dual scale graphs by disallowing
crossing, so that the left and right scales do not overlap. To allow the scales to overlap, use
the axis command with the overlap keyword, as in:
graph02.axis overlap

The left and right scales now span the entire axes, allowing the data lines to cross. To
reverse this action and disallow crossing, use -overlap, (the overlap keyword preceded
by a minus sign, “–”).

For XY graphs without pairing, the first series is generally plotted along the bottom axis, and
the remaining series are plotted on the left axis. XY graphs allow more manipulation than
time/observation plots, because the top and bottom axes may also be assigned to an ele-
ment. For example:
44—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

graph graph03.xyline s1 s2 s3 s4
graph03.setelem(1) axis(top)
graph03.setelem(2) axis(right)

first creates an XY line graph GRAPH03 of the series S1, S2, S3, and S4. The first series is
then assigned to the top axis, and the second series is moved to the right axis. Note that the
graph now uses three axes: top, left, and right.

Note that the element index in the setelem command is not necessary for boxplots and
stacked time/observation graphs, since all data elements must be assigned to the same ver-
tical axis.

While EViews allows dual scaling for the vertical axes in most graph types, the horizontal
axes must use a single scale on either the top or bottom axis. When a new element is moved
to or from one of the horizontal axes, EViews will, if necessary, reassign elements as
required so that there is a single horizontal scale.

For example, using the graph created above, the command:

graph03.setelem(3) axis(bottom)

moves the third series to the bottom axis, forcing the first series to be reassigned from the
top to the left axis. If you then issue the command:
graph03.setelem(3) axis(right)

EViews will assign the third series to the right axis as directed, with the first (next available
element, starting with the first) series taking its place on the horizontal bottom axis. If the
first element is subsequently moved to a vertical axis, the second element will take its place
on the horizontal axis, and so forth. Note that series will never be reassigned to the right or
top axis, so that series that placed on the top or right axis and subsequently reassigned will
not be replaced automatically.

For XY graphs with pairing, the same principles apply. However, since the elements are
graphed in pairs, there is a set of elements that should be assigned to the same horizontal
axis. You can switch which set is assigned to the horizontal using the axis keyword. For
example:
graph graph04.xypair s1 s2 s3 s4
graph03.setelem(1) axis(left)

creates an XY graph that plots the series S1 against S2, and S3 against S4. Usually, the
default settings assign the first and third series to the bottom axis, and the second and
fourth series to the left axis. The second command line moves the first series (S1) from the
bottom to the left axis. Since S1 and S3 are tied to the same axis, the S3 series will also be
assigned to the left axis. The second and fourth series (S2 and S4) will take their place on
the bottom axis.
 Customizing a Graph—45

Modifying the data axis

The Graph::axis command may be used to change the way data is scaled on an axis. To
rescale the data, specify the axis you wish to change and use one of the following keywords:
linear, linearzero (linear with zero included in axis), log (logarithmic), norm (stan-
dardized). For example:
graph graph05.line ser1 ser2
graph05.axis(left) log

creates a line graph GRAPH05 of the series SER1 and SER2, and changes the left axis scaling
method to logarithmic.

The interaction of the data scales (these are the left and right axes for non-XY graphs) can
be controlled using axis with the overlap keyword. The overlap keyword controls the
overlap of vertical scales, where each scale has at least one series assigned to it. For
instance:
graph graph06.line s1 s2
graph06.setelem(2) axis(right)
graph06.axis overlap

first creates GRAPH06, a line graph of series S1 and S2, and assigns the second series to the
right axis. The last command allows the vertical scales to overlap.

The axis command may also be used to change or invert the endpoints of the data scale,
using the range or invert keywords:
graph05.axis(left) -invert range(minmax)

inverts the left scale of GRAPH05 (“–” indicates an inverted scale) and sets its endpoints to
the minimum and maximum values of the data.

Modifying the date/time axis

EViews automatically determines an optimal set of labels for the bottom axis of time plots. If
you wish to modify the frequency or date format of the labels, you should use the
Graph::datelabel command. Alternately, to create editable labels on the observation
scale, use the Graph::setobslabel command.

To control the number of observations between labels, use datelabel with the interval
keyword to specify a desired step size. The stand-alone step size keywords include: auto
(use EViews' default method for determining step size), ends (label first and last observa-
tions), and all (label every observation). For example,
mygraph.datelabel interval(ends)

labels only the endpoints of MYGRAPH. You may also use a step size keyword in conjunc-
tion with a step number to further control the labeling. These step size keywords include:
46—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

obs (one observation), year (one year), m (one month), and q (one quarter), where each
keyword determines the units of the number specified in the step keyword. For example, to
label every ten years, you may specify:
mygraph.datelabel interval(year, 10)

In addition to specifying the space between labels, you may indicate a specific observation
to receive a label. The step increment will then center around this observation. For example:
mygraph.datelabel interval(obs, 10, 25)

labels every tenth observation, centered around the twenty-fifth observation.

You may also use datelabel to modify the format of the dates or change their placement
on the axis. Using the format or span keywords,
mygraph02.datelabel format(yy) -span

formats the labels so that they display as two digit years, and disables interval spanning. If
interval spanning is enabled, labels will be centered between the applicable tick marks. If
spanning is disabled, labels are placed directly on the tick marks. For instance, in a plot of
monthly data with annual labeling, the labels may be centered over the twelve monthly
ticks (spanning enabled) or placed on the annual tick marks (spanning disabled).

If your axis labels require further customization, you may use the setobslabel command
to create a set of custom labels.
mygraph.setobslabel(current) "CA" "OR" "WA"

creates a set of axis labels, initializing each with the date or observation number and assigns
the labels “CA”, “OR”, and “WA” to the first three observations.

To return to EViews automatic labeling, you may use the clear option:
mygraph.setobslabel(clear)

Customizing axis appearance

You may customize the appearance of tick marks, modify label font size, add grid lines, or
duplicate axes labeling in your graph using Graph::axis.

Follow the axis keyword with a descriptor of the axis you wish to modify and one or more
arguments. For instance, using the ticksin, minor, and font keywords:
mygraph.axis(left) ticksin -minor font(10)

The left axis of MYGRAPH is now drawn with the tick marks inside the graph, no minor
ticks, and a label font size of 10 point.

To add lines to a graph, use the grid or zeroline keywords:

mygraph01.axis(left) -label grid zeroline
 Customizing a Graph—47

MYGRAPH01 hides the labels on its left axis, draws horizontal grid lines at the major ticks,
and draws a line through zero on the left scale.

In single scale graphs, it is sometimes desirable to display the axis labels on both the left and
right hand sides of the graph. The mirror keyword may be used to turn on or off the dis-
play of duplicate axes. For example:
graph graph06.line s1 s2
graph06.axis mirror

creates a line graph with both series assigned to the left axis (the default assignment), then
turns on mirroring of the left axis to the right axis of the graph. Note that in the latter com-
mand, you need not specify an axis to modify, since mirroring sets both the left and right
axes to be the same.

If dual scaling is enabled, mirroring will be overridden. In our example, assigning a data ele-
ment to the right axis:
graph06.setelem(1) axis(right)

will override axis mirroring. Note that if element 1 is subsequently reassigned to the left
scale, mirroring will again be enabled. To turn off mirroring entirely, simply precede the mir-
ror keyword with a minus sign. The command:
graph06.axis -mirror

turns off axis mirroring.

Customizing the graph frame

The graph frame is used to set the basic graph proportions and display characteristics that
are not part of the main portion of the graph.

Graph size
The graph frame size and proportions may be modified using the Graph::options com-
mand. Simply specify a width and height using the size keyword. For example:
testgraph.options size(5,4)

resizes the frame of TESTGRAPH to 5  4 virtual inches.

Other frame characteristics

The Graph::options command may also be used to modify the appearance of the graph
area and the graph frame. A variety of modifications are possible.

First, you may change the background colors in your graph, by using the “fillcolor” and
“backcolor” keywords to change the frame fill color and the graph background color, respec-
tively. The graph proc command:
48—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

testgraph.options fillcolor(gray) backcolor(white)

fills the graph frame with gray, and sets the graph area background color to white. Here we
use the predefined color settings (“blue,” “red,” “green,” “black,” “white,” “purple,”
“orange,” “yellow,” “gray,” “ltgray”); alternately, you may specify “color” with three argu-
ments corresponding to the respective RGB settings.

You may control display of axes frames. To select which axes should have a frame, you
should use the “frameaxes” keyword:
testgraph.options frameaxes(labeled)

which turns off the frame on any axis which is not associated with data. Similarly:
testgraph.options frameaxes(lb)

draws a frame on the left and bottom axes only.

By default, EViews uses the entire width of the graph for plotting data. If you wish to indent
the data display from the edges of the graph frame, you should use the “indenth” (indent
horizontal) or “indentv” (indent vertical) keywords:
testgraph.options indenth(.05) indentv(0.1)

indents the data by 0.05 inches horizontally, and 0.10 inches vertically from the edge of the
graph frame.

The options command also allows you to add and modify grid lines in your graph. For exam-
ple:
testgraph.options gridb -gridl gridpat(dash2) gridcolor(red)

turns on dashed, red, vertical gridlines from the bottom axis, while turning off left scale gri-
dlines.

Labeling data values

Bar and pie graphs allow you to label the value of your data within the graph. Use the
Graph::options command with one of the following keywords: barlabelabove, barla-
belinside, or pielabel. For example:
mybargraph.options barlabelabove

places a label above each bar in the graph indicating its data value. Note that the label will
be visible only when there is sufficient space in the graph.

Outlining and spacing filled areas

EViews draws a black outline around each bar or area in a bar or area graph, respectively. To
disable the outline, use options with the outlinebars or outlineareas keyword:
mybargraph.options -outlinebars
 Customizing a Graph—49

Disabling the outline is useful for graphs whose bars are spaced closely together, enabling
you to see the fill color instead of an abundance of black outlines.

EViews attempts to place a space between each bar in a bar graph. This space disappears as
the number of bars increases. You may remove the space between bars by using the bar-
space keyword:
mybargraph.options -barspace

Modifying the Legend

A legend's location, text, and appearance may be customized. Note that single series graphs
and special graph types such as boxplots and histograms use text objects for labeling instead
of a legend. These text objects may only be modified interactively by double-clicking on the
object to bring up the text edit dialog.

To change the text string of a data element for use in the legend, use the Graph::name com-
mand:
graph graph06.line ser1 ser2
graph06.name(1) Unemployment
graph06.name(2) DMR

The first line creates a line graph GRAPH06 of the series SER1 and SER2. Initially, the legend
shows “SER1” and “SER2”. The second and third command lines change the text in the leg-
end to “Unemployment” and “DMR”.

Note that the name command is equivalent to using the Graph::setelem command with
the legend keyword. For instance,
graph06.setelem(1) legend(Unemployment)
graph06.setelem(2) legend(DMR)

produces the same results.

To remove a label from the legend, you may use name without providing a text string:
graph06.name(2)

removes the second label “DMR” from the legend.

For an XY graph, the name command modifies any data elements that appear as axis labels,
in addition to legend text. For example:
graph xygraph.xy ser1 ser2 ser3 ser4
xygraph.name(1) Age
xygraph.name(2) Height

creates an XY graph named XYGRAPH of the four series SER1, SER2, SER3, and SER4.
“SER1” appears as a horizontal axis label, while “SER2,” “SER3,” and “SER4” appear in the
50—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

legend. The second command line changes the horizontal label of the first series to “Age”.
The third line changes the second series label in the legend to “Height”.

To modify characteristics of the legend itself, use Graph::legend. Some of the primary
options may be set using the inbox, position and columns keywords. Consider, for exam-
ple, the commands:
graph graph07.line s1 s2 s3 s4
graph07.legend -inbox position(botleft) columns(4)

The first line creates a line graph of the four series S1, S2, S3, and S4. The second line
removes the box around the legend, positions the legend in the bottom left corner of the
graph window, and specifies that four columns should be used for the text strings of the leg-
end.

When a graph is created, EViews automatically determines a suitable number of columns for
the legend. A graph with four series, such as the one created above, would likely display two
columns of two labels each. The columns command above, with an argument of four, cre-
ates a long and slender legend, with each of the four series in its own column.

You may also use the legend command to change the font size or to disable the legend
completely:
graph07.legend font(10)
graph07.legend -display

Note that if the legend is hidden, any changes to the text or position of the legend remain,
and will reappear if the legend is displayed again.

Adding text to the graph

Text strings can be placed anywhere within the graph window. Using the Graph::addtext
command:
graph07.addtext(t) Fig 1: Monthly GDP

adds the text “Fig 1: Monthly GDP” to the top of the GRAPH07 window. You can also use
specific coordinates to specify the position of the upper left corner of the text. For example:
graph08.addtext(.2, .1, x) Figure 1

adds the text string “Figure 1” to GRAPH08. The text is placed 0.2 virtual inches in, and 0.1
virtual inches down from the top left corner of the graph frame. The “x” option instructs
EViews to place the text inside a box.

An existing text object can be edited interactively by double-clicking on the object to bring
up a text edit dialog. The object may be repositioned by specifying new coordinates in the
dialog, or by simply dragging the object to its desired location.
 Customizing a Graph—51

Adding lines and shading

You may wish to highlight or separate specific areas of your graph by adding a line or
shaded area to the interior of the graph using the Graph::draw command. Specify the type
of line or shade option (line or shade), which axis it should be attached to (left, right,
bottom, top) and its position. For example:
graph09.draw(line, left) 5.2

draws a horizontal line at the value 5.2 on the left axis. Alternately:
graph09.draw(shade, left) 4.8 5.6

draws a shaded horizontal area bounded by the values 4.8 and 5.6 on the left axis. You can
also specify color, line width, and line pattern:
graph09.draw(line, bottom, color(blue), width(2), pattern(3))
1985:1

draws a vertical blue dashed line of width two points at the date “1985:1” on the bottom
axis. Color may be specified using one or more of the following options: color(n1, n2, n3),
where the arguments correspond to RGB settings, or color(keyword), where keyword is
one of the predefined color keywords (“blue”, “red”, “green”, “black”, “white”, “purple”,
“orange”, “yellow”, “gray”, “ltgray”).

Using graphs as templates

After customizing a graph as described above, you may wish to use your custom settings in
another graph. Using a graph template allows you to copy the graph type, line and fill set-
tings, axis scaling, legend attributes, and frame settings of one graph into another. This
enables a graph to adopt all characteristics of another graph—everything but the data itself.
To copy custom line or fill settings from the global graph options, use the preset or
default keywords of the Graph::setelem command (as described in “Using preset lines
and fills” on page 42).

Modifying an existing graph

To modify a named graph object, use the template command:
graph10.template customgraph

This command copies all the appearance attributes of CUSTOMGRAPH into GRAPH10.

To copy text labels, lines and shading in the template graph in addition to all other option
settings, use the “t” option:
graph10.template(t) customgraph

This command copies any text or shading objects that were added to the template graph
using the Graph::addtext or Graph::draw commands or the equivalent steps using dia-
52—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

logs. Note that using the “t” option overwrites any existing text and shading objects in the
target graph.

Using a template during graph creation

All graph type commands also provide a template option for use when creating a new graph.
For instance:
graph mygraph.line(o = customgraph) ser1 ser2

creates the graph MYGRAPH of the series SER1 and SER2, using CUSTOMGRAPH as a tem-
plate. The “o” option instructs EViews to copy all but the text, lines, and shading of the tem-
plate graph. To include these elements in the copy, use the “t” option in place of the “o”
option.

When used as a graph procedure, this method is equivalent to the one described above for
an existing graph, so that:
graph10.template(t) customgraph
graph10.bar(t = customgraph)

produce the same results.

Arranging multiple graphs

When you create a multiple graph, EViews automatically arranges the graphs within the
graph window. (See “Creating a Graph” on page 33 for information on how to create a mul-
tiple graph.) You may use either the “m” option during graph creation or the merge com-
mand.

To change the placement of the graphs, use the Graph::align command. Specify the num-
ber of columns in which to place the graphs and the horizontal and vertical space between
graphs, measured in virtual inches. For example:
graph graph11.merge graph01 graph02 graph03
graph11.align(2, 1, 1.5)

creates a multiple graph GRAPH11 of the graphs GRAPH01, GRAPH02, and GRAPH03. By
default, the graphs are stacked in one column. The second command realigns the graphs in
two columns, with 1 virtual inch between the graphs horizontally and 1.5 virtual inches
between the graphs vertically.

Modifying Boxplots
The appearance of boxplots can be customized using many of the commands described
above. A few special cases and additional commands are described below.
 Customizing a Graph—53

Customizing lines and symbols

As with other graph types, the setelem command can be used with boxplots to modify line
and symbol attributes, assign the boxes to an axis, and use preset and default settings. To
use the Graph::setelem command with boxplots, use a box element keyword after the
command. For example:
boxgraph01.setelem(mean) symbol(circle)

changes the means in the boxplot BOXGRAPH01 to circles. Note that all boxes within a sin-
gle graph have the same attributes, and changes to appearance are applied to all boxes. For
instance:
boxgraph01.setelem(box) lcolor(orange) lpat(dash1) lwidth(2)

plots all boxes in BOXGRAPH01 with an orange dashed line of width 2 points. Also note that
when shaded confidence intervals are used, a lightened version of the box color will be used
for the shading. In this way, the above command also changes the confidence interval shad-
ing to a light orange.

Each element in a boxplot is represented by either a line or symbol. EViews will warn you if
you attempt to modify an inappropriate option (e.g., modifying the symbol of the box).

Assigning boxes to an axis

The setelem command may also be used to assign the boxes to another axis:
boxgraph01.setelem axis(right)

Note that since all boxes are assigned to the same axis, the index argument specifying a
graph element is not necessary.

Using preset line colors

During general graph creation, lines and fills take on the characteristics of the user-defined
presets. When a boxplot is created, the first user-defined line color is applied to the boxes,
whiskers, and staples. Similarly, when you use the preset or default keywords of the
setelem command with a boxplot, the line color of the preset is applied to the boxes, whis-
kers, and staples. (See “Using preset lines and fills” on page 42 for a description of presets.)

The preset and default methods work just as they do for other graph types, although
only the line color is applied to the graph. For example:
boxgraph01.setelem default(3)

applies the line color of the third user-defined line preset to the boxes, whiskers, and staples
of BOXGRAPH01. Note again that setelem does not require an argument specifying an
index, since the selected preset will apply to all boxes.
54—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

There are a number of setelem arguments that do not apply to boxplots. The fillcolor,
fillgray, and fillhatch option keywords are not available, as there are no custom areas
to be filled. The legend keyword is also not applicable, as boxplots use axis text labels in
place of a legend.

Hiding boxplot elements

In addition to the setelem command, boxplots provide a Graph::setbpelem command
for use in enabling or disabling specific box elements. Any element of the boxplot can be
hidden, except the box itself. Use the command with a list of box elements to show or hide.
For example:
boxgraph01.setbpelem -mean far

hides the means and confirms that the far outliers are shown in BOXGRAPH01.

Modifying box width and confidence intervals

The width of the individual boxes in a boxplot can be drawn in three ways: fixed width over
all boxes, proportional to the sample size, or proportional to the square root of the sample
size. To specify one of these methods, use the setbpelem command with the width key-
word, and one of the supported types (fixed, rootn, n). For example:
boxgraph01.setbpelem width(rootn)

draws the boxes in BOXGRAPH01 with widths proportional to the square root of their sam-
ple size.

There are three methods for displaying the confidence intervals in boxplots. They may be
notched, shaded, or not drawn at all, which you may specify using one of the supported
keywords (notch, shade, none). For example:
boxgraph01.setbpelem ci(notch)

draws the confidence intervals in BOXGRAPH01 as notches.

Labeling Graphs
As with all EViews objects, graphs have a label view to display and edit information such as
the graph name, last modified date, and remarks. To modify or view the label information,
use the Graph::label command:
graph12.label(r) Data from CPS 1988 March File

This command shows the label view, and the “r” option appends the text “Data from CPS
1988 March File” to the remarks field of GRAPH12.

To return to the graph view, use the graph keyword:

graph12.graph
 Exporting Graphs to Files—55

All changes made in label view will be saved when the graph is saved.

Printing Graphs
A graph may be printed using the print (p. 454) command. For example:
print graph11 graph12

prints GRAPH11 and GRAPH12 on a single page.

In addition, many graph commands and graph views of objects include a print option. For
example, you can create and simultaneously print a line graph GRA1 of SER1 using the “p”
option:
graph gra1.line(p) ser1

You should check the individual commands for availability of this option.

Exporting Graphs to Files

You may use the Graph::save proc of a graph object to save the graph as a Windows meta-
file (.wmf), Enhanced Windows metafile (.emf), PostScript file (.eps), bitmap (.bmp),
Graphics Interchange Format (.gif), Joint Photographics Exchange Group (.jpg), or Portable
Network Graphics (.png) file.

You must specify a file name and file type, and may also provide the file height, width, units
of measurement, and color use. PostScript files also allow you to save the graph with or
without a bounding box and to specify portrait or landscape orientation. For instance:
graph11.save(t=postscript, u=cm, w=12, -box) MyGraph1

saves GRAPH11 in the default directory as a PostScript file “MyGraph1.EPS”, with a width of
12 cm and no bounding box. The height is determined by holding the aspect ratio of the
graph constant. Similarly:
graph11.save(t=emf, u=pts, w=300, h=300, -c) c:\data\MyGraph2

saves GRAPH11 as an Enhanced Windows metafile “Mygraph2.EMF”. The graph is saved in

black and white, and scaled to 300  300 points.
graph11.save(t=png, u=in, w=5, d=300) MyGraph3

saves GRAPH11 in the default directory as a PNG file “Mygra3.PNG”. The image will be 5
inches wide at 300 dpi.
graph11.save(t=gif, u=pixels, w=500) MyGraph4

saves GRAPH11 in a 500 pixel wide GIF file, “Mygraph4.GIF”.

56—Chapter 2. Working with Graphs

Graph Summary
See “Graph” on page 230 of the Object Reference for a full listing of procs that may be used
to customize graph objects, and for a list of the graph type commands.

Graph commands are documented in “Graph Creation Command Summary” on page 895 of
the Object Reference.
Chapter 3. Working with Tables and Spreadsheets

There are three types of tables in EViews: tabular views, which are tables used in the display
of views of other objects, named table objects, and unnamed table objects. The main portion
of this discussion focuses on the use of commands to customize the appearance of named
table objects. The latter portion of the chapter describes the set of tools that may be used to
customize the display characteristics of spreadsheet views of objects (see “Customizing
Spreadsheet Views,” beginning on page 67).

You may use EViews commands to generate custom tables of formatted output from your
programs. A table object is an object made up of rows and columns of cells, each of which
can contain either a number or a string, as well as information used to control formatting for
display or printing.

Chapter 16. “Table and Text Objects,” on page 743 of the Object Reference describes various
interactive tools for customizing table views and objects.

Creating a Table
There are two basic ways to create a table object: by freezing an object view, or by issuing a
table declaration.

Creating Tables from an Object View

You may create a table object from another object, by combining an object view command
with the freeze (p. 362) command. Simply follow the freeze keyword with an optional
name for the table object, and the tabular view to be frozen. For example, since the com-
mand
grp6.stats

displays the statistics view of the group GRP6, the command

freeze(mytab) grp6.stats

creates and displays a table object MYTAB containing the contents of the previous view.

You should avoid creating unnamed tables when using commands in programs since you
will be unable to refer to, or work with the resulting object using commands. If the MYTAB
option were omitted in the previous example, EViews would create and display an untitled
table object. This table object may be customized interactively, but may not be referred to in
programs. You may, of course, assign a name to the table interactively.

Once you have created a named table object, you may use the various table object procs to
further customize the appearance of your table. See “Customizing Tables,” beginning on
page 60.
58—Chapter 3. Working with Tables and Spreadsheets

Declaring Tables
To declare a table, indicate the number of rows and columns and provide a valid name. For
example:
table(10,20) bestres

creates a table with 10 rows and 20 columns named BESTRES. You can change the size of a
table by declaring it again. Re-declaring the table to a larger size does not destroy the con-
tents of the table; any cells in the new table that existed in the original table will contain
their previous values.

Tables are automatically resized when you attempt to fill a table cell outside the table’s cur-
rent dimensions. This behavior is different from matrix objects which issue an error when
an out-of-range element is accessed.

Assigning Table Values

You may modify the contents of cells in a table using assignment statements. Each cell of the
table can be assigned either a string or a numeric value.

Assigning Strings
To place a string value into a table cell, follow the table name by a cell location (row and
column pair in parentheses), then an equal sign and a string expression.

For example:
table bestres
bestres(1,6) = "convergence criterion"
%strvar = "lm test"
bestres(2,6) = %strvar
bestres(2,6) = bestres(2,6) + " with 5 df"

creates the table BESTRES and places various string values into cells of the table.

Assigning Numbers
Numbers can be entered directly into cells, or they can be converted to strings before being
placed in the table.

Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, we recommend that numbers be entered

directly into table cells. If entered directly, the number will be displayed according to the
numerical format set for that cell; if the format is changed, the number will be redisplayed
according to the new format. If the number is first converted to a string, the number will be
frozen in that form and cannot be reformatted to a different precision.

For example:
 Assigning Table Values—59

table tab1
tab1(3,4) = 15.345
tab1(4,2) = 1e-5
!ev = 10
tab1(5,1) = !ev
scalar f = 12345.67
tab1(6,2) = f

creates the table TAB1 and assigns numbers to various cells.

Assignment with Formatting

The setcell (p. 469) command is like direct cell assignment in that it allows you to set the
contents of a cell, but setcell also allows you to provide a set of simple formatting options
for the cell. If you desire even greater control over formatting, or if you wish to alter the for-
mat of a cell without altering its contents, you should use the tools outlined in “Customizing
Tables,” beginning on page 60.

The setcell command takes the following arguments:

• the name of the table
• the row and the column of the cell
• the number or string to be placed in the cell
• (optionally) a justification code or a numerical format code, or both

The justification codes are:

• “c” for centered (default)
• “r” for right-justified
• “l” for left-justified

The numerical format code determines the format with which a number in a cell is dis-
played; cells containing strings will be unaffected. The format code can either be a positive
integer, in which case it specifies the number of digits to be displayed after the decimal
point, or a negative integer, in which case it specifies the total number of characters to be
used to display the number. These two cases correspond to the fixed decimal and fixed
character fields in the number format dialog.

Note that when using a negative format code, one character is always reserved at the start of
a number to indicate its sign, and if the number contains a decimal point, that will also be
counted as a character. The remaining characters will be used to display digits. If the num-
ber is too large or too small to display in the available space, EViews will attempt to use sci-
60—Chapter 3. Working with Tables and Spreadsheets

entific notation. If there is insufficient space for scientific notation (six characters or less),
the cell will contain asterisks to indicate an error.

Some examples of using setcell:

setcell(tabres,9,11,%label)

puts the contents of %LABEL into row 9, column 11 of the table TABRES.
setcell(big_tabl,1,1,%info,"c")

inserts the contents of %INFO in BIG_TAB1(1,1), and displays the cell with centered justifi-
cation.
setcell(tab1,5,5,!data)

puts the number !DATA into cell (5,5) of table TAB1, with default numerical formatting.
setcell(tab1,5,6,!data,4)

puts the number !DATA into TAB1, with 4 digits to the right of the decimal point.
setcell(tab1,3,11,!data,"r",3)

puts the number !DATA into TAB1, right-justified, with 3 digits to the right of the decimal
point.
setcell(tab1,4,2,!data,-7)

puts the number in !DATA into TAB1, with 7 characters used for display.

Customizing Tables
EViews provides considerable control over the appearance of table objects, providing a vari-
ety of table procedures allowing you specify row heights and column widths, content for-
matting, justification, font face, size, and color, cell background color and borders. Cell
merging and annotation are also supported.

Column Width and Row Height

We begin by noting that if the contents of a cell are wider or taller than the display width or
height of the cell, part of the cell contents may not be visible. You may use the
Table::setwidth and Table::setheight table procedures to change the dimensions of
a column or row of table cells.

To change the column widths for a set of columns in a table, use the setwidth keyword fol-
lowed by a column range specification in parentheses, and a desired width.

The column range should be either a single column number or letter (e.g., “5”, “E”), a colon
delimited range of columns (from low to high, e.g., “3:5”, “C:E”), or the keyword “@ALL”.
The width unit is computed from representative characters in the default font for the current
table (the EViews table default font at the time the table was created), and corresponds
 Customizing Tables—61

roughly to a single character. Width values may be non-integer values with resolution up to
1/10 of a unit. The default width value for columns in an unmodified table is 10.

For example, both commands

tab1.setwidth(2) 12
tab1.setwidth(B) 12

set the width of column 2 to 12 width units, while the command

tab1.setwidth(2:10) 20

sets the widths for columns 2 through 10 to 20 width units. To set all of the column widths,
use the “@ALL” keyword.
tab1.setwidth(@all) 20

Similarly, you may specify row heights using the setheight keyword, followed by a row
specification in parentheses, and a desired row height.

Rows are specified either as a single row number (e.g., “5”), as a colon delimited range of
rows (from low to high, e.g., “3:5”), or using the keyword “@ALL”. Row heights are given in
height unit values, where height units are in character heights. The character height is given
by the font-specific sum of the units above and below the baseline and the leading in the
default font for the current table. Height values may be non-integer values with resolution
up to 1/10 of a height unit. The default row height value is 1.

For example,
tab1.setheight(2) 1

sets the height of row 2 to match the table default font character height, while
tab1.setheight(2) 3.5

increases the row height to 3-1/2 character heights.

Similarly, the command:

tab1.setheight(2:7) 1.5

sets the heights for rows 2 through 7 to 1-1/2 character heights.

tab1.setheight(@all) 2

sets all row heights to twice the default height.

Earlier versions of EViews supported the setting of column widths using the setcolwidth
command. This command, which is provided for backward compatibility, offers only a sub-
set of the capabilities of Table::setwidth.
62—Chapter 3. Working with Tables and Spreadsheets

Cell Formatting
A host of cell characteristics may be set using table procedures. Each procedure is designed
to work on individual cells, ranges of cells, or the entire table.

Content Formatting
Cell content formatting allows you to alter the appearance of the data in a table cell without
changing the contents of the cell. Using the table proc Table::setformat, you may, for
example, instruct EViews to change the format of a number to scientific or fixed decimal, or
to display a date number in a different date format. These changes in display format do not
alter the cell values.

To format the contents of table cells, simply follow the table name with a period and the
setformat proc keyword, followed by a cell range specification in parentheses, and then a
valid numeric or date format string. The cell range may be specified in a number of ways,
including individual cells, cell rectangles, row or column ranges or the entire table. See
Table::setformat for a description of cell range specification and numeric and date for-
mat string syntax.

For example, to set the format for the fifth column of a matrix to fixed 5-digit precision, you
may provide the format specification:
tab1.setformat(e) f.5

To set a format for the cell in the third row of the fifth column to scientific notation with 5
digits of precision, specify the individual cell, as in:
tab1.setformat(3,e) e.5
tab1.setformat(e3) e.5

To specify the format for a rectangle of cells, specify the upper left and lower right cells in
the rectangle. The following commands set cells in the same region to show 3-significant
digits, with negative numbers in parentheses:
tab1.setformat(2,B,10,D) (g.3)
tab1.setformat(r2c2:r10c4) (g.3)
tab1.setformat(b2:d10) (g.3)

The rectangle of cells is delimited by row 2, column 2, and row 10, column 4.

Alternately you may provide a date format for the table cells. The command:
tab1.setformat(@all) "dd/MM/YY HH:MI:SS.SSS"

will display numeric values in the entire table using formatted date strings containing days
followed by months, years, hours, minutes and seconds, to a resolution of thousandths of a
second.
 Customizing Tables—63

Note that changing the display format of a cell that contains a string will have no effect
unless the cell is later changed to contain a numerical value.

Justification and Indentation

The cell justification and indentation control the position of the table cell contents within
the table cell itself.

You may use the Table::setjust proc to position the cell contents in the cell. Simply use
the setjust keyword, followed by a cell range specification in parentheses, and one or
more keywords describing a vertical or horizontal position for the cell contents. You may use
the keywords auto, left, right, and center to control horizontal positioning, and top,
middle, and bottom to control vertical positioning. You may use the auto keyword to spec-
ify left justification for string cells and right justification for numeric cells.

For example,
tab1.setjust(@all) top left

sets the justification for all cells in the table to top left, while
tab1.setjust(2,B,10,D) center

horizontally centers the cell contents in the rectangle from B2 to D10, while leaving the ver-
tical justification unchanged.

In addition, you may use Table::setindent to specify a left or right indentation from the
edge of the cell for cells that are left or right justified, respectively. You should use the
setindent keyword followed by a cell range in parentheses, and an indentation unit, spec-
ified in 1/5 of a width unit. Indentation is only relevant for non-center justified cells.

For example:
tab1.setjust(2,B,10,D) left
tab1.indent(2,B,10,D) 2

left-justifies, then indents the specified cells by 2/5 of a width unit from the left-hand side of
the cell.

Alternatively,
tab2.setjust(@all) center
tab2.indent(@all) 3

will set the indentation for all cells in the table to 3/5 of a width unit, but this will have no
effect on the center justified cells. If the cells are later modified to be left or right justified,
the indentation will be used. If you subsequently issue the command
tab2.indent(@all) right

the cells will be indented 3/5 of a width unit from the right-hand edges.
64—Chapter 3. Working with Tables and Spreadsheets

Fonts
You may specify font face and characteristics, and the font color for table cells using the
Table::setfont and Table::settextcolor table procs.

The setfont proc should be used to set the font face, size, boldface, italic, strikethrough
and underline characteristics for table cells. You should provide a cell range specification,
and one or more font arguments corresponding to font characteristics that you wish to mod-
ify. For example:
tab1.setfont(3,B,10,D) "Times New Roman" +u 8pt

changes the text in the specified cells to Times New Roman, 8 point, underline. Similarly,
tab1.setfont(4,B) -b +i -s

adds the italic to and removes boldface and strikethrough from the B4 cell.

To set the color of your text, use settextcolor with a cell range specification and a color
specification. Color specifications may be provided using the @RGB settings, or using one of
the EViews predefined colors keywords:
tab1.settextcolor(f2:g10) @rgb(255, 128, 0)
tab1.settextcolor(f2:g10) orange

sets the text color for the specified cells to orange. See Table::setfillcolor for a com-
plete description of color specifications.

Background and Borders

You may set the background color for cells using the Table::setfillcolor table proce-
dure. Specify the cell range and provide a color specification using @RGB settings or one of
the predefined color keywords. The commands:
tab1.setfillcolor(R2C3:R3C6) ltgray
tab1.setfillcolor(2,C,3,F) @rgb(192, 192, 192)

both set the background color of the specified cells to light gray.

The Table::setlines table proc may be used to draw borders or lines around specified
table cells. If a single cell is specified, you may draw borders around the cell or a double line
through the center of the cell. If multiple columns or rows is selected, you may, in addition,
add borders between cells.

Follow the name of the table object with a period, the setlines keyword, a cell range spec-
ification, and one or more line arguments describing the lines and borders you wish to draw.
For example:
tab1.setlines(b2:d6) +a -h -v
 Customizing Tables—65

first adds all borders (“a”) to the cells in the rectangle defined by B2 and D6, then removes
the inner horizontal (“h”), and inner vertical (“v”) borders. The command
tab1.setlines(2,b) +o

adds borders to the outside (“o”), all four borders, of the B2 cell.

You may also use the setlines command to place double horizontal separator lines in the
table. Enter the setlines keyword, followed by the name of the table, and a row number,
both in parentheses. For example,
bestres.setlines(8) +d

places a separator line in the eighth row of the table BESTRES. The command:
bestres.setlines(8) -d

removes the double separator lines from all of the cells in the eighth row of the table.

Cell Annotation and Merging

Each cell in a table object is capable of containing a comment. Cell comments contain text
that is hidden until the mouse cursor is placed over the cell containing the comment. Com-
ments are useful for adding notes to a table without changing the appearance of the table.

To add a comment with the Table::comment table proc, follow the name of the table
object with a period, a single cell identifier (in parentheses), and the comment text enclosed
in double quotes. If no comment text is provided, a previously defined comment will be
removed.

To add a comment “hello world” to the cell in the second row, fourth column, you may use
the command:
tab1.comment(d2) "hello world"

To remove the comment simply repeat the command, omitting the text:
tab1.comment(d2)

In addition, EViews permits you to merge cells horizontally in a table object. To merge mul-
tiple cells in a row or to un-merge previously merged cells, you should use the
Table::setmerge table proc. Enter the name of the table object, a period, followed by a
cell range describing the cells in a single row that are to be merged.

If the first specified column is less than the last specified column (left specified before right),
the cells in the row will be merged left to right, otherwise, the cells will be merged from
right to left. The contents of the merged cell will be taken from the first cell in the merged
region. If merging from left to right, the leftmost cell contents will be used; if merging from
right to left, the rightmost cell contents will be displayed.

For example,
66—Chapter 3. Working with Tables and Spreadsheets

tab1.setmerge(a2:d2)

merges the cells in row 2, columns 1 to 4, from left to right, while

tab2.setmerge(d2:a2)

merges the cells in row 2, columns 2 to 5, from right to left. The cell display will use the left-
most cell in the first example, and the rightmost in the second.

If you specify a merge involving previously merged cells, EViews will unmerge all cells
within the specified range. We may then unmerge cells by issuing the Table::setmerge
command using any of the previously merged cells. The command:
tab2.setmerge(r2c4)

unmerges the previously merged cells.

Labeling Tables
Tables have a label view to display and edit information such as the graph name, last modi-
fied date, and remarks. To modify or view the label information, use the Table::label
command:
table11.label(r) Results from GMM estimation

This command shows the label view, and the “r” option appends the text “Results from
GMM estimation” to the remarks field of TABLE11.

To return to the basic table view, use the table keyword:

table11.table

All changes made in label view will be saved with the table.

Printing Tables
To print a table, use the print (p. 454) command, followed by the table object name. For
example:
print table11

The print destination is taken from the EViews global print settings.

Exporting Tables to Files

You may use the table Table::save procedure to save the table to disk as a CSV (comma
separated file), tab-delimited ASCII text, RTF (Rich text format), or HTML file.

You must specify a file name and an optional file type, and may also provide options to spec-
ify the cells to be saved, text to be written for NA values, and precision with which numbers
 Customizing Spreadsheet Views—67

should be written. RTF and HTML files also allow you to save the table in a different size
than the current display. If a file type is not provided, EViews will write a CSV file.

For example:
tab1.save(t=csv, n="NAN") mytable

saves TAB1 in the default directory as a CSV file “Mytable.CSV”, with NA values translated
to the text “NAN”.

Alternately, the command:

tab1.save(r=B2:C10, t=html, s=.5) c:\data\MyTab2

saves the specified cells in TAB1 as an HTML file to “Mytab2.HTM” in the directory
“c:\data”. The table is saved at half of the display size.

Customizing Spreadsheet Views

Several of the table procs for customizing table display may also be used for customizing
spreadsheet views of objects. You may use Series::setformat, Series::setindent,
Series::setjust, and Series::setwidth to modify the spreadsheet view of a series.
Similar procs are available for other objects with table views (e.g., alpha, group, and matrix
objects).

Suppose, for example, that you wish to set the format of the spreadsheet view for series
SER1. Then the commands:
ser1.setformat f.5
ser1.setjust right center
ser1.setindent 3
ser1.setwidth 10
ser1.sheet

sets the spreadsheet display format for SER1 and then displays the view.

Similarly, you may set the characteristics for a matrix object using the commands:
mat1.setformat f.6
mat1.setwidth 8
mat1.sheet

For group spreadsheet formatting, you must specify a column range specification. For exam-
ple:
group1.setformat(2) (f.7)
group1.setwidth(2) 10
group1.setindent(b) 6
group1.sheet
68—Chapter 3. Working with Tables and Spreadsheets

set the formats for the second series in the group, then displays the spreadsheet view.
group1.setwidth(@all) 10

sets the width for all columns in the group spreadsheet to 10.

Note that the group specified formats are used only to display series in the group and are not
exported to the underlying series. Thus, if MYSER is the second series in GROUP1, the
spreadsheet view of MYSER will use the original series settings, not those specified using the
group procs.

Table Summary
See “Table,” on page 770 of the Object Reference for a full listing of formatting procs that
may be used with table objects.
Chapter 4. Working with Spools

The EViews spool object allows you to create sets of output comprised of tables, graphs,
text, and other spool objects. Spools allow you to organize EViews results, allowing you to
generate a log of output for a project, or perhaps to collect output for a presentation.

The following discussion focuses on command methods for working with a spool object. A
general description of the spool object, featuring a discussion of interactive approaches to
working with your spool, may be found in Chapter 17. “Spool Objects,” on page 755 of
User’s Guide I.

Creating a Spool
There are two methods you may use to create a spool. You may declare a spool using the
spool command, or you may print an object to a new spool.

To declare an empty spool, use the keyword spool followed by a name for the new spool:
spool myNewSpool

creates a new, empty spool object MYNEWSPOOL.

A new spool may also be created by printing from an object to a non-existent spool. To print
to a spool you must redirect the output of print jobs to the spool using the output com-
mand. For example, the command:
output(s) myNewSpool

instructs EViews to send all subsequent print jobs to the MYNEWSPOOL spool (see output
(p. 428)).

Once you redirect your output, you may create a spool using the print command or the “p”
option of an object view or procedure.
tab1.print

creates the spool object MYNEWSPOOL and appends a copy of TAB1. Alternately,
eq1.output(p)

appends the EQ1 equation output to the newly created spool object.

To turn off redirection, simply issue the command

output off
70—Chapter 4. Working with Spools

Working with a Spool

Spool objects provide easy-to-use tools for working with the objects in the spool. Among
other things, you may manage (add, delete, extract, rearrange, hide) or customize (resize,
space and indent, title and comment, and edit) the spool and the individual objects in a
spool.

Adding Objects
You may add objects to a spool by printing to the spool, or by using the Spool::append
and Spool::insert procs.

Printing to a Spool
Earlier, we saw how one may redirect subsequent print jobs to the spool object using the
output (p. 428) command to change the default print destination. Once redirection is in
place, simply use the print command or the “p” option to send view or procedure output
to the spool. The following command lines:
output(s) myOldSpool
ser01.line(p)
grp01.scat(p)
eq1.wald(p) c(1)=c(2)

redirect output to the existing spool object MYOLDSPOOL, then adds a line graph of SER01,
a scatterplot of the series in GRP01, and the table output of a Wald test for equation EQ1 to
the spool, in that order.

Note that the three output objects in the spool will be named UNTITLED01, UNTITLED02,
and UNTITLD03.

To turn off redirection, simply issue the command:

output off

Appending and Inserting

You may use the Spool::append procedure to add output objects to the end of an existing
spool object. You may insert any valid EViews object view into a spool. For example,
spool01.append ser01.line

appends a line graph of SER01 to the end of SPOOL01.

The name of the object in the spool will be the next available name beginning with “UNTI-
TLED”. For example, if two objects have already been appended to SPOOL01, named UNTI-
TLED01 and UNTITLED02, then the line graph of SER01 will be named UNTITLED03.

You may append multiple EViews objects using a single append command:
 Working with a Spool—71

spool03.append ser02.line ser03

appends a line graph of SER02 and the default spreadsheet view of SER03 to the end of
SPOOL03.

The Spool::insert proc offers additional control over the location of the added object by
allowing you to specifying an integer position for the inserted object. If a position is not
specified or the specified position is greater than the number of objects already in the spool,
the object will be appended to the end. The command:
spool01.insert(loc=3) series01

inserts the default spreadsheet view of SERIES01 into SPOOL01 at position three. All existing
objects in the spool from position three and higher are pushed down in the list to accommo-
date the new object.

You may include more than one object view using a single insert command:
spool01.insert(loc=5) "eq1.wald c(1)=c(2)" series01.uroot

inserts both the results for a Wald test on EQ1, and the results for a unit root test for
SERIES01 into the spool in the fifth and sixth positions. Existing objects from the fifth posi-
tion onward will be moved down to the seventh position so that they follow the unit root
table. Note that since the Wald test command contains spaces, we require the use of double
quotes to delimit the expression.

Alternately, insert accepts an object name for the location and an optional offset keyword.
The command:
spool01.insert(loc=obj3) mycity.line

adds the line graph view of MYCITY to SPOOL01, placing it before OBJ3. You may modify
the default positioning by adding the “offset=after” option,
spool01.insert(loc=obj3, offset=after) mycity.line

so that the line graph is inserted after OBJ3.

You may use insert or append to add spool objects to a spool. Suppose that we have the
spool objects SPOOL01 and STATESPOOL. Then
spool01.insert statespool

adds STATESPOOL to the end of SPOOL01.

Subsequent insert commands may be used to place objects before, after, or inside of the
spool object. The commands
spool01.insert(loc=state) mycity.line
spool01.insert(loc=state, offset=after) mytown.hist
72—Chapter 4. Working with Spools

inserts a line graph view of MYCITY before, and the histogram view of MYTOWN after the
STATE spool. You may also use the “offset=” option to instruct EViews to place the new
output object inside of an embedded spool:
spool01.insert(loc=state, offset=first) mycity.boxplot
spool01.insert(loc=state, offset=last) mystate.stats

places a boxplot view of MYCITY and a descriptive statistics view of MYSTATE inside of the
STATE spool object. The boxplot view is inserted at the beginning of STATE, while the
descriptive statistics view is appended to the end of STATE.

Objects within a embedded spool should be referred to using the full path description. For
example, suppose we have a spool object COUNTY which we wish to add to the end of the
previously embedded spool STATE. Then,
spool01.insert(loc=state, offset=last) county

inserts COUNTY as the last member of the spool STATE, and:

spool01.insert(loc=state/county, offset=first) mycity.bar

inserts a bar graph of MYCITY into the first position of the COUNTY spool.

Naming Objects
The default name of an object when it is inserted into a spool is UNTITLED followed by the
next available number (e.g. UNTITLED03). When using the Spool::append or the
Spool::insert procs may use the “name=” option to specify a name.

Alternately, you may use the Spool::name command to change the name of an object in
the spool. For example,
spool01.name untitled03 losangeles

renames the UNTITLED03 object to LOSANGELES. Note that names are not case-sensitive,
and that they must follow EViews’ standard naming conventions for objects. Names must
also uniquely identify objects in the spool.

To rename an object contained in an embedded spool, you should provide the full path
description of the object. For example, the command:
spool01.name untitled01/untitled02 newyork

renames the object UNTITLED02 which is contained in the spool UNITITLED01 to

NEWYORK.

Object Displaynames
The Spool::displayname proc may also be used to alter the display name of an object.
The default display name of an object is simply the uppercase version of the object name.
Display names, which are case-sensitive, not restricted to be valid object names, and need
 Working with a Spool—73

not be unique, allow you to provide a more descriptive label in the tree pane view when dis-
playing object names.

For example,
spool01.displayname untitled03 "Los Angeles"

sets the display name for UNTITLED03 object to the text “Los Angeles”. Note that since the
desired display name has spaces, we have enclosed the text in double-quotes.

Similarly,
spool01.displayname untitled01/untitled02 "New York"

sets the display name for UNTITLED02 in the spool UNITITLED01 to “New York”.

Object Comments
The Spool::displayname may be used to assign a comment to an object in the spool. Set-
ting a comment for an object is similar to setting the display name. Comments can be multi-
line; you may use “\n” to indicate the start of a new line in a comment.
Spool01.comment untitled01 "The state population of Alabama as
found\nfrom http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-
est.html."

assigns the following comment to object UNTITLED01:

“The state population of Alabama as found
from http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html.”

Removing Objects
Use the Spool::remove proc to delete objects from a spool. Follow the remove keyword
with names of the objects to be deleted. The unique object name should be used; the display
name cannot be used as a valid argument for the remove command.
spool01.remove untitled02 untitled01 untitled03

removes the three objects UNTITLED01, UNTITLED02, UNTITLED03 from SPOOL01. Note
that the order at which objects are specified is not important.

Extracting Objects
Objects within a spool are not confined to spools forever; they may be extracted to other
spools using Spool::extract. An independent copy of the specified object will be made.
Note that only one object may be extracted at a time. For instance, referring to our example
above, where we have a STATE spool containing a COUNTY spool,
spool01.extract state/county

creates an untitled spool containing the objects in the COUNTY spool.

74—Chapter 4. Working with Spools

Similarly:
spool01.extract(mycounty) state/county

Customizing the Spool

Titles and Comments
Each object in a spool has both an object name and a display name. By default, the object
name is shown. The object name is not case sensitive, while the display name can be multi-
ple words and is case sensitive.

Setting a comment for an object is similar to setting the display name. Comments can be
multiline; you may use “\n” to indicate the start of a new line in a comment.
Spool01.comment untitled01 "The state population of Alabama as
found\nfrom http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-
est.html."

assigns the following comment to object UNTITLED01:

“The state population of Alabama as found
from http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html.”

Customizing the Appearance

General properties of a spool may be modified using the Spool::options proc. These
properties include the display of the object tree, borders, titles, comments, and the use of the
object name or display name. To change these settings, use the options keyword followed
by the characteristic you wish to change.

To turn off the tree and display titles, displaynames and comments for SPOOL01:
spool01.options -tree titles displaynames comments

creates a spool with the same objects and names it MYCOUNTY.

Printing the Spool

Printing a entire spool object is the same as printing any other object in EViews, simply use
the print (p. 454) command followed by the name of the spool:
print spool01

prints all of SPOOL01.

To print an object stored in SPOOL01, us the Spool::print proc and specify the name of
the object within the spool that you wish to print. For example,
spool01.print state/county
 Spool Summary—75

prints the COUNTY object, which is located in the STATE spool in SPOOL01. The
Spool::print proc also allows you to print multiple objects in the spool.
spool01.print state county

prints both the STATE and COUNTY objects individually.

When printing from the command window, the Print Options dialog will be displayed for
each object specified, allowing you to modify printer settings. When printing from a pro-
gram, the current printer settings will be used. To modify the current printer settings, you
may use File/Print Setup to set the global print defaults (“Print Setup,” on page 833 of
User’s Guide I).

Spool Summary
See “Spool,” on page 662 of the Object Reference for a full listing of procedures that may be
used with spool objects.
76—Chapter 4. Working with Spools
Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

Strings
An alphanumeric string is a set of characters containing alphabetic (“alpha”) and
numeric characters, and in some cases symbols, found on a standard keyboard. Strings
in EViews may include spaces and dashes, as well as single or double quote characters.
Note also that EViews does not support unicode characters.

Strings are used in EViews in a variety of places. “Using Strings in EViews” on page 91
offers a brief overview.

When entering alphanumeric values into EViews, you generally should enclose your
characters in double quotes. The following are all examples of valid string input:
"John Q. Public"
"Ax$23!*jFg5"
"000-00-0000"
"(949)555-5555"
"11/27/2002"
"3.14159"

You should use the double quote character as an escape character for double quotes in
a string. Simply enter two double quote characters to include the single double quote
in the string:
"A double quote is given by entering two "" characters."

Bear in mind that strings are simply sequences of characters with no special interpreta-
tion. The string values “3.14159” and “11/27/2002” might, for example, be used to rep-
resent a number and a date, but as strings they have no such intrinsic interpretation.
To provide such an interpretation, you must use the EViews tools for translating string
values into numeric or date values (see “String Information Functions” on page 82 and
“Translating between Date Strings and Date Numbers” on page 100).

Lastly, we note that the empty, or null, string (“”) has multiple interpretations in
EViews. In settings where we employ strings as a building block for other strings, the
null string is interpreted as a blank string with no additional meaning. If, for example,
we concatenate two strings, one of which is empty, the resulting string will simply be
the non-empty string.

In other settings, the null string is interpreted as a missing value. In settings where we
use string values as a category, for example when performing categorizations, the null
string is interpreted as both a blank string and a missing value. You may then choose
78—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

to exclude or not exclude the missing value as a category when computing a tabulation
using the string values. This designation of the null string as a missing value is recognized
by a variety of views and procedures in EViews and may prove useful.

Likewise, when performing string comparisons using blank strings, EViews generally treats
the blank string as a missing value. As with numeric comparisons involving missing values,
comparisons involving missing values will often generate a missing value. We discuss this
behavior in greater detail in our discussion of “String Comparison (with empty strings)” on
page 80.

String Operators
The following operators are supported for strings: (1) concatenation—plus (“+”), and (2)
relational—equal to (“=”), not equal to (“<>”), greater than (“>”), greater than or equal
to (“>=”), less than (“<“), less than or equal to (“<=”).

String Concatenation Operator

Given two strings, concatenation creates a new string which contains the first string fol-
lowed immediately by the second string. You may concatenate strings in EViews using the
concatenation operator, “+”. For example,
"John " + "Q." + " Public"
"3.14" + "159"

returns the strings

"John Q. Public"
"3.14159"

Bear in mind that string concatenation is a simple operation that does not involve interpreta-
tion of strings as numbers or dates. Note in particular that the latter entry yields the concat-
enated string, “3.14159”, not the sum of the two numeric values, “162.14”. To obtain
numeric results, you will first have to convert your strings into a number (see “String Infor-
mation Functions” on page 82).

Lastly, we note that when concatenating strings, the empty string is interpreted as a blank
string, not as a missing value. Thus, the expression
"Mary " + "" + "Smith"

yields
"Mary Smith"

since the middle string is interpreted as a blank.

 Strings—79

String Relational Operators

The relational operators return a 1 if the comparison is true, and 0 if the comparison is false.
In some cases, relational comparisons involving null strings will return a NA.

String Ordering
To determine the ordering of strings, EViews employs the region-specific collation order as
supplied by the Windows operating system using the user’s regional settings. Central to the
tasks of sorting or alphabetizing, the collation order is the culturally influenced order of
characters in a particular language.

While we cannot possibly describe all of the region-specific collation order rules, we note a
few basic concepts. First, all punctuation marks and other non alphanumeric characters,
except for the hyphen and the apostrophe precede the alphanumeric symbols. The apostro-
phe and hyphen characters are treated distinctly, so that “were” and “we’re” remain close in
a sorted list. Second, the collation order is case specific, so that the character “a” precedes
“A”. In addition, similar characters are kept close so that strings beginning with “a” are fol-
lowed by strings beginning with “A”, ahead of strings beginning with “b” and “B”.

Typically, we determine the order of two strings by evaluating strings character-by-character,

comparing pairs of corresponding characters in turn, until we find the first pair for which
the strings differ. If, using the collation order, we determine the first character precedes the
second character, we say that the first string is less than the second string and the second
string is greater than the first. Two strings are said to be equal if they have the same number
of identical characters.

If the two strings are identical in every character, but one of them is shorter than the other,
then a comparison will indicate that the longer string is greater. A corollary of this statement
is that the null string is less than or equal to all other strings.

The multi-character elements that arise in many languages are treated as single characters
for purposes of comparison, and ordered using region-specific rules. For example, the “CH”
and “LL” in Traditional Spanish are treated as unique characters that come between “C” and
“L” and “M”, respectively.

String Comparison (with non-empty strings)

Having defined the notion of string ordering, we may readily describe the behavior of the
relational operators for non-empty (non-missing) strings. The “=” (equal), “>=” (greater
than or equal), and “<=” (less than or equal), “<>” (not equal), “>” (greater than), and
“<” (less than) comparison operators return a 1 or a 0, depending on the result of the string
comparison. To illustrate, the following (non region-specific) comparisons return the value
1,
"abc" = "abc"
"abc" <> "def"
80—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

"abc" <= "def"

"abc" < "abcdefg"
"ABc" > "ABC"
"abc def" > "abc 1ef"

while the following return a 0,

"AbC" = "abc"
"abc" <> "abc"
"aBc" >= "aB1"
"aBC" <= "a123"
"abc" >= "abcdefg"

To compare portions of strings, you may use the functions @left, @right, and @mid to
extract the relevant part of the string (see “String Manipulation Functions” on page 84). The
relational comparisons,
@left("abcdef", 3) = "abc"
@right("abcdef", 3) = "def"
@mid("abcdef", 2, 2) = "bc"

all return 1.

In normal settings, EViews will employ case-sensitive comparisons (see “Case-Sensitive

String Comparison” on page 171 for settings that enable caseless element comparisons in
programs). To perform a caseless comparison, you should convert the expressions to all
uppercase, or all lowercase using the @upper, or @lower functions. The comparisons,
@upper("abc") = @upper("aBC")
@lower("ABC" = @lower("aBc")

both return 1.

To ignore leading and trailing spaces, you should use the @ltrim, @rtrim, and @trim func-
tions remove the spaces prior to using the operator. The relational comparisons,
@ltrim(" abc") = "abc"
@ltrim(" abc") = @rtrim("abc ")
@trim(" abc ") = "abc"

all return 1.

String Comparison (with empty strings)

Generally speaking, the relational operators treat the empty string as a missing value and
return the numeric missing value NA when applied to such a string. Suppose, for example
that an observation in the alpha series X contains the string “Apple”, and the corresponding
observation in the alpha series Y contains a blank string. All comparisons (“X=Y”, “X>Y”,
 Strings—81

“X>=Y”, “X<Y”, “X<=Y”, and “X<>Y”) will generate an NA for that observation since
the Y value is treated as a missing value.

Note that this behavior differs from EViews 4 and earlier in which empty strings were
treated as ordinary blank strings and not as a missing value. In these versions of EViews, the
comparison operators always returned a 0 or a 1. The change in behavior, while regrettable,
was necessary to support the use of string missing values.

It is still possible to perform comparisons using the previous behavior. One approach is to
use the special functions @eqna and @neqna for equality and strict inequality comparisons
without propagating NAs (see “String Information Functions” on page 82). For example, you
may use the expressions
@eqna(x, y)
@neqna(x, y)

so that blanks in string X or Y are treated as ordinary string values. Using these two func-
tions, the observation where X contains “Apple” and Y contains the “” will evaluate to 0 and
1, respectively instead of NA.

Similarly, if you specify a relational expression involving a literal blank string, EViews will
perform the test treating empty strings as ordinary string values. If, for example, you test
x = ""

or
x < ""

all of the string values in X will be tested against the string literal “”. You should contrast this
behavior with the behavior for the non-literal tests “X=Y” and “X<Y” where blank values
of X or Y result in an NA comparison.

Lastly, EViews provides a function for the strict purpose of testing whether a string value is
an empty string. The @isempty function tests whether a string is empty. The relational
equality test against the blank string literal “” is equivalent to this function.

String Lists
A string list is an ordinary string that is interpreted as a space delimited list of string ele-
ments. For example, the string
"Here I stand"

may be interpreted as containing three elements, the words “Here”, “I” and “stand”. Double
quotes may be used to include multiword elements in a list. Bearing in mind that the quote
is used as an escape character for including quotes in strings, the list
"""Chicken Marsala"" ""Beef Stew"" Hamburger"
82—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

contains three elements, the expressions “Chicken Marsala”, “Beef Stew”, and “Hamburger”.
Notice how the escaped double quotes are used to group words into single list elements.

Interpreting a string as a list of elements allows us to make use of functions which operate
on each element in the string, rather than on each character. These methods can be useful
for string manipulation and pattern searching. For example, we may find the intersection,
union, or cross of two string lists. Additionally, we may manipulate the elements of a string
list and find the elements that match or do not match a given pattern. For example, the
string list function
@wkeep("ABC ABCC AABC", "?B*")

uses the pattern “?B*” to filter the string list “ABC ABCC AABC”. Elements with a single
character, followed by the character “B”, then followed by any number of other characters
are kept, returning: “ABC ABCC”.

String Functions
EViews provides a number of functions that may either be used with strings, or return string
values.

Functions that treat a string as a string list begin with a “w”. Some string functions have cor-
responding list functions with the same name, preceded by a “w”. For instance, @left
returns the leftmost characters of a string, while @wleft returns the leftmost elements of a
string list.

String Information Functions

The following is a brief summary of the basic functions that take strings as an argument and
return a number. (Chapter 17. “String and Date Function Reference,” on page 611 offers a
more detailed description.)
• @length(str): returns an integer value for the length of the string str.
@length("I did not do it")
returns the value 15.
A shortened keyword form of this function, @len, is also supported.
• @wcount(str_list): returns an integer value for the number of elements in the string
list str_list.
@wcount("I did not do it")
returns the value 5.
• @instr(str1, str2[, int]): finds the starting position of the target string str2 in the base
string str1. By default, the function returns the location of the first occurrence of str2
in str1. You may provide an optional integer int to specify the occurrence. If the
requested occurrence of the target string is not found, @instr will return a 0.
 Strings—83

The returned integer is often used in conjunction with @mid to extract a portion of the
original string.
@instr("1.23415", "34")
returns the value 4, since the substring “34” appears beginning in the fourth character
of the base string, so
@mid("1.23415", @instr("1.23415", "34"))
returns “3415”.
• @wfind(str_list, str_cmp): looks for the string str_cmp in the string list str_list, and
returns the element position in the list or 0 if the string is not in the list.
@wfind("I did it", "did")
returns the value 2.
The @wfindnc function performs the same operation, but the comparison is not case-
sensitive.
• @isempty(str): tests for whether str is a blank string, returning a 1 if str is a null
string, and 0 otherwise.
@isempty("1.23415")
returns a 0, while
@isempty("")
returns the value 1.
• @eqna(str1, str2): tests for equality of str1 and str2, treating null strings as ordinary
blank strings, and not as missing values. Strings which test as equal return a 1, and 0
otherwise. For example,
@eqna("abc", "abc")
returns a 1, while
@eqna("", "def")
returns a 0.
• @neqna(str1, str2): tests for inequality of str1 and str2, treating null strings as ordi-
nary blank strings, and not as missing values. Strings which test as not equal return a
1, and 0 otherwise.
@neqna("abc", "abc")
returns a 0,
@neqna("", "def")
returns a 1.
• @val(str[, fmt]): converts the string representation of a number, str, into a numeric
value. If the string has any non-digit characters, the returned value is an NA. You may
84—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

provide an optional numeric format string fmt. See “String Conversion Functions” on
page 88 and @val (p. 638) for details.
• @dateval(str[, fmt]): converts the string representation of a date string, str, into a
date number using the optional format string fmt. See “String Conversion Functions”
on page 88 and @dateval (p. 618) for details.
• @dtoo(str): (Date TO Obs) converts the string representation of a date, str, into an
observation value for the active workfile. Returns the scalar offset from the beginning
of the workfile associated with the observation given by the date string. The string
must be a valid EViews date.
create d 2/1/90 12/31/95
%date = "1/1/93"
!t = @dtoo(%date)
returns the value !T=762.
Note that @dtoo will generate an error if used in a panel structured workfile.

String Manipulation Functions

The following is a brief summary of the basic functions that take strings as an argument and
return a string.
• @left(str, int): returns a string containing the int characters at the left end of the
string str. If there are fewer than int characters, @left will return the entire string.
@left("I did not do it", 5)
returns the string “I did”.
• @wleft(str_list, int): returns a string containing the int elements at the left end of the
string list str_list. If there are fewer than int elements, @wleft will return the entire
string list.
@wleft("I did not do it", 3)
returns the string “I did not”.
• @right(str, int): returns a string containing the int characters at the right end of a
string. If there are fewer than int characters, @right will return the entire string.
@right("I doubt that I did it", 8)
returns the string “I did it”.
• @wright(str_list, int): returns a string containing the int elements at the right end of
a string list. If there are fewer than int elements, @wright will return the entire string.
@wright("I doubt that I did it", 3)
returns the string “I did it”.
 Strings—85

• @mid(str, int1[, int2]): returns the string consisting of the characters starting from
position int1 in the string. By default, @mid returns the remainder of the string, but
you may specify the optional integer int2, indicating the number of characters to be
returned.
@mid("I doubt that I did it", 9, 10)
returns “that I did”.
@mid("I doubt that I did it", 9)
returns the string “that I did it”.
• @wmid(str_list, int1[, int2]): returns the string consisting of the elements starting from
position int1 in the string. By default, @wmid returns all remaining elements of the
string, but you may specify the optional integer int2, indicating the number of ele-
ments to be returned.
@wmid("I doubt that I did it", 2, 3)
returns “doubt you did”.
@mid("I doubt that I did it", 4)
returns the string “I did it”.
• @word(str_list, int): returns the int element of the string list.
@word("I doubt that I did it", 2)
returns the second element of the string, “doubt”.
• @wordq(str_list, int): returns the int element of the string list, while preserving
quotes.
@wordq("""Chicken Marsala"" ""Beef Stew""", 2)
returns the second element of the string, “Beef Stew”. The @word function would
return the same elements, but would not include quotation marks in the string.
• @insert(str1, str2, int): inserts the string str2 into the base string str1 at the position
given by the integer int.
@insert("I believe it can be done", "not ", 16)
returns “I believe it cannot be done”.
• @wkeep(str_list, "pattern_list"): returns the list of elements in str_list that match the
string pattern pattern_list. The pattern_list is space delimited, and may be made up of
any number of “?” (indicates any single character) or “*” (indicates any number of
characters).
@wkeep("ABC DEF GHI JKL", "?B? D?? *I")
keeps the first three elements of the string list, returning the string “ABC DEF GHI”.
86—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

• @wdrop(str_list, "pattern_list"): returns a string list, dropping elements in str_list that

match the string pattern pattern_list. The pattern_list is space delimited, and may be
made up of any number of “?” (indicates any single character) or “*” (indicates any
number of characters).
@wdrop("ABC DEF GHI JKL", "?B? D?? *I")
drops the first three elements of the string list, returning the string “JKL”.
• @replace(str1, str2, str3[, int]): returns the base string str1, with the replacement
str3 substituted for the target string str2. By default, all occurrences of str2 will be
replaced, but you may provide an optional integer int to specify the number of occur-
rences to be replaced.
@replace("Do you think that you can do it?", "you", "I")
returns the string “Do I think that I can do it?”, while
@replace("Do you think that you can do it?", "you", "I", 1)
returns “Do I think that you can do it?”.
• @wreplace(str_list, “src_pattern”, “replace_pattern”): returns the base string list
str_list, with the replacement pattern replace_pattern substituted for the target pattern
src_pattern. The pattern lists may be made up of any number of “?” (indicates any sin-
gle character) or “*” (indicates any number of characters).
@wreplace("ABC AB", "*B*", "*X*")
replaces all instances of “B” with “X”, returning the string “AXC AX”.
@wreplace("ABC DDBC", "??B?", "??X?")
replaces all instances of “B” which have two leading characters and one following
character, returning the string “ABC DDXC”.
• @ltrim(str): returns the string str with spaces trimmed from the left.
@ltrim(" I doubt that I did it. ")
returns “I doubt that I did it. ”. Note that the spaces on the right remain.
• @rtrim(str): returns the string str with spaces trimmed from the right.
@rtrim(" I doubt that I did it. ")
returns the string “ I doubt that I did it.”. Note that the spaces on the left remain.
• @trim(str): returns the string str with spaces trimmed from the both the left and the
right.
@trim(" I doubt that I did it. ")
returns the string “I doubt that I did it.”.
• @upper(str): returns the upper case representation of the string str.
@upper("I did not do it")
 Strings—87

returns the string “I DID NOT DO IT”.

• @lower(str): returns the lower case representation of the string str.
@lower("I did not do it")
returns the string “i did not do it”.
• @addquotes(str): returns the string str with quotation marks added to the left and
right. Given a string S1 that contains the unquoted text: I did not do it,
@addquotes(S1)
returns the quoted string “I did not do it”.
• @stripquotes(str): returns the string str with quotation marks removed from the left
and right. Given a string S1 that contains the text: “I did not do it”,
@stripquotes(S1)
returns the unquoted string: “I did not do it”.
• @stripparens(str): returns the string str with parentheses removed from the left and
right. Given a string S1 that contains the text: “(I did not do it)”,
@stripparens(S1)
returns the string: “I did not do it”.
• @wintersect(str_list1, str_list2): returns the intersection of str_list1 and str_list2.
@wintersect("John and Greg won", "Mark won but Greg lost")
returns the string “won Greg”.
• @wunion(str_list1, str_list2): returns the union of str_list1 and str_list2.
@wunion("ABC DEF", "ABC G H def")
returns the string “ABC DEF G H def”. Each new element is added to the string list,
skipping elements that have already been added to the list.
• @wunique(str_list): returns str_list with duplicate elements removed from the list.
@wunique("fr1 fr2 fr1")
returns the string “fr1 fr2”.
• @wnotin(str_list1, str_list2): returns elements of str_list1 that are not in str_list2.
@wnotin("John and Greg won", "and Greg")
returns the string “John won”.
• @wcross(str_list1, str_list2[, “pattern”]): returns str_list1 crossed with str_list2,
according to the string pattern. The default pattern is “??”, which indicates that each
element of str_list1 should be crossed individually with each element of str_list2.
@wcross("ABC DEF", "1 2 3", "?-?")
88—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

returns the string list “ABC-1 ABC-2 ABC-3 DEF-1 DEF-2 DEF-3”, inserting a dash (“-”)
between each crossed element as the “?-?” pattern indicates.
• @winterleave(str_list1, str_list2[, count1, count2]): Interleaves str_list1 with
str_list2, according to the pattern specified by count1 and count2. The default uses
counts of one.
@winterleave("A B C", "1 2 3")
interleaves “A B C” with “1 2 3” to produce the string list “A 1 B 2 C 3”.
• @wsort(str_list[,”D”]): Returns sorted elements of str_list. Use the “D” flag to sort in
descending order.
@wsort("fq8 Fq8 xpr1", "D")
sorts the string in descending order: “xpr1 Fq8 fq8”.
• @wdelim(str_list, "src_delim", "dest_delim"): returns a string list, replacing every
appearance of the src_delim delimiter in str_list with a dest_delim delimiter. Delimit-
ers must be single characters.
@wdelim("Arizona, California, Washington", ",", "-")
identifies the comma as the source delimiter and replaces each comma with a dash,
returning the string “Arizona-California-Washington”.

String Conversion Functions

The following functions convert between numbers or date numbers and strings:
• @datestr(date1[, fmt]): converts the date number date1 to a string representation
using the optional date format string, fmt.
@datestr(730088, "mm/dd/yy")
will return “12/1/99”,
@datestr(730088, "DD/mm/yyyy")
will return “01/12/1999”, and
@datestr(730088, "Month dd, yyyy")
will return “December 1, 1999”, and
@datestr(730088, "w")
will produce the string “3”, representing the weekday number for December 1, 1999.
See the function reference entry @datestr (p. 618) and “Dates” on page 94 for addi-
tional details on date numbers and date format strings.
• @dateval(str[, fmt]): converts the string representation of a date string, str, into a
date number using the optional format string fmt.
@dateval("12/1/1999", "mm/dd/yyyy")
 Strings—89

will return the date number for December 1, 1999 (730088) while
@dateval("12/1/1999", "dd/mm/yyyy")
will return the date number for January 12, 1999 (729765). See the function reference
entry @dateval (p. 618) and “Dates,” beginning on page 94 for discussion of date
numbers and format strings.
• @str(num[, fmt]): returns a string representation of the number num. You may pro-
vide an optional numeric format string fmt.
@str(153.4)
returns the string “153.4”.
To create a string containing 4 significant digits and leading “$” character, use
@str(-15.4435, "g$.4")
The resulting string is “-$15.44”.
The expression
@str(-15.4435, "f7..2")
converts the numerical value, -15.4435, into a fixed 7 character wide decimal string
with 2 digits after the decimal and comma as decimal point. The resulting string is
“ -15,44”. Note that there is a leading space in front of the “-” character making the
string 7 characters long.
The expression
@str(-15.4435, "e(..2)")
converts the numerical value, -15.4435, into a string written in scientific notation with
two digits to the right of the decimal point. The decimal point in the value will be rep-
resented using a comma and negative numbers will be enclosed in parenthesis. The
resulting string is “(1,54e+01)”. A positive value will not have the parenthesis.
@str(15.4435, "p+.1")
converts the numeric value, 15.4435, into a percentage where the value is multiplied
by 100. Only 1 digit will be included after the decimal and an explicit “+” will always
be included for positive numbers. The resulting value after rounding is “+1544.4”.
See the function reference entry @str (p. 627) for a detailed description of the conver-
sion rules and syntax, along with additional examples.
• @val(str[, fmt]): converts the string representation of a number, str, into a numeric
value. If the string has any non-digit characters, the returned value is an NA. You may
provide an optional numeric format string fmt.
@val("1.23415")
See the function reference entry @val (p. 638) for a detailed description of the conver-
sion rules.
90—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

String Vector Functions

The following functions either take a string vector as an argument, or return a string vector:
@rows(str_vector): returns the number of rows in str_vector.
For a string vector SV01 with 10 rows,
@rows(sv01)
returns the integer 10.
• @wsplit(str_list): returns a string vector containing the elements of str_list.
If the string list SS01 contains “A B C D E F”, then
@wsplit(ss01)
returns an untitled svector, placing an element of SS01 in each row. Row one of the
svector contains “A”, row two contains “B”, etc.
• @wjoin(svector): returns a space delimited list containing the elements of svector.
This is the inverse of the @wsplit function.

Special Functions that Return Strings

EViews provides a special, workfile-based function that uses the structure of the active
workfile page and returns a set of string values representing the date identifiers associated
with the observations.
• @strdate(fmt): returns the set of workfile row dates as strings in an Alpha series,
formatted using the date format string fmt. See “Special Date Functions” on page 112
for details.

In addition, EViews provides two special functions that return a string representations of the
date associated with a specific observation in the workfile, or with the current time.
• @otod(int): (Obs TO Date): returns a string representation of the date associated with
a single observation (counting from the start of the workfile). Suppose, for example,
that we have a quarterly workfile ranging from 1950Q1 to 1990Q4. Then
@otod(16)
returns the date associated with the 16th observation in the workfile in string form,
“1953Q4”.
• @otods(int): (Obs TO Date in Sample): returns a string representation of the date
associated with a single observation (counting from the start of the sample). Thus
@otods(2)
will return the date associated with the second observation in the current sample.
Note that if int is negative, or is greater than the number of observations in the cur-
rent sample, an empty string will be returned.
 Strings—91

• @strnow(fmt): returns a string representation of the current date number (at the
moment the function is evaluated) using the date format string, fmt.
@strnow("DD/mm/yyyy")
returns the date associated with the current time in string form with 2-digit days,
months, and 4-digit years separated by a slash, “24/12/2003”.

You may also ask EViews to report information about objects in the current workfile or data-
base, or a directory on your computer, in a form suitable for list processing:
• @wlookup(“pattern_list”[, “object_type_list”]): Returns a string list of all objects in the
workfile or database that satisfy the pattern_list and, optionally, the object_type_list.
The pattern_list may be made up of any number of “?” (indicates any single charac-
ter) or “*” (indicates any number of characters).
If a workfile contains a graph object named “GR01” and two series objects named
“SR1” and “SER2”, then
@wlookup("?R?","series")
returns the string “SR1”.
• @wdir(directory_str): returns a string list of all files in the directory directory_str. Note
that this does not include other directories nested within directory_str.
@wdir("C:\Documents and Settings")
returns a string list containing the names of all files in the “C:\Documents and Set-
tings” directory.

Lastly, all EViews objects have data members which return information about themselves in
the form of a string. For example:
ser1.@updatetime

returns the last update time for the series SER1

eq1.@command

returns the full command line form of the estimation command.

For lists of the relevant data members see the individual object descriptions in Chapter 1.
“Object View and Procedure Reference,” on page 2.

Using Strings in EViews

Strings in EViews are primarily used in four distinct contexts: string variables, string objects,
string vectors, or Alpha series.
92—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

String Variables
A string variable is a temporary variable used in a program whose value is a string. String
variables, which only exist during the time that your EViews program is executing, have
names that begin with a “%” symbol. For example,
%value = "value in millions of u.s. dollars"
%armas = "ar(1) ar(2) ma(1) ma(2)"

are string variables declarations that may be used in program files.

See “String Variables,” on page 128 for extensive discussion of the role that these variables
play in programming.

String Objects
A string object is an EViews workfile object that holds a string of text:
string lunch = "Apple Tuna Cookie"
string dinner = """Chicken Marsala"" ""Beef Stew"" Hamburger"

creates the string objects LUNCH and DINNER, each containing the corresponding string lit-
eral. Note that we have used the double quote character as an escape character for double
quotes.

Since a string object is an EViews workfile object, we may open and display its views. A
string object’s view may be switched between String and Word list views. The String view
for DINNER displays the text as a single string,
"Chicken Marsala" "Beef Stew" Hamburger

while the Word list view breaks up the text by element,

"Chicken Marsala"
"Beef Stew"
Hamburger

with each element on a separate line.

We emphasize the important distinction that string objects are named objects in the workfile
that may be saved with the workfile, while string variables are temporary variables that only
exist while an EViews program is running. Thus, string objects have the advantage that they
may be used interactively, while string variables may not be used outside of programs.
String objects can, however, go out of scope when the active workfile page changes, while
string variables are always in scope.

In all other respects, strings objects and string variables may be used interchangeably in pro-
grams. Either string object or string variables can be passed into subroutines for arguments
declared as type string.
 Strings—93

String Vectors
An svector, or string vector, is an EViews object that holds a string in each row of the vector.
A string vector can be created by specifying the number of rows in the vector and providing
a name:
svector(3) svec

If a length is not specified, a one row svector will be created.

An svector can be populated by assigning a string or string literal to each row:

svec(1) = "gdp cost total"

fills the first row of SVEC with the string “gdp cost total”. To assign the same string to all
rows, omit the row number. The command
svec = "invalid"

will assign the string “invalid” to all rows of SVEC.

A multiple row svector may be populated using the @wsplit command, which creates a
string vector from a string list. For example,
svector svec
string st = "gdp cost total"
svec = @wsplit(st)

creates the string vector SVEC of default length one and a string object ST containing “gdp
cost total”. The @wsplit command creates a three element svector from the elements of ST,
placing the string “gdp” in the first row of the string vector, the string “cost” in the second
row, and the string “total” in the third row, and assigns it to SVEC, which is resized accord-
ingly.

Similarly, an svector will shrink if assigned to a smaller svector. For example,

svector svec3 = @wsplit("First Middle Last")
svector(10) svec10
svec10 = svec3

first creates the three row svector SVEC3, then assigns the strings “First”, “Middle”, and
“Last” to the first, second, and third rows, respectively. The third line creates a second ten
row svector, SVEC10. When SVEC3 is assigned to SVEC10, its values are copied over and
rows four through ten are removed from SVEC10.

An svector may also be filled by concatenating two strings or svectors. For instance,
svector s1 = @wsplit("A B C")
svector s2 = @wsplit("1 2 3")
svector ssvec = s1 + s2
94—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

creates two svectors S1 and S2, each with three rows. S1 contains the characters “A”, “B”,
and “C”, while S2 contains “1”, “2”, and “3”. The third command creates the svector SSVEC
and fills it with the concatenation of the other two svectors, producing “A1” on the first row,
“B2” on the second row, and “C3” on the third row.

More generally, any operation that can be performed on a string may be performed on ele-
ment of an svector. For example, given an svector whose first element contains the string
“Hello World” and whose second element contains “Hi there world”, the element assign-
ment statement
svector sv(3) = @left(sv(1),5) + " " + @mid(sv(2),4,5)

takes the left five characters of the first row (“Hello”), adds a space, concatenates five char-
acters from the second row, starting at the fourth character (“there”), and assigns it to the
third element of SV. Element three of SV now contains the string “Hello there”.

The row count of a string vector may be retrieved using the @rows command:
scalar sc = @rows(sv)

This is especially useful since svectors are dynamically resized when necessary.

Alpha Series
EViews has a special series type for holding string data. An alpha series object contains a set
of observations on string values. Alpha series should be used when you wish to work with
variables that contain alphanumeric data, such as names, addresses, and other text.

Alpha series are distinguished from string vectors primarily in that their length is tied to the
length of the workfile.

See “Alpha Series,” on page 198 for discussion.

Dates
There are a variety of places in EViews where you may work with calendar dates. For most
purposes, users need not concern themselves with the intricacies of working with dates.
Simply enter your dates in familiar text notation and EViews will automatically interpret the
string for you.

Those of you who wish to perform more sophisticated operations with dates will, however,
need to understand some basic concepts.

In most settings, you may simply use text representations of dates, or date strings. For exam-
ple, an EViews sample can be set to include only observations falling between two dates
specified using date strings such as “May 11, 1997”, “1/10/1990” or “2001q1”. In these set-
tings, EViews understands that you are describing a date and will interpret the string accord-
ingly.
 Dates—95

Date information may also be provided in the form of a date number. A date number is a
numeric value with special interpretation in EViews as a calendar date. EViews allows you
to convert date strings into date numbers which may be manipulated using a variety of
tools. These tools allow you to perform standard calendar operations such as finding the
number of days or weeks between two dates, the day of the week associated with a given
day, or the day and time 36 hours from now.

The remainder of this section summarizes the use of dates in EViews. (See Chapter 5.
“Strings and Dates,” on page 77 for reference material.) There are several tasks that are cen-
tral to working with dates:
• Translating between date strings and date numbers.
• Translating ordinary numbers into date numbers.
• Manipulating date numbers using operators and functions.
• Extracting information from date numbers.

Before turning to these tasks, we must first provide a bit of background on the characteris-
tics of date strings, date numbers, and a special class of strings called date formats, which
are sometimes employed when translating between the former.

Date Strings
Date strings are simply text representations of dates and/or times. Most of the conventional
ways of representing days, weeks, months, years, hours, minutes, etc., as text are valid date
strings.

To be a bit more concrete, the following are valid date strings in EViews:
"December 1, 2001"
"12/1/2001"
"Dec/01/01 12am"
"2001-12-01 00:00"
"2001qIV”

As you can see, EViews is able to handle a wide variety of representations of your dates and
times. You may use everything from years represented in 1, 2, and 4-digit Arabic form (“1”,
“01”, “99”, “1999”), to month names and abbreviations (“January”, “jan”, “Jan”), to quar-
ter designations in Roman numerals (“I” to “IV”), to weekday names and abbreviations
(“Monday”, “Mon”), to 12 or 24-hour representations of time (“11:12 pm”, “23:12”). A full
list of the recognized date string components is provided in “Date Formats” on page 97.

It is worth noting that date string representations may be divided up into those that are
unambiguous and those that are ambiguous. Unambiguous date strings have but a single
interpretation as a date, while ambiguous date strings may be interpreted in multiple ways.
96—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

For example, the following dates may reasonably be deemed unambiguous:

"March 3rd, 1950"
"1980Q3"
"9:52PM"

while the following dates are clearly ambiguous:

"2/3/4"
"1980:2"
"02:04"

The first date string in the latter set is ambiguous because we cannot tell which of the three
fields is the year, which is the month, and which is the day, since different countries of the
world employ different orderings. The second string is ambiguous since we cannot deter-
mine the period frequency within the year. The “2” in the string could, for example, refer to
the second quarter, month, or even semi-annual in the year. The final string is ambiguous
since it could be an example of a time of day in “hour:minute” format (2:04 am), or a date
in “year:period” notation (i.e., the fourth month of the year 2002) or “period:year” notation
(i.e., the second month of 2004).

In settings where date input is required, EViews will generally accept date string values
without requiring you to provide formatting information. It is here that the importance of
the distinction between ambiguous and unambiguous date strings is seen. If the date string
is unambiguous, the free-format interpretation of the string as a date will produce identical
results in all settings. On the other hand, if the date string is ambiguous, EViews will use the
context in which the date is being used to determine the most likely interpretation of the
string. You may find that ambiguous date strings are neither interpreted consistently nor as
desired.

These issues, and methods of getting around the problem of ambiguity, are explored in
greater detail in “Translating between Date Strings and Date Numbers” on page 100.

Date Numbers
Date information is often held in EViews in the form of a date number. A date number is a
double precision number corresponding to an instance in time, with the integer portion rep-
resenting a specific day, and the decimal fraction representing time during the day.

The integer portion of a date number represents the number of days in the Gregorian prolep-
tic calendar since Monday, January 1, A.D. 0001 (a “proleptic” calendar is a calendar that is
applied to dates both before and after the calendar was historically adopted). The first repre-
sentable day, January 1, A.D. 1 has an integer value of 0, while the last representable day,
December 31, A.D. 9999, has an integer value of 3652058.
 Dates—97

The fractional portion of the date number represents a fraction of the day, with resolution to
the millisecond. The fractional values range from 0 (12 midnight) up to (but not including) 1
(12 midnight). A value of 0.25, for example, corresponds to one-quarter of the day, or 6:00
a.m.

It is worth noting that the time of day in an EViews date number is accurate up to a particu-
lar millisecond within the day, although it can always be displayed at a lower “precision”
(larger unit of time). When date numbers are formatted to lower precisions, they are always
rounded down to the requested precision and never rounded up. Thus, when displaying the
week or month associated with a date number, EViews always rounds down to the begin-
ning of the week or month.

Date Formats
A date format string (or date format, for short) is a string made up of text expressions that
describe how components of a date and time may be encoded in a date string. Date formats
are used to provide an explicit description of a date string representation, and may be
employed when converting between strings or numbers and date numbers.

Before describing date formats in some detail, we consider a simple example. Suppose that
we wish to use the date string “5/11/1997” to represent the date May 11, 1997. The date for-
mat corresponding to this text representation is
"mm/dd/yyyy"

which indicates that we have, in order, the following components: a one or two-digit month
identifier, a “/” separator, a one or two-digit day identifier, a “/” separator, and a 4-digit year
identifier.

Alternatively, we might wish to use the string “1997-May-11” to represent the same date.
The date format for this string is
"yyyy-Month-dd"

since we have a four-digit year, followed by the full name of the month (with first letter cap-
italized), and the one or two-digit day identifier, all separated by dashes.

Similarly, the ISO 8601 representation for 10 seconds past 1:57 p.m. on this date is “1997-05-
11 13:57:10”. The corresponding format is
"yyyy-MM-DD HH:mi:ss"

Here, we have used the capitalized forms of “MM”, “DD”, and “HH” to ensure that we have
the required leading zeros.

A full description of the components of a date format is provided below. Some of the more
commonly used examples of date formats are listed in the options for the setformat object
commands (see, for example, Table::setformat (p. 786) in the Object Reference).
98—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

Date Format Components

A date format may contain one or more of the following string fragments corresponding to
various date components. In most cases, there are various upper and lowercase forms of the
format component, corresponding either to the presence or absence of leading zeros, or to
the case of the string identifiers.

The following format strings are the basic components of a date format:

Years
Year formats use either two or four digit years, with or without leading zeros. The corre-
sponding date format strings are:
• “yyyy” or “YYYY”: four digit year without/with leading zeros.
• “yy” or “YY”: two digit year without/with leading zeros.
• “year” or “YEAR”: synonym for “yyyy” and “YYYY”, respectively.

Semi-Annual
The semi-annual format corresponds to a single digit representing the period in the year:
• “s” or “S”: one digit half-year (1 or 2).

Quarters
Quarter formats allow for values entered in either standard (Arabic) or Roman numbers:
• “q” or “Q”: quarter number, always without leading zeros (1 to 4).
• “qr” or “QR”: quarter in Roman numerals following the case of the format string (“i”
to “iv” or “I” to “IV”.)

Months
Month formats may represent two-digit month values with or without leading zeros, three-
letter abbreviations for the month, or the full month name. The text identifiers may be all
lowercase, all uppercase or “namecase” in which we capitalize the first letter of the month
identifier. The corresponding format strings are given by:
• “mm” or “MM”: two-digit month without/with leading zeros.
• “mon”, “Mon”, or “MON”: three-letter form of month, following the case of the for-
mat string(“jan”, “Feb”, “MAR”).
• “month”, “Month”, or “MONTH”: full month name, following the case of the format
string (“january”, “February”, “MARCH”).

Weeks
Week of the year formats may be specified with or without leading zeros:
 Dates—99

• “ww” or “WW”: week of year (with first week starting from Jan 1st) without/with
leading zeros.

Days
Day formats correspond to day of the year, business day of the year, day of the month, or
day of the week, in various numeric and text representations.
• “ddd” or “DDD”: day of year without/with leading zeros.
• “bbb” or “BBB”: business day of year without/with leading zeros (only counting
Monday-Friday).
• “dd” or “DD”: day of month without/with leading zeros.
• “day” or “DAY”: day of month with suffix, following the case of the format string
(“1st”, “2nd”, “3RD”).
• “w” or “W”: weekday number (1-7) where 1 is Monday.
• “wdy”, “Wdy”, or “WDY”: three-letter weekday abbreviation, following the case of
the format string (“Mon”, “Tue”, “WED”).
• “weekday”, “Weekday”, or “WEEKDAY”: full weekday name, following the case of the
format string (“monday”, “Tuesday”, “WEDNESDAY”).

Time (Hours/Minutes/Seconds)
The time formats correspond to hours (in 12 or 24 hour format), minutes, seconds, and frac-
tional sections, with or without leading zeros and with or without the AM/PM indicator
where appropriate.
• “hh” or “HH”: hour in 24-hour format without/with leading zeros.
• “hm” or “HM”: hour in 12-hour format without/with leading zeros.
• “am” or “AM”: two letter AM/PM indicator for 12-hour format, following the case of
the format string.
• “a” or “A”: single letter AM/PM indicator for 12-hour format, following the case of the
format string.
• “mi” or “MI”: minute, always with leading zeros.
• “ss.s”, “ss.s”, “ss.ss”, or “ss.sss”: seconds and tenths, hundreths, and thousandths-of-
a-second, with leading zeros. The capitalized forms of these formats (“SS”, “SS.S”, ...)
yield identical results.

Delimiters
You may use text to delimit the date format components:
100—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

• “f” or “F”: use frequency delimiter taken from the active, regular frequency workfile
page. The delimiter corresponds to the letter associated with the current workfile fre-
quency (“a”, “m”, “q”, ..., “A”, “M”, “Q”, ...), following the case of the format string,
or the colon (“:”), as determined by the Global Options setting (Options/General
Options.../Date representation).
• “?” : used as “wildcard” single character for skipping a character formats used on date
number input. Passed through to the output string.
• Other alphabetical characters are errors unless they are enclosed in square brackets
e.g. “[Q]”, in which case they are passed through to the output (for example, the
“standard-EViews” quarterly format is “YYYY[Q]Q”, where we use a four digit year
identifier, followed by a “Q” delimiter/identifier, followed by a single digit for the
quarter “1990Q2”).
• All other characters (e.g., punctuation) are passed through to the input or output
without special interpretation.

Translating between Date Strings and Date Numbers

There are times when it is convenient to work with date strings, and times when it is easier
to work with date numbers.

For example, when we are describing or viewing a specific date, it is easier to use a “human
readable” date string such as “2002-Mar-20”, “3/20/2002”, or “March 20, 2002 12:23 pm”
than the date number 730928.515972.

Alternatively, since date strings are merely text representations of dates, working with date
numbers is essential when manipulating calendar dates to find elapsed days, months or
years, or to find a specific date and time 31 days and 36 hours from now.

Accordingly, translating between string representations of dates and date numbers is one of
the more important tasks when performing advanced operations with dates in EViews.
These translations occur in many places in EViews, ranging from the interpretation of date
strings in sample processing, to the spreadsheet display of series containing date numbers,
to the import and export of data from foreign sources.

In most settings, the translations take place automatically, without user involvement. For
example, when you enter a sample command of the form
smpl 1990q1 2000q4

EViews automatically converts the date strings into a range of date numbers. Similarly,
when you edit a series that contains date numbers, you typically will enter your data in the
form of a date string such as
"2002-Mar-20"
 Dates—101

which EViews will automatically translate into a date number.

In other cases, you will specifically request a translation by using the built-in EViews func-
tions @datestr (to convert a date number to a string) and @dateval (to convert a date
string to a date number).

For example, the easiest way to identify the date 1,000 days after May 1, 2000 is first to con-
vert the string value “May 1, 2000” into a date number using @dateval, to manipulate the
date number to find the value 1000 days after the original date, and finally to convert the
resulting date number back into a string using @datestr. See “Formatted Conversion” on
page 105 and “Manipulating Date Numbers” on page 109 for additional details.

All translations between dates strings and date numbers involve one of two methods:
• First, EViews may perform a free-format conversion in which the date format is
inferred from the string values, in some cases other contextual information.
• Second, EViews may perform a formatted conversion in which the string representa-
tion of the dates is provided explicitly via a date format.

For the most part, you should find that free-format conversion is sufficient for most needs.
Nevertheless, in some cases the automatic handling of dates by EViews may not produce the
desired results. If this occurs, you should either modify any ambiguous date formats, or
specify an explicit formatted conversion to generate date numbers as necessary.

Free-format Conversion
EViews will perform free-format conversions between date strings and numbers whenever:
(1) there is an automatic translation between strings and numbers, or (2) when you use one
of the translation functions without an explicit date format.

When converting from strings to numbers, EViews will produce a date number using the
“most likely” interpretation of the date string. For the most part, you need not concern your-
self with the details of the conversion, but if you require additional detail on specific topics
(e.g., handling of date intervals, the implicit century cutoff for 2-digit years) see “Free-for-
mat Conversion Details” on page 114.

When converting from date numbers to strings, EViews will use the global default settings to
determine the default date format, and will display all significant information in the date
number.

Converting Unambiguous Date Strings to Numbers

The free-format conversion of unambiguous date strings (see “Date Strings” on page 95), to
numbers will produce identical results in all settings. The date string:
"March 3rd, 1950"
102—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

will be interpreted as the third day of the third month of the year A.D. 1950, and will yield
the date value 711918.0. Note that the date value is the smallest associated with the given
date, corresponding to 12 midnight.

Similarly, the date string:

"1980Q3"

is interpreted as the first instance in the third quarter of 1980. EViews will convert this string
into the date number representing the smallest date value in that quarter, 722996.0 (12 mid-
night on July 1, 1980).

If we specify a time string without a corresponding day,

"9:52PM"

the day portion of the date is set to 0 (effectively, January 1, A.D. 1), yielding a value of
0.91111111 (see “Incomplete Date Numbers” on page 115) for details.

Consider also the following ambiguous date string:

"1 May 03"

While this entry may appear to be ambiguous since the “03” may reasonably refer to either
1903 or 2003, EViews resolves the ambiguity by assuming that if the two-digit year is greater
than or equal to 30, the year is assumed to be from the twentieth century, otherwise the year
is assumed to be from the twenty first century (see “Two-digit Years” on page 115 for discus-
sion). Consequently free-format conversion of two-digit years will produce consistent results
in all settings.

Converting Ambiguous Date Strings to Numbers

Converting from ambiguous date strings will yield context sensitive results. In cases involv-
ing ambiguity, EViews will determine the most likely translation format by examining sur-
rounding data or applicable settings for clues as to how the date strings should be
interpreted.

The following contextual information is used in interpreting ambiguous free-form dates:

• For implicit period notation (e.g., “1990:3”) the current workfile frequency is used to
determine the period.
• Choosing between ambiguous “mm/dd” or “dd/mm” formats is determined by exam-
ining the values of related date strings (i.e., those in the same series), user-specified
date/time display formats for a series or column of a spreadsheet, or by examining the
EViews global setting for date display, (Options/General Options.../Date representa-
tion).

To fix ideas, we consider a few simple examples of the use of contextual information.
 Dates—103

If you specify an ambiguous sample string, EViews will use the context in which the sample
is used, the frequency of the workfile, to determine the relevant period. For example, given
the sample statement
smpl 90:1 03:3

and a quarterly workfile, the sample will be set from 1990q1 to 2003q3. If the workfile is
monthly, the sample will be set from January 1990 to March 2003.

Suppose instead that you are editing a series spreadsheet where your date numbers are dis-
played as dates strings using a specified format. In this setting, EViews allows you to enter
your values as date strings, instead of having to enter the underlying date numbers. In this
context, it is natural for EViews to use the current display format as a hint in interpreting
ambiguous data. For example, if the current display format is set to “Month dd, YYYY” then
an input of “2/3/4” or “@dateval("2/3/4")” will be interpreted as February the 3rd, 2004.
On the other hand, if the current display format is set to “YYYY-MM-DD” then the same
input will be interpreted as the March the 4th, 2002.

In settings where an entire series is provided to an EViews procedure, EViews is able to use
all of the values in the series to aid in determining the underlying data format. For example,
when an alpha series is provided as a date identifier for restructuring a workfile, EViews will
first scan all the values of the series in order to decide on the most likely format of all of the
data before converting the string in each element into a date number. If the first observation
of the series is an ambiguous “2/3/4” but a later observation is “3/20/95” then the “2/3/4”
will be interpreted as the 3rd of February 2004 since that is the only order of year, month
and day that is consistent with the “3/20/95” observation.
104—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

Conversely, when generating new series values with a genr or series assignment statement,
EViews processes observation individually and is therefore unable to obtain contextual
information to aid in interpreting ambiguous date strings. In this case, EViews will use the
global workfile setting for the Month/Day order in dates to determine the ordering of the
days and months in the string.

For example, when the expression

series dnums = @dateval("2/3/4")

is used to generate a series containing date values, EViews will interpret the value as Febru-
ary 3, 2004, if the global setting is Month/Day/Year, and March 2, 2004, if the global setting
is Day/Month/Year.

Converting Date Numbers to Strings

EViews provides the @datestr function to translate a date number to a date string. We
describe the function in detail in “Formatted Conversion” on page 105, but for now, simply
note that @datestr takes an optional argument describing the date format to be used when
exporting the string. If the optional argument is not provided, EViews will perform a free-
format conversion.

In performing the free-format conversion, EViews examines two pieces of information. First,
the global default settings for the Month/Day order in dates will be used to determine the
ordering of days and months in the string. Next, EViews examines the date values to be
translated and looks for relevant time-of-day information.

If there is no relevant time-of-day information in the date numbers (e.g., the non-integer por-
tions are all zero), EViews writes the string corresponding to the date using either the date
format
"dd/mm/yyyy"

or
"mm/dd/yyyy”

with preference given to the order favored in the global settings.

If there is relevant time-of-day information, EViews will extend the date format accordingly.
Thus, if days are favored in the ordering, and relevant hours (but not minutes and seconds)
information is present, EViews will use
"dd/mm/yyyy hh"

while if hours-minutes are present, the format will be

"dd/mm/yyyy hh:mi"

and so forth.
 Dates—105

Formatted Conversion
While the free-format conversions will generally produce the desired results, there may be
times when you want to exercise precise control over the conversion. EViews will perform a
formatted conversion between date strings and date numbers whenever you use the @dat-
eval or @datestr functions with the optional second argument specifying an explicit date
format.

To convert a date string into a date number using a date format, you should use the @dat-
eval function with two arguments. The first argument must be a valid date string, and the
second must be the corresponding date format string. If you omit the optional second argu-
ment, EViews will perform a free-format conversion.
• @dateval(str[, fmt]): takes the string str and evaluates it to a date number using the
optional date format string, fmt.

A few simple examples will illustrate the wide range of string to date number conversions
that are possible using @dateval and a date format. The simplest format strings involve the
standard month/day/year date descriptions:
@dateval("12/1/1999", "mm/dd/yyyy")

will return the date number for December 1, 1999 (730088),

@dateval("12/1/1999", "dd/mm/yyyy")

returns the date number for January 12, 1999 (729765). Here we have changed the interpre-
tation of the date string from “American” to “European” by reversing the order of the parts
of the format string.

Likewise, we may find the first date value associated with a given period
@dateval("1999", "yyyy")

returns the value 729754.0 corresponding to 12 midnight on January 1, 1999, the first date
value for the year 1999.

Conversion of an broad range of date strings is possible by putting together various date for-
mat string components. For example,
@dateval("January 12, 1999", "Month dd, yyyy")

returns the date number for 12 midnight on January 12, 1999 (729765), while
@dateval("99 January 12, 9:37 pm", "yy Month dd, hm:mi am")

yields the value 729765.900694 corresponding to the same date, but at 9:37 in the evening.
In this example, the “hm:mi” corresponds to hours (in a 12 hour format, with no leading
0’s) and minutes, and the “am” indicates that there is an indicator for “am” and “pm”. See
“Date Strings” on page 95 and “Date Formats” on page 97 for additional details.
106—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

To translate a date number to a date string using a date format, you should use the @dat-
estr function with two arguments. The first argument must be a valid date number, and the
second must be a date format string describing a string representation of the date.
• @datestr(date_val[, fmt]): converts the date number into a string, using the optional
date format fmt. If a format is not provided, EViews will use a default method (see
“Converting Date Numbers to Strings” on page 104).

For example,
@datestr(730088,"mm/dd/yy")

will return “12/1/99”,

@datestr(730088,"DD/mm/yyyy")

will return “01/12/1999”, and

@datestr(730088,"Month dd, yyyy")

will return “December 1, 1999”, and

@datestr(730088,"w")

will produce the string “3”, representing the weekday number for December 1, 1999. See
“Date Numbers” on page 96 and “Date Formats” on page 97 for additional details.

Translating Ordinary Numbers into Date Numbers

While date information is most commonly held in the form of date strings or date numbers,
one will occasionally encounter data in which a date is encoded as a (non-EViews format)
numeric value or values. For example, the first quarter of 1991 may be given the numeric
representation of 1991.1, or the date “August 15, 2001” may be held in the single number
8152001, or in three numeric values 8, 15, and 2001.

The @makedate function is used to translate ordinary numbers into date numbers. It is sim-
ilar to @dateval but is designed for cases in which your dates are encoded in one or more
numeric values instead of date strings:
• @makedate(arg1[, arg2[,arg3]], fmt): takes the numeric values given by the argu-
ments arg1, and optionally, arg2, etc. and returns a date number using the required
format string, fmt. Only a subset of all date formats are supported by @makedate.
If more than one argument is provided, the arguments must be listed from the lowest
frequency to the highest, with the first field representing either the year or the hour.

The simplest form of @makedate involves converting a single number into a date or a time.
The following are the supported formats for converting a single number into a date value:
• “yy” or “yyyy”: two or four-digit years.
• “yys” or “yyyys”: year*10 + half-year.
 Dates—107

• “yy.s” or “yyyy.s”: year + half-year/10.

• “yyq” or “yyyyq”: year*10 + quarter.
• “yy.q” or “yyyy.q”: year + quarter/10.
• “yymm” or “yyyymm”: year*10 + month.
• “yy.mm” or “yyyy.mm”: year + month/10.
• “yyddd” or “yyyyddd”: year*1000 + day in year.
• “yy.ddd” or “yyyy.ddd”: year + day in year/1000.
• “yymmdd” or “yyyymmdd”: year*10000 + month*100 + day in month.
• “mmddyy”: month*10000 + day in month*100 + two-digit year.
• “mmddyyyy”: month*100000 + day in month*10000 + four-digit year.
• “ddmmyy”: day in month*10000 + month*100 + two-digit year.
• “ddmmyyyy”: day in month*1000000 + month*10000 + four-digit year.

The following formats are supported for converting a single number into intraday values:
• “hh”: hour in day (in 24 hour units)
• “hhmi”: hour*100 + minute.
• “hhmiss”: hour*10000 + minute*100 + seconds.

Note that the @makedate format strings are not case sensitive, since the function requires
that all non-leading fields must have leading zeros where appropriate. For example, when
using the format “YYYYMMDD”, the date March 1, 1992 must be encoded as 19920301, and
not 199231, 1992031, or 1992301.

Let us consider some specific examples of @makedate conversion of a single number. You
may convert a numeric value for the year into a date number using a format string to
describe the year. The expressions:
@makedate(1999, "yyyy")
@makedate(99, "yy")

both return the date number 729754.0 corresponding to 12 midnight on January 1, 1999.
Similarly, you may convert a numeric value into the number of hours in a day using expres-
sions of the form,
@makedate(12, "hh")

Here, EViews will return the date value 0.5 corresponding to 12 noon on January 1, A.D. 1.
While this particular date value is not intrinsically of interest, it may be combined with
other date values to obtain the value for a specific hour in a particular day. For example
using date arithmetic, we may add the 0.5 to the 729754.0 value (12 midnight, January 1,
108—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

1999) obtained above, yielding the date value for 12 noon on January 1, 1999. We consider
these sorts of operations in greater detail in “Manipulating Date Numbers” on page 109.

If your number contains “packed” date information, you may interpret the various compo-
nents using @makedate with an appropriate format string. For example,
@makedate(199003, "yyyymm")
@makedate(1990.3, "yyyy.mm")
@makedate(1031990, "ddmmyyyy")
@makedate(30190, "mmddyy")

all return the value 726526.0, representing March 1, 1990.

Cases where @makedate is used to convert more than one argument into a date or time are
more limited and slightly more complex. The arguments must be listed from the lowest fre-
quency to the highest, with the first field representing either the year or the hour, and the
remaining fields representing sub-periods. The valid date format strings for the multiple
argument @makedate are a subset of the date format strings, with components applied
sequentially to the numeric arguments:
• “yy s” or “yyyy s”: two or four-digit year and half-year.
• “yy q” or “yyyy q”: year and quarter.
• “yy mm” or “yyyy mm”: year and month.
• “yy ddd” or “yyyy ddd”: year and day in year.
• “yy mm dd” or “yyyy mm dd”: year, month, and day in month.

Similarly, the valid formats for converting multiple numeric values into a time are:
• “hh mi”: hour*100 + minute.
• “hh mi ss”: hour*10000 + minutes*100 + seconds.

For convenience, the non-space-delimited forms of these format strings are also supported
(e.g., “yymm”, and “hhmi”).

For example, the expressions,

@makedate(97, 12, 3, "yy mm dd")
@makedate(1997, 12, 3, "yyyymmdd")

will return the value 729360.0 corresponding to midnight on December 3, 1997. You may
provide a subset of this information so that
@makedate(97, 12, "yymm")

returns the value 729358.0 representing the earliest date and time in December of 1997 (12
midnight, December 1, 1997). Likewise,
 Dates—109

@makedate(1997, 37, "yyyy ddd")

yields the value 729060.0 (February 6, 1997, the 37th day of the year) and
@makedate(14, 25, 10, "hh mi ss")

returns the value 0.600810185 corresponding to 2:25:10 pm on January 1, A.D. 1.

It is worth pointing out that in the examples above, the numeric arguments are entered from
lowest frequency to high, as required. The following example, in which days appear before
months and years, is not a legal specification
@makedate(7, 10, 98, "dd mm yy")

and will generate an error reporting a “Bad date format”.

Lastly, we note that limitations on the date formats supported by @makedate imply that in
some cases, you are better off working with strings and the @dateval function. In cases,
where @makedate does not support a desired conversion, you should consider converting
your numbers into strings, performing string concatenation, and then using the richer set of
@dateval conversions to obtain the desired date values.

Manipulating Date Numbers

One of the most important reasons for holding your date information in the form of date
numbers is so that you may perform sophisticated calendar operations.

Date Operators
Since date values are simply double precision numbers, you may perform standard mathe-
matical operations using these values. While many operations such as division and multipli-
cation do not preserve the notion of a date number, you may find addition and subtraction
and relational comparison of date values to be useful tools.

If, for example, you add 7 to a valid date number, you get a value corresponding to the same
time exactly seven days later. Adding 0.25 adds one-quarter of a day (6 hours) to the current
time. Likewise, subtracting 1 gives the previous day, while subtracting 0.5 gives the date
value 12 hours earlier. Taking the difference between two date values yields the number of
days between the two values.

While using the addition and subtraction operators is valid, we strongly encourage you to
use the EViews specialized date functions since they allow you to perform arithmetic at var-
ious frequencies (other than days), while taking account of irregularities in the calendar (see
“Functions for Manipulating Dates” on page 110).

Similarly, while you may round a date number down to the nearest integer to obtain the first
instance in the day, or you may round down to a given precision to find the first instance in
a month, quarter or year, the built-in functions provide a set of simple, yet powerful tools for
working with dates.
110—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

Note further that all of the relational operators are valid for comparing date numbers. Thus,
if two date numbers are equal, the “=”, “>=”, and “<=” relational operators all return a
1, while the “<>”, “>”, and “<” comparison operators return a 0. If two date numbers
are not equal, “<>” returns a 1 and “=” returns a 0. If the first date number is less than a
second date number, the corresponding first date precedes the second in calendar time.

Functions for Manipulating Dates

EViews provides several functions for manipulating dates that take date numbers as input
and return numeric values that are also date numbers. These functions may be used when
you wish to find a new date value associated with a given date number, for example, a date
number 3 months before or 37 weeks after a given date and time.

The functions described below all take a time unit string as an argument. As the name sug-
gests, a time unit string is a character representation for a unit of time, such as a month or a
year. The valid time unit string values are: “A” or “Y” (annual), “S” (semi-annual), “Q”
(quarters), “MM” (months), “WW” (weeks), “DD” (days), “B” (business days), “HH”
(hours), “MI” (minutes), “SS” (seconds).

There are three primary functions for manipulating a date number:

• @dateadd(date1, offset[, u]): returns the date number given by date1 offset by offset
time units as specified by the time unit string u. If no time unit is specified, EViews
will use the workfile regular frequency, if available.
Suppose that the value of date1 is 730088.0 (midnight, December 1, 1999). Then we
can add and subtract 10 days from the date by using the functions
@dateadd(730088.0, 10, "dd")
@dateadd(730088.0, -10, "dd")
which return 730098.0 (December 11, 1999) and (730078.0) (November 21, 1999).
Note that these results could have been obtained by taking the original numeric value
plus or minus 10.
The @dateadd function allows for date offsets specified in various units of time. For
example, to add 5 weeks to the existing date, simply specify “W” or “WW” as the
time unit string, as in
@dateadd(730088.0, 5, "ww")
which returns 730123.0 (January 5, 2000).
• @datediff(date1, date2[, u]): returns the number of time units between date1 and
date2, as specified by the time unit string u. If no time unit is specified, EViews will
use the workfile regular frequency, if available.
Suppose that date1 is 730088.0 (December 1, 1999) and date2 is 729754.0 (January 1,
1999), then,
 Dates—111

@datediff(730088.0, 729754.0, "dd")

returns 334 for the number of days between the two dates. Note that this is result is
simply the difference between the two numbers.
The @datediff function is more powerful in that it allows us to calculate differences
in various units of time. For example, the expressions
@datediff(730088.0, 729754.0, "mm")
@datediff(730088.0, 729754.0, "ww")
return 11 and 47 for the number of months and weeks between the dates.
• @datefloor(date1, u[, step]): finds the first possible date number in the given time
unit, as in the first possible date value in the current quarter, with an optional step
offset.
If step is omitted, the frequency will use a step of 1 so that by default, @datefloor
will find the beginning of the period defined by the time unit.
Suppose that date1 is 730110.5 (12 noon, December 23, 1999). Then the @datefloor
values
@datefloor(730110.5, "dd")
@datefloor(730110.5, "mm")
yield 730110.0 (midnight, December 23, 1999) and 730088.0 (midnight, December 1,
1999), since those are the first possible date values in the current day and month.
Note that the first value is simply the integer portion of the original date number, but
that the latter required more complex analysis of the calendar.
Likewise, we can find the start of any corresponding period by using different time
units:
@datefloor(730098.5, "q")
@datefloor(730110.5, "y", 1)
returns 730027.0 (midnight, October 1, 1999), and 729754.0 (midnight, January 1,
1999. Notice that since the latter example used an offset value of 1, the result corre-
sponds to the first date value for the year 1999, which is the start of the year following
the actual value.

Extracting Information from Date Numbers

Given a date number you may wish to extract numeric values associated with a portion of
the value. For example, you might wish to know the value of the month, the year, or the day
in the year associated with a given date value. EViews provides the @datepart function to
allow you to extract the desired information.
• @datepart(date1, u): returns a numeric part of a date value given by u, where u is a
time unit string.
112—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

Consider the date1 date value 730110.5 (noon, December 23, 1999). The @datepart values
for
@datepart(730110.5, "dd")
@datepart(730110.5, "w")
@datepart(730110.5, "ww")
@datepart(730110.5, "mm")
@datepart(730110.5, "yy")

are 23 (day of the month), 1 (day in the week), 52 (week in the year), 12 (month in the
year), and 99 (year), respectively.

Note that the numeric values returned from @datepart are not themselves date values, but
may be used with @makedate to create date values.

Special Date Functions

In addition to the functions that convert strings or numbers into date values, EViews pro-
vides the following special ways to obtain one or more date values of interest.
• @now: returns the date number associated with the current time.

The remaining functions return information for each observation in the current workfile.
• @date: returns the date number corresponding to every observation in the current
workfile.
• @year: returns the four digit year in which the current observation begins. It is equiv-
alent to @datepart(@date, "YYYY")
• @quarter: returns the quarter of the year in which the current observation begins. It
is equivalent to @datepart(@date, "Q").
• @month: returns the month of the year in which the current observation begins. It is
equivalent to @datepart(@date, "MM").
• @day: returns the day of the month in which the current observation begins. It is
equivalent to @datepart(@date, "DD").
• @weekday: returns the day of the week in which the current observation begins,
where Monday is given the number 1 and Sunday is given the number 7. It is equiva-
lent to @datepart(@date, "W").
• @hour: returns the current observation hour as an integer. For example, 9:30AM
returns 9, and 5:15PM returns 17.
• @minute: returns the current observation minute as an integer. For example, 9:30PM
returns 30.
 Dates—113

• @second: returns the current observation second as an integer.

• @hourf: returns the current observation time as a floating point hour. For example,
9:30AM returns 9.5, and 5:15PM returns 17.25.
• @strdate(fmt): returns the set of workfile row dates as strings, using the date format
string fmt. See “Date Formats” on page 97 for a discussion of date format strings.

The @date function will generally be used to create a series containing the date value asso-
ciated with every observation, or as part of a series expression involving date manipulation.
For example:
series y = @date
series x = @dateadd(@date, 12, "ww")

which generates a series containing the date values for every observation, and the date val-
ues for every observation 12 weeks from the current values.

@strdate should be used when you wish to obtain the date string associated with every
observation in the workfile—for example, to be used as input to an alpha series. It is equiv-
alent to using the @datestr function on the date number associated with every observation
in the workfile.

Free-format Conversion Formats

EViews supports the free-format conversion of a wide variety of date strings in which the
string is analyzed for the most likely corresponding date.

Any of the following date string types are allowed:

Day, month, year

• “"YYYY-MM-DD"” (IEEE, with the date enclosed in double quotes)
• “dd/mm/yy” (if American, “mm/dd/yy” instead)
• “dd/mm/yyyy” (if American, “mm/dd/yyyy” instead)
• “yyyy/mm/dd”
• “dd/mon/yy”
• “dd/mon/yyyy”
• “yyyy/mon/dd”
• “ddmmyy” (if American, “mmddyy”)
• “ddmmyyyy” (if American, “mmddyyyy”)

The resulting date values correspond to the first instance in the day (12 midnight).
114—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

Month in year
• “mon/yy”
• “mon/yyyy”
• “yy/mon”
• “yyyy/mon”

The results are rounded to the first instance in the month (12 midnight of the first day of the
month).

Period in year
• “yyyy[S|Q|M|W|B|D|T|F|:]period”
• “yy[S|Q|M|W|B|D|T|F|:]period”

The date value is rounded to the first instance in the period in the year

Whole year
• “yyyy[A]”. The “A” is generally optional, but required if current WF is undated.
• “yy[A]”. The “A” is generally optional, but required if current WF is undated.

The date value is rounded to the first instance in the year (12 midnight on January 1).

Free-format Conversion Details

Note that the following conventions may be used in interpreting ambiguous free-form dates.

Dates and Date Intervals

A date in EViews is generally taken to represent a single point in calendar time. In some con-
texts, however, a date specification is used to refer to a range of values contained in a time,
which can be referred to as an interval.

When a date specification is treated as an interval, the precision with which the date is spec-
ified is used to determine the duration of the interval. For example, if a full day specification
is provided, such as “Oct 11 1980”, then the interval is taken to run from midnight at the
beginning of the day to just before midnight at the end of the day. If only a year is specified,
such as “1963”, then the interval is taken to run from midnight on the 1st of January of the
year to just before midnight on the 31st of December at the end of the year.

An example where this is used is in setting the sample for a workfile. In this context, pairs of
dates are provided to specify which observations in the workfile should be included in the
sample. The pairs of dates are provided are processed as intervals, and the sample is defined
to run from the start of the first interval to the end of the second interval. As an example, if
 Dates—115

the sample “1980q2 1980q2” is specified for a daily file, the sample will include all observa-
tions from April 1st 1980 to June 30th 1980 inclusive.

Incomplete Date Numbers

An EViews date number can be used to represent both a particular calendar day, and a par-
ticular time of day within that day. If no time of day is specified, the time of day is set to
midnight at the beginning of the day.

When no date is specified, the day portion of a date is effectively set to 1st Jan A.D. 1. For
example, the date string “12 p.m.” will be translated to the date value 0.5 representing 12
noon on January 1, A.D. 1. While this particular date value is probably not of intrinsic inter-
est, it may be combined with other information to obtain meaningful values. See “Manipu-
lating Date Numbers” on page 109

Two-digit Years
In general, EViews interprets years containing only two digits as belonging to either the
twentieth or twenty-first centuries, depending on the value of the year. If the two digit year
is greater than or equal to 30, the year is assumed to be from the twentieth century and a
century prefix of “19” is added to form a four digit year. If the number is less than 30, the
year is assumed to be from the twenty first century and a century prefix of “20” is added to
form a four digit year.

Note that if you wish to refer to a year after 2029 or a year before 1930, you must use the full
four-digit year identifier.

Because this conversion to four digit years is generally performed automatically, it is not
possible to specify years less than A.D. 100 using two digit notation. Should the need ever
arise to represent these dates, such two digit years can be input directly by specifying the
year as a four digit year with leading zeros. For example, the 3rd of April in the year A.D. 23
can be input as “April 3rd 0023”.

Implicit Period Notation

In implicit period notation (e.g., “1990:3”), the current workfile frequency is used to deter-
mine the period.

American vs. European dates

When performing a free-format conversion in the absence of contextual information suffi-
cient to identify whether data are provided in “mm/dd” or “dd/mm” format, the global
workfile setting for the Options/Dates & Frequency Conversion.../Month/Day order in
dates (“Date Representation” on page 824 of the User’s Guide I) will be used to determine
the ordering of the days and months in the string.

For example, the order of the months and years is ambiguous in the date pair:
116—Chapter 5. Strings and Dates

1/3/91 7/5/95

so EViews will use the default date settings to determine the desired ordering. We caution
you, however, that using default settings to define the interpretation of date strings is not a
good idea since a given date string may be interpreted in different ways at different times if
your settings change. You may instead use the IEEE standard format, “YYYY-MM-DD” to
ensure consistent interpretation of your daily date strings. The presence of a dash in the for-
mat means that you must enclose the date in quotes for EViews to accept this format. For
example:
smpl "1991-01-03" "1995-07-05"

will always set the sample to run from January 3, 1991 and July 5, 1995.

Time of Day
Free-format dates can also contain optional trailing time of day information which must fol-
low the pattern:
hh[[[[[:mi:]ss].s]s]s][am|AM|pm|PM]

where “[]” encloses optional portions or the format and “|” indicates one of a number of
possibilities. In addition, either the “am” or “pm” field or an explicit minute field must be
provided for the input to be recognized as a time. An hour by itself is generally not suffi-
cient.

The time of day in an EViews date is accurate up to a particular millisecond within the day,
although any date can always be displayed at a lower precision. When displaying times at a
lower precision, the displayed times are always rounded down to the requested precision,
and never rounded up.

When both a day and a time of day are specified as part of a date, the two can generally be
provided one after the other with the two fields separated by one or more spaces. If, how-
ever, the date is being used in a context where EViews does not permit spaces between input
fields, a single letter “t” can also be used to separate the day and time so that the entire date
can be contained in a single word, e.g. “1990-Jan-03T09:53”.

Time Zones
There are a related set of functions that you may use that provide information on time-
zones: @localt (p. 622), @localt (p. 622), @tzlist (p. 635), @tzspec (p. 636), and
@utc (p. 637).
Chapter 6. EViews Programming

EViews’ programming features allow you to create and store commands in programs that
automate repetitive tasks, or generate a record of your research project.

You may, for example, write a program containing commands that analyze the data from
one industry, and then have the program perform the analysis for a number of other indus-
tries. You can also create a program containing the commands that take you from the cre-
ation of a workfile and reading of raw data, through the calculation of your final results, and
construction of presentation graphs and tables.

The remainder of this chapter outlines the basics of EViews programming. If you have expe-
rience with computer programming and batch or macro processing, you will find most of the
features of the EViews language to be quite familiar. At the same time, non-programmers
should feel welcome to examine the material as you need not have any experience with pro-
gramming to take advantage of these powerful features.

Program Basics
What is a Program?
A program is simply a text file containing EViews commands. It is not an EViews object in a
workfile. It exists as a file on your computer hard disk, generally with a “.PRG” extension.

Creating a Program
To create a new program, click File/New/Program. You will see a standard text editing win-
dow where you can type in the lines of the program. You may also open the program win-
dow by typing program in the command window, followed by an optional program name.
For example
program firstprg

opens a program window named “FIRSTPRG”. Program names should follow standard
EViews rules for file names.

Program Formatting
As noted earlier, an EViews program is a text file, consisting of one or more lines of text.
Generally, each line of a program corresponds to a single EViews command, so you may
enter the text for each command and terminate the line by pressing the ENTER key.

If a program line is longer than the current program window, EViews will, by default, autow-
rap the text of the line. Autowrapping alters the appearance of the program line by display-
ing it on multiple lines, but does not change the contents of the line. While resizing the
118—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

window will change the autowrap position, the text remains unchanged and is still con-
tained in a single line. You may turn off autowrapping in programs via Options/General
Options/Programs and deselecting the Enable word wrap check box, or by clicking the
Wrap +/- button on the program window.

When autowrapping is turned off via the option menu, you may elect to show program line
numbers in your program window by selecting Display line numbers. You may then right-
click anywhere in your program and select Go To Line... to jump directly to a specific line
number.

If you desire greater control over the appearance of your lines, you can manually break long
lines using the ENTER key, and then use the underscore continuation character “_” as the
last character on the line to join the multiple lines. For example, the three separate lines of
text
equation eq1.ls _
y x c _
ar(1) ar(2)

are equivalent to the single line

equation eq1.ls y x c ar(1) ar(2)

formed by joining the lines at the continuation character. We emphasize that the “_” must
be the very last character in the line.

The apostrophe “'” is the comment character in programs. You may place the comment
character anywhere in a line to treat all remaining characters in the line as a comment which
will be ignored when executing the program command.
equation eq1.ls y x c ar(1) ar(2) ’ this is a comment

A block of lines may be commented or uncommented in the EViews program file editor by
highlighting the lines, right-mouse clicking, and selecting Comment Selection or Uncom-
ment Selection.

You can instruct EViews to automatically format your program by selecting the lines to
which you wish to apply formatting, right-mouse clicking and selecting Format Selection.
Automatic formatting will clean up the text in the selection, and will highlight the structure
of the program by indenting lines of code inside loops, if conditions and subroutines, etc.
You should find that automatic formatting makes your programs easier to read and edit.

You may elect to have EViews automatically indent your program as you type by changing
the Indent option in the main EViews options menu (Options/General Options/Programs).
 Program Basics—119

Saving a Program
After you have created and edited your program, you will probably want to save it. Press the
Save or SaveAs button on the program window toolbar. When saved, the program will have
the extension “.PRG”.

If saving your program will overwrite an existing program file and you have instructed
EViews to make backup copies (“Programs,” on page 825 of User’s Guide I), EViews will
automatically create the backup. The backup copy will have the same name as the file, but
with the first character in the extension changed to “~”.

Saving the Command Window

One convenient method of creating a program is to execute several commands using the
EViews command window and then save the history of those commands to a program file.
Click in the command window then select File/Save As... from the main EViews menu.
EViews will prompt you to save the command log as a text file. Simply save the file with the
“.PRG” extension.

You may then edit the program file and save the edited version in the usual fashion.

Encrypting a Program
EViews offers you the option of encrypting a program file so that you may distribute it to
others in a form where they may not view the original text. Encrypted files may be opened
and the program lines may be executed, but the source lines may not be viewed. To encrypt
a program file simply click on the Encrypt button on the program window.

EViews will create an untitled program containing the contents of the original program, but
with only the visible text “Encrypted program”. You may save this encrypted program in the
usual fashion using Save or SaveAs.

Note that once a program is encrypted it may not be unencrypted; encryption should not be
viewed as a method of password protecting a program. You should always keep a separate
copy of the original source program. To use an encrypted program, simply open it and run
the program in the usual fashion.

Opening a Program
To load a program file previously saved on disk, click on File/Open/Program..., navigate to
the appropriate directory, and click on the desired name. You may also drag an EViews pro-
gram file onto the EViews window to open it. Alternatively, from the command line, you
may type the keyword open followed by the full program name, including the file extension
“.PRG”. By default, EViews will look for the program in the default directory, but you may
include the full path to the file and enclosed the entire name in quotations, if desired. For
example, the commands:
120—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

open mysp500.prg
open "c:\mywork is here\eviews\myhouse.prg"

open the file “Mysp500.PRG” in the default EViews directory, and “Myhouse.PRG” located
in the directory “c:\mywork is here\eviews”.

Executing a Program
Executing a program is the process of running all of the commands in a program file.

Note that EViews commands can be executed in two distinct ways. When you enter and run,
line by line, a series of commands in the command window, we say that you are working in
interactive mode. Alternatively, you can type all of the commands in a program and execute
or run them collectively as a batch of commands. When you run the commands from a pro-
gram file, we say that you are in (non-interactive) program mode or batch mode.

There are several ways to execute an EViews program:

• The easiest method is by pushing the Run button on an open program window and
entering settings in the Run Program dialog.
• Alternately, you may use the run or exec command to execute a program.
• You may use external automation tools to run EViews and execute a program from
outside of the EViews application environment.
• You may select a set of subset of lines to execute and run the selected lines.

The Run Program Dialog

To run a program from a dialog, click on
the Run button on the program window.
The Run dialog opens.

The default run options are taken from

the global settings (“Programs” on
page 825 of User’s Guide I), but may be
overridden on a one-time basis using the
dialog settings or command options. For
purposes of discussion, we will assume
that the global options are set to their
out-of-the-box values.

The Program name or path edit field

will show the name and in some cases,
path, of the program you are running. You may enter a file specification to instruct EViews
to look for a particular program.
 Program Basics—121

The Program arguments edit field is used to define special string variables that will be
passed to your program when it is running. See “Program Arguments” on page 136 of User’s
Guide I for details.

The Runtime errors section allows you to modify the behavior of the program when it
encounters an error. By default, when EViews encounters an error, it will immediately termi-
nate the program and display a message. If you enter a number into the Maximum errors
before halting field, EViews will, if possible, continue to execute the program until the max-
imum number of errors is reached. If it encounters a serious error that makes it impossible
to continue, EViews will halt the program even if the maximum number of errors is not
reached. See “Execution Errors” on page 146.

If the Compatibility section checkbox labeled Version 4 compatible variable substitution

and program boolean comparisons is selected, EViews will use the variable substitution
behavior found in EViews 4 and earlier. To support the use of alpha series, EViews 5 and
subsequent versions altered the way that % substitution variables are evaluated in expres-
sions. To return to EViews 4 compatible rules for substitution, you may either use this
checkbox or include a “MODE VER4” statement in your program. See “Version 4 Compati-
bility Notes” on page 169 and “Program Modes” on page 134 for additional discussion.

Lastly, you may select the Save options as default checkbox to update your global options
with the specified settings. Alternately, you may change the global options from the
Options/General Options.../Programs/General dialog.

The Run and Exec Commands

You may use the run command to execute a program from the EViews command window.
Simply enter the keyword run along with any options, followed by a program file specifica-
tion and any arguments (see run (p. 467)).

You may run a program by entering the run command, followed by the name of the program
file:
run mysp500

or, using an explicit path,

run c:\eviews\myprog arg1 arg2 arg3

Note that use of the “.PRG” extension is not required since EViews will automatically
append one to your specification.

The default run options will be taken from the global settings (“Programs” on page 825 of
User’s Guide I), but may be overridden using the command options. For example, you may
use the “v” or “verbose”options to run the program in verbose mode, and the “q” or “quiet”
options to run the program in quiet mode. If you include a number as an option, EViews will
122—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

use that number to indicate the maximum number of errors encountered before execution is
halted:
run(v, 500) mysp500

or
run(q, ver4) progarg

Alternatively, you may modify your program to include statements for quiet or verbose
mode, and statements to specify version compatibility. For example, to return to EViews 4
compatible rules for substitution, you may use the “ver4” option or include a “MODE VER4”
statement in your program. See “Version 4 Compatibility Notes” on page 169 and “Program
Modes” on page 134 for additional discussion.

You may provide a list of program arguments after the name of the program. These argu-
ments will be passed on to the program as %0, %1 etc. See “Program Arguments” on
page 136 for more details.

Program options may be passed on to the program by entering them, surrounded by paren-
thesis immediately after the name of the program. See “Program Options” on page 137 for
details.

For example:
run myprog(opt1, opt2, opt3=k) arg0 arg1 arg1

will run the program MYPROG passing on the options OPT1, OPT2, OPT3=k as options,
and ARG0, ARG1 and ARG1 as arguments (%0, %1 and %2 respectively).

You may have launch EViews and run a program automatically on startup by choosing File/
Run from the menu bar of the Windows Program Manager or Start/Run in Windows and
then typing “eviews”, followed by the name of the program and the values of any argu-
ments. If the program has as its last line the command exit, EViews will close following the
execution of the program.

The exec command is similar to the run command. It can also be used to execute a pro-
gram file. The main differences between run and exec commands are the default directory
they will run from, and the behavior when returning from executing a program. For more
details see “Multiple Program Files” on page 148.

External Automation Tools

Lastly, you may use external automation tools to run EViews and execute a program from
outside of the EViews application environment. In particular, EViews may be used as a COM
Automation server so that an external program or script may launch and control EViews pro-
grammatically. See “EViews COM Automation Server” on page 177 and the EViews COM
Automation Server whitepaper, available from our website www.eviews.com/download/
download.html, for additional discussion.
 Program Basics—123

Stopping a Program
Pressing the ESC or F1 keys halts execution of a program. It may take a few seconds for
EViews to respond to the halt command.

Programs will also stop when they encounter a stop command, when they reach the maxi-
mum number of errors, when they encounter a non-recoverable error in a program state-
ment, or when they finish processing a file that has been executed via a run statement.

If you include the exit keyword in your program, the EViews application will close.

Running Part of a Program

You may choose to only run part of your program by highlight the lines you wish to run,
then right-clicking and selecting Run Selected. EViews will then execute only the selected
line of code as a new program.

You should note that there are potential pitfalls when using Run Selected. The first is that
no arguments or options can be passed into the selected lines of code. If the selected lines
rely on program arguments or options, they will fail to execute properly. Similarly, any pro-
gram variables (“Program Variables” on page 126) declared outside of the selected lines may
not be initialized properly when the selected lines are run. Finally, any subroutines declared
outside of the selected lines of code cannot be called, since they do not exist in the selected
code.

Alternately, you may use add the stop command to your EViews program to halt execution
at a particular place in the program file.
124—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

Simple Programs
The simplest program is just a list of EViews commands. Execution of the program is equiv-
alent to typing the commands one-by-one into the command window.

While you may execute the commands by typing them in the command window, you could
just as easily open a program window, type in the commands and click on the Run button.
Entering commands in this way has the advantage that you can save the set of commands
for later use, and execute the program repeatedly, making minor modifications each time.
(Note that you may combine the two methods by entering the commands in the command
window and then save them to a file as described in “Saving the Command Window” on
page 119.)

Since an EViews program is a collection of commands, familiarity with the EViews com-
mand language is an essential part of programming. The command language may be split
into four different groups in EViews.
• General commands create, structure and manipulate workfiles (including importing
and exporting data) and create workfile objects. These commands are listed in
Chapter 12. “Command Reference,” beginning on page 281.
• Object commands execute views and procedures on objects in the workfile (such as
series, groups and equations).
For example, unit root tests are done via a series command (series.uroot), co-inte-
gration tests are a group command (group.coint), and regression and forecasting
are performed via equation commands (equation.ls and equation.forecast).
The full set of object commands can be found in Chapter 1. “Object View and Proce-
dure Reference,” beginning on page 2, where they are listed by object type.
• Functions may be used to create new data, either in the form of workfile objects or as
program variables.
Creating a new series that is equal to the moving average of an existing series is done
with the @movav function. The @rbinom function is used to generate a random scalar
or series from the binomial distribution. @pagefreq may be used to generate a string
object or program variable containing the frequency of the current workfile page. In
general, functions all start with the @ symbol.
Listings of the available @-functions available can be found in Chapters 13–19
(“Operator and Function Reference”, “Operator and Function Listing”, “Workfile
Functions”, “Special Expression Reference”, “String and Date Function Reference”,
“Matrix Language Reference”, and “Programming Language Reference”).
• Object data members allow you to retrieve a fundamental piece of data from an
object. Unlike object commands that execute a view or procedure on an object, data
members merely provide access to existing results. Data members almost all start with
 Simple Programs—125

an @ symbol and can be accessed by typing the name of the object followed by a “.”
and the name of the data member.
For example, eq1.@coefs returns a vector containing the estimated coefficients from
the equation object EQ1. ser01.@last returns a string containing the date (or obser-
vation number) of the last non-NA value in the series SER01. The list of data members
available for each object is listed in the object’s section of Chapter 1. “Object View
and Procedure Reference,” on page 2.

Let’s examine a simple example (the data series are provided in the database PROGDEMO in
your EViews directory so that you can try out the program). Create a new program by typing
program myprog

in the command window. In the program window that opens for MYPROG, we are going to
enter the commands to create a workfile, fetch a series from an EViews database named
PROGDEMO, run a regression, compute residuals and a forecast, make a plot of the forecast,
and save the results.
' housing analysis
wfcreate(wf=myhouse) m 1968m3 1997m6
fetch progdemo::hsf
smpl 1968m5 1992m12
equation reg1.ls hsf c hsf(-1)
reg1.makeresid hsfres
smpl 1993m1 1997m6
reg1.forecast hsffit
freeze(hsfplot) hsffit.line
save

The first line of the program is a comment, as denoted by the apostrophe “'”. In executing a
program, EViews will ignore all text following the apostrophe until the end of the line.

The line containing the wfcreate command creates a new workfile, called MYHOUSE, with
a monthly frequency spanning the dates March 1968 to June 1997. A series called HSF (total
housing units started) is fetched from the database PROGDEMO. The rest of the program
results in a saved workfile named MYHOUSE containing the HSF series, an equation object
REG1, residual and forecast series HSFRES and HSFFIT, and a graph HSFPLOT of the fore-
casts.

You can run this program by clicking on Run and filling in the dialog box.

Now, suppose you wish to perform the same analysis, but for the S&P 500 stock price index
(FSPCOM). Edit the program, changing MYHOUSE to MYSP500, and change all of the refer-
ences of HSF to FSPCOM:
' s&p analysis
126—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

wfcreate(wf=mysp500) m 1968m3 1997m6

fetch progdemo::fspcom
smpl 1968m5 1992m12
equation reg1.ls fspcom c fspcom(-1)
reg1.makeresid fspcomres
smpl 1993m1 1997m6
reg1.forecast fspcomfit
freeze(fscomplot) fspcomfit.line
save

Click on Run to execute the new analysis. Click on the Save button to save your program file
as MYPROG.PRG in the EViews directory.

Since these two programs are almost identical, it seems inefficient to have two separate pro-
grams for performing the analysis. In “Program Arguments” on page 136 we describe a
method for performing these two forecasting problems using a single program. First how-
ever, we must define the notion of program variables that exist solely when running pro-
grams.

Program Variables
While you can use programs just to run, and re-run collections of EViews commands, the
real power of the EViews programming language comes from the use of program variables
and program control statements.

Program variables are variables that you may use in place of numeric or string values in
your EViews programs. Accordingly, there are two basic types of program variables: control
(numeric) variables and string variables.

In the remainder of this section we describe the use of these two types of program variables.

Control Variables
Control variables are program variables that you can use in place of numeric values in your
EViews programs. Once a control variable is assigned a value, you can use it anywhere in a
program that you would normally use a number.

It is important to note that control variables do not exist outside of your program and are
automatically deleted after a program finishes. In this regard, control variables should not be
confused with scalar objects as the former are not saved when you save the workfile. You
can save the values of control variables by creating new EViews objects which contain the
values of the control variable.
 Program Variables—127

The name of a control variable starts with an “!” character. After the “!”, the name should
be a legal EViews name of 23 characters or fewer (leading numbers are allowed). Examples
of control variable names are:
!x
!1
!counter

You need not declare control variables, but you must assign them values before use. Control
variable values are assigned in the usual way, with the control variable name on the left of
an “=” sign and a numerical value or expression on the right. For example:
!x = 7
!12345 = 0
!counter = 12
!pi = 3.14159

Once assigned a value, a control variable may appear in an expression. For example:
!counter = !counter + 1
genr dnorm = 1/sqr(2*!pi)*exp(-1/2*epsilon^2)
scalar stdx = x/sqr(!varx)
smpl 1950q1+!i 1960q4+!i

For example, the following commands:

scalar stdx = sqr(!varx)
c(100) = !length
sample years 1960+!z 1990

use the numeric values assigned to the control variables !VARX, !LENGTH, and !Z.

It is important to note that control variables are used in programs via text substitution.
Whenever EViews encounters a control variable in a program it substitutes the text value of
that variable into the program. One of the implications of the text substitution is that you
may lose some numeric accuracy when using a program variable due to the conversion in to
and out of a text representation of the number.

A second unintended consequence of text substitution can arise when raising a negative
control variable to a power:
!a = -3
!b = !a^2

When evaluating these lines, EViews will substitute the value of !A in the second line, leav-
ing the line:
!b = -3^2
128—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

Which it then evaluates as –9 (since the square operator takes precedence over the negation
operator), rather than the expected 9.

You should also take care to avoid inadvertent replacement of program variables, as outlined
in “Replacement Variables” on page 130.

String Variables
A string expression or string is text enclosed in double quotes:
"gross domestic product"
"3.14159"
"ar(1) ar(2) ma(1) ma(2)"

A string program variable is a program variable whose value is a string of text. String vari-
ables, which exist only during the time that your program is executing, have names that
begin with a “%” symbol. String variables should not be confused with “String Objects” on
page 92 which are objects that exist in a workfile.

String variables are assigned by putting the string variable name on the left of an “=” sign
and a string expression on the right. For example, the following lines assign values to string
variables:
%value = "value in millions of u.s. dollars"
%armas = "ar(1) ar(2) ma(1) ma(2)"
%mysample = " 83m1 96m12"
%dep = " hs"
%pi = " 3.14159"

You may use strings variables to help you build up command text, variable names, or other
string values. EViews provides a number of operators and functions for manipulating
strings; a complete list is provided in “Strings” on page 77.

Once assigned a value, a string variable may appear in any expression in place of the under-
lying string. When substituted for, the string variable will be replaced by the contents of the
string variable, enclosed in double quotes.

Here is a simple example where we use string operations to concatenate the contents of
three string variables.
!repeat = 500
%st1 = " draws from the normal"
%st2 = "Cauchy "
%st3 = @str(!repeat) + @left(%st1,16) + %st2 + "distribution"
 Program Variables—129

In this example %ST3 is set to the value “500 draws from the Cauchy distribution”. Note the
spaces before “draws” and after “Cauchy” in the string variable assignments. After string
variable substitution, the latter assignment is equivalent to entering
%st3 = "500" + " draws from the " + "Cauchy " + "distribution"

Similarly, the table assignment statement

table1(1,1) = %st3

is equivalent to entering the command

table(1,1) = "500 draws from the Cauchy distribution"

One important use for string variables is assigning string values to string objects, string vec-
tors, or Alpha series. For example, we may have the assignment statement
%z = "Ralph"
alpha full_name = %z + last_name

which is equivalent to the expression

alpha full_name = "Ralph" + last_name

We again emphasize that string variable substitution involves replacing the string variable
by its string value contents, enclosed in double quotes.

As with any string value, you may convert a string variable containing the text representa-
tion of a number into a number by using the @val function. For example,
%str = ".05"
!level = @val(%str)

creates a control variable !LEVEL=0.05. If the string cannot be evaluated to a number, @val
returns the value “NA”.

String variables are closely related to the concept of a string object (“String Objects,” on
page 92). A string object is an EViews workfile object that holds a string:
string a = "Hello World"
string b = """First Name"" Middle ""Last Name"""

Unlike string variables, string objects are named objects in the workfile that may exist apart
from a running program.

In programming applications, string variables and string objects are sometimes defined
using string literal expressions as illustrated above. However, in most settings, string vari-
ables and objects are defined using results from string functions, or by manipulation of
string lists and string vectors. For example, you could use the @wlookup and @wsplit func-
tions to obtain a set of strings corresponding to the names of all of the series in a workfile.
See “Strings,” on page 77 for a full discussion.
130—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

Replacement Variables
When working with EViews commands, you may wish to use a string variable, not simply to
refer to a string value, but as an indirect way of referring to something else, perhaps a com-
mand, or an object name, or portion of names for one or more items.

Suppose, for example, that we assign the string variable %X the value “GDP”:
%x = "gdp"

We may be interested, however, not in the actual string variable value “gdp”, but rather in
an EViews object named “GDP”. Accordingly, we require a method of distinguishing between
a string value and the item corresponding to the string value.

If you enclose a string variable in curly braces (“{ ” and “}”) EViews will replace the expres-
sion with the name, names, or name fragment given by the string value. In this context we
refer to the expression “{%X}” as a replacement variable since the string variable %X is
replaced in the command line by the name or names of objects to which the string refers.

Suppose we want to create the series Y and set it equal to the values in the series GDP.
Given the string variable %X defined above, the series declaration,
series y = %x

creates a numeric series Y and sets it equal to the string value “gdp”,
series y = "gdp"

which generates an error since the series declaration expects the name of a series or a
numeric value, not a string value. In this circumstance, we would like to replace the string
value with the name of an object. With the replacement variable “{%X}”, the command
series y = {%x}

is properly interpreted as
series y = gdp

Similarly, the program line using replacement variables,

equation eq1.ls {%x} c {%x}(-1)

would be interpreted by EViews as

equation eq1.ls gdp c gdp(-1)

Changing the contents of %X to “M1” changes the interpretation of the original program line
to
equation eq1.ls m1 c m1(-1)

since the replacement variable uses the name obtained from the new value of %X.
 Program Variables—131

To take another example, when trying to find the number of valid (non-missing) observa-
tions in a series named INCOME, you may use the @obs function along with the name of the
series:
@obs(income)

If you wish to use a string variable %VAR to refer to the INCOME series, you must use the
replacement variable in the @obs function, as in
%var = "income"
@obs({%var})

since you wish to refer indirectly to the object named in %VAR. Note that the expression
@obs(%var)

will return an error since @obs requires a series or matrix object name as an argument.

Any string variable may be used as the basis of a replacement variable. Simply form your
string using one or more string operations
%object = "group"
%space = " "
%reg1 = "gender"
%reg2 = "income"
%reg3 = "age"
%regs = %reg1 + %space + %reg2 + %space + %reg3

then enclose the string variable in braces. In the expression,

{%object} g1 {%regs}

EViews will substitute the names found in %OBJECT and %REGS so that the resulting com-
mand is
group g1 gender income age

It is worth noting that replacement variables may be used as building blocks to form object
names. For example, the commands
%b = "2"
%c = "temp"
series z{%b}
matrix(2, 2) x{%b}
vector(3) x_{%c}_y

declare a series named Z2, a 2  2 matrix named X2, and a vector named X_TEMP_Y.

Up to this point, we have focused on replacement variables formed from string variables.
However, control variables may also be used to form replacement variables. For example,
the commands
132—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

!i = 1
series y{!i} = nrnd
!j = 0
series y{!j}{!i} = nrnd

are equivalent to
series y1 = nrnd
series y01 = nrnd

and will create two series Y1 and Y01 that contain a set of (pseudo-)random draws from a
standard normal distribution. Conveniently, in cases where there is no possibility of ambigu-
ity, EViews will treat a control variable as a replacement variable, even if the braces are not
provided. For example:
!x = 3
series y!x = 4

will generate the series Y3 containing the value 4.

While convenient, this loose interpretation of control variables can, however, lead to unex-
pected results if one is not careful. Take the following program:
!x1 = 10
series y = !x1

This program will create a series equal to the value of !X1 (i.e. 10). However if you were to
mis-type the program slightly:
!x = 10
series y = !x1

where the first line has !X rather than !X1, EViews will not generate an error due to the
missing !X1 variable, but will instead evaluate the second line by substituting !X into the
expression, and evaluating the result as 101.

Replacement variables may be constructed using nested evaluation of replacement variables.

Suppose we have the strings:
%str1 = "x"
%name = "%str1"

Then we can declare the series X and fill it with random normals using the command
series {{%name}} = nrnd

After evaluation of the innermost replacement variable, the expression reduces to

series {%str1} = nrnd

and then to
 Program Variables—133

series x = nrnd

when we evaluate the remaining brace. The double braces allow us perform a double
replacement in which the string variable used to form a replacement variable is itself
obtained as a replacement variable.

The double nested braces need not be adjacent. For example:

%x1 = "x"
%x2 = "y"
scalar x = 10
scalar y = 20
!y = 1
scalar r1 = {%x{!y}}
!y = 2
scalar r2 = {%x{!y}}

First we create two string variables, %X1 and %X2, and three scalar objects, X, Y, and R.
First, the control variable is !Y is set to 1 and the replacement variable {!Y} is used to con-
struct the name “%X1” of a string variable. The resulting replacement variable {%X1} refers
to the scalar object X. We assign the scalar X value of 10 to the scalar R1. Next, we set !Y to
2, the replacement variable {%X{!Y}} evaluates to Y, and we assign the Y value of 20 to the
scalar R2.

Multiple sets of braces may be used to create various string names:

string uslabel = "USA"
string nzlabel = "New Zealand"
%a1 = "US"
%a2 = "NZ"
%b = "LABEL"
!y = 1
string label1 = {%a{!y}}{%b}
!y = 2
string label2 = {%a{!y}}{%b}

First we create two string objects, USLABEL and NZLABEL, which hold the label we wish to
assign to each country. Then we create the string variables %A1 and %A2 to hold the coun-
try abbreviations. When the control variable !Y=1, {%A{!Y}}{%B} evaluates to the object
USLABEL and when !Y=2, {%A{!Y}}{%B} evaluates to the object NZLABEL. Then the
string LABEL1 contains “USA” and LABEL2 contains “New Zealand”.

Replacement variables may also be formed using string objects in place of string variables.
To use a string object as a replacement variable, simply surround it with curly braces (“{”
and “}”). For example,
134—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

string LAGGDP = "GDP(-1) GDP(-2) GDP(-4)"

equation eq1.ls GDP C {LAGGDP}

executes the command

equation eq1.ls GDP C GDP(-1) GDP(-2) GDP(-4)

In most respects, there is no difference between using a string object or a string variable in a
program. String objects have the advantage that they may be used interactively, outside of
programs, while string variables may not. This can be useful when debugging a program;
string variables disappear once the program has finished, making it difficult to identify prob-
lems in their construction. Note that string objects do, however, go out-of-scope when the
active workfile page changes, while string variables are always in scope.

Lastly, while replacement variables provide you with great flexibility in referencing objects
in your programs, used carelessly, they can lead to confusion. We suggest, for example, that
you avoid using similar base names to refer to different objects. Consider the following pro-
gram:
' possibly confusing commands (avoid)
!a = 1
series x{!a}
!a = 2
matrix x{!a}

In this code snippet, it is easy to see that X1 is the series and X2 is the matrix. But in a more
complicated program, where the control variable assignment !A=1 may be separated from
the declaration by many program lines, it may be difficult to tell at a glance what kind of
object X1 represents. A better approach might be to use different names for different kinds
of variables:
!a = 1
series ser{!a}
!a = 2
matrix mat{!a}

so that the meaning of replacement variable names are more apparent from casual examina-
tion of the program.

Program Modes
Program modes describe different settings associated with the execution of your program.
You may, for example, choose to provide verbose messaging where your program will echo
each command to the status line, or you may choose quiet mode. Alternately, you may wish
to run a legacy program file in Version 4 compatibility mode.
 Program Modes—135

EViews provides you with the opportunity to set program execution modes at the time that
the program is first run. In addition, you may use the “MODE” statement to change the exe-
cution mode of a program from within the program itself. One important benefit to using
“MODE” statements is that the program can begin executing in one mode, and switch to a
second mode as the program executes.

To change the mode for quiet or verbose mode, simply add a line to your program reading
“MODE” followed by either the “QUIET” or the “VERBOSE” keyword, as in
mode quiet

For version 4 compatibility, you should use the keyword “VER4”:

mode ver4

as a line in the body of the program.

Multiple settings may be set in a single “MODE” line:

mode quiet ver4

and multiple mode statements may be specified in a program to change the mode as the pro-
gram runs:
mode quiet
[some program lines]
mode verbose
[additional program lines]
Note that setting the execution mode explicitly in a program overrides any settings specified
at the time the program is executed.

Program Message Logging

When executing a program in EViews, it may be useful to keep track of what is happening
during execution. Log windows allow you to determine more accurately the state of various
objects in your workfile or follow program progression.

Log windows may be switched on using the logmode (p. 407) command. One log window is
created for each program. If a program is executed more than once and a log window has
already been created, the log window will be cleared and all subsequent messages will be
sent to the existing log window. If you wish to preserve a log, you may either save the log to
a text file or freeze it, creating a text file object.

There are several types of messages which can be logged: program lines, status line mes-
sages, user log messages, and program errors. When displayed in a log message, each type
will appear in a different color, making it easier to differentiate one type from another. Pro-
gram lines are echoes of the line of code in the program currently being executed, and are
displayed in black. Status line messages are the messages displayed in the status line (see
136—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

“The Status Line” on page 9 of User’s Guide I) and appear in blue. User log messages are
custom messages created by the program via the logmsg (p. 409) command and appear in
green. Program errors are messages generated when a logical or syntax error has occurred
and appear in red.

Program Arguments
Program arguments are special string variables that are passed to your program when you
run the program. Arguments allow you to change the value of string variables every time
you run the program. You may use them in any context where a string variable is appropri-
ate. Any number of arguments may be included in a program. The individual arguments will
be available in the string variables “%0”, “%1”, “%2”, and so on; the “%ARGS” variable
will contain a space delimited list of all the arguments passed into the program.

When you run a program that takes arguments, you may supply the values for the argu-
ments. If you use the Run button or File/Run, you will see a dialog box where you can type
in the values of the arguments. If you use the run or exec command, you may list the argu-
ments consecutively after the name of the program.

For example, suppose we have a program named “REGPROG”:

equation eq1
smpl 1980q3 1994q1
eq1.ls {%0} c {%1} {%1}(-1) time

To run REGPROG from the command line with %0=“lgdp” and %1=“m1”, we enter
run regprog lgdp m1

This program performs a regression of the variable LGDP, on C, M1, M1(-1), and TIME, by
executing the command:
eq1.ls lgdp c m1 m1(-1) time

Alternatively, you can run this program by clicking on the Run button on the program win-
dow, or selecting File/Run.... In the Run Program dialog box that appears, type the name of
the program in the Program name or path field and enter the values of the arguments in
the Program arguments field. For this example, type “regprog” for the name of the program,
and “lgdp” and “m1” for the arguments.

Any arguments in your program that are not initialized in the Run Program dialog or run
command are treated as empty string variables. For example, suppose you have a one-line
program named “REGRESS”:
equation eq1.ls y c time {%0} {%1} {%2} {%3} {%4} {%5} {%6} {%7}
{%8}

The command,
 Program Options—137

run regress x x(-1) x(-2)

executes
equation eq1.ls y c time x x(-1) x(-2)

while the command,

run regress

executes
ls y c time

In both cases, EViews ignores arguments that are not included in your run command.

As a last example, we repeat our simple forecasting program from above, but use arguments
to simplify our work. Suppose you have the program “MYPROG”:
wfcreate(wf={%0}) m 1968m3 1997m6
fetch progdemo::{%1}
smpl 1968m5 1992m12
equation reg1.ls {%1} c {%1}(-1)
reg1.makeresid {%1}res
smpl 1993m1 1997m6
reg1.forecast {%1}fit
freeze({%1}plot) {%1}fit.line
save

The results of running the two example programs at the start of this chapter can be dupli-
cated by running MYPROG with arguments:
run myprog myhouse hsf

and
run myprog mysp500 fspcom

Program Options
Much like program arguments, program options are special string variables that may be
passed to your program when you run the program. You may specify options by providing a
comma separated list of options in parentheses in the run or exec command statement,
immediately after the name of the program as in:
run myprogram(myoption1, myoption2)

Note that options are only supported via the command line method using run or exec. You
cannot pass an option to a program when running a program via the menus. Options are
included via the command line by entering them in parenthesis immediately following the
name of the program to be run.
138—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

In contrast with arguments, options may not be accessed directly from within your program.
Rather you can only test for the existence of an option, or retrieve part of an option. The
@hasoption command lets you test for the existence of an option. For example, @hasop-
tion("k") will return a value of 1 if the “k” option was passed into the program at run
time, or 0 if it was not.

@equaloption may be used to return the value to the right of an equality sign in an option.
For example if “cov=hac” is entered as an option, @equaloption("cov") would return
“hac”. If the option was not entered at all, @equaloption will return an empty string.

For example, suppose you have the following program:

%filename = @equaloption("file")
wfcreate(wf={%filename}) m 1968m3 1997m6
fetch progdemo::{%0}
if (@hasoption("LS")=1) then
smpl 1968m5 1992m12
equation reg1.ls {%0} c {%0}(-1)
endif

If you were to run this program with:

run myprog(file=myhouse, ls) hsf

the program would create a workfile called MYHOUSE, would fetch a series called HSF, and
would then create an equation called REG1 by performing least squares using the series HSF
(for discussion of the “if” condition used in this example, see “IF Statements” on page 139).

If we had run the program with just:

run myprog hsf

the workfile would not have been named (and would be given the default name of UNTI-
TLED), and the regression would not have been run.

Note that if your program name has spaces or illegal characters, it must be enclosed within
quotes in run or exec commands. In this case, program options should be included after
the closing quote without a space. For example, if we were to name our above program as
MY PROG, then the correct method to issue options is:
run "my prog"(file=myhouse, ls) hsf

Control of Execution
EViews provides you with several ways to control the execution of commands in your pro-
grams. Controlling execution in your program means that you can execute commands selec-
tively or repeatedly under changing conditions. The tools for controlling execution will be
familiar from other computer languages.
 Control of Execution—139

IF Statements
There are situations where you may want to execute commands only if some condition is
satisfied. EViews uses IF and ENDIF, or IF, ELSE, and ENDIF statements to indicate the con-
dition to be met and the commands to be executed.

An IF statement starts with the if keyword, followed by an expression for the condition,
and then the word then. You may use AND/OR statements in the condition, using parenthe-
ses to group parts of the statement as necessary.

All comparisons in the IF statement follow the rules outlined in “String Relational Opera-
tors” on page 79 and in “Numeric Relational Operators” on page 172 of User’s Guide I. Note
in particular that string comparisons are case-sensitive. You may perform caseless compari-
son using the @upper or @lower string functions as in
if (@lower(%x) = "abc") then

or
if (@upper(%x) = "ABC") then

If the expression is true, all of the commands until the matching endif are executed. If the
expression is false, all of these commands are skipped. For example,
if !stand=1 or (!rescale=1 and !redo=1) then
series gnpstd = gnp/sqr(gvar)
series constd = cons/sqr(cvar)
endif
if !a>5 and !a<10 then
smpl 1950q1 1970q1+!a
endif

only generates the series GNPSTD and CONSTD and sets the sample if the corresponding IF
statements are true. Note that we have indented the lines between the if and the endif state-
ments. The indentation is added for program clarity and has no effect on the execution of
the program lines.

The expression to be tested may also take a numerical value. In this case, 0 and NA are
equivalent to false and any other non-zero value evaluates to true. For example,
if !scale then
series newage = age/!scale
endif

executes the series statement if !SCALE is a non-missing, non-zero value.

An IF statement may include a matching ELSE clause containing commands to be executed

if the condition is FALSE. If the condition is true, all of the commands up to the keyword
140—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

else will be executed. If the condition is FALSE, all of the commands between else and
endif will be executed. For example:
if !scale>0 then
series newage = age/!scale
else
series newage = age
endif

(It is worth noting that this example performs a conditional recode in which the series NEW-
AGE is assigned using one expression if a condition is true, and a different expression other-
wise. EViews provides a built-in @recode function for performing this type of evaluation;
see @recode(s,x,y) (p. 550).)

IF statements may also be applied to string variables:

if %0="CA" or %0="IN" then
series stateid = 1
else
if %0="MA" then
series stateid=2
else
if %0="IN" then
series stateid=3
endif
endif
endif

Note that the nesting of our comparisons does not cause any difficulties.

You should note when using the IF statement with series or matrix objects that the compari-
son is defined on the entire object and will evaluate to false unless every element of the ele-
ment-wise comparison is true. Thus, if X and Y are series, the IF statement
if x<>y then
[some program lines]
endif

evaluates to false if any element of X does not equal the corresponding value of Y in the
default sample. If X and Y are identically sized vectors or matrices, the comparison is over
each of the elements X and Y. This element-wise comparison is described in greater detail in
“Relational Operators (=, >, >=, <, <=, <>)” on page 271.

If you wish to operate on individual elements of a series on the basis of element-wise condi-
tions, you should use the @recode function or use smpl statements to set the observations
 Control of Execution—141

you wish to change. Element-wise operations on a vector or matrix should use comparisons
of individual element comparisons
if x(3)=7 then
x(3) = 2
endif

or the element-wise matrix functions (“Matrix Element Functions” on page 655).

The FOR Loop

The FOR loop allows you to repeat a set of commands for different values of numerical or
string variables. The FOR loop begins with a for statement and ends with a next state-
ment. Any number of commands may appear between these two statements.

The syntax of the FOR statement differs depending upon whether it uses numerical variables
or string variables.

FOR Loops with Numerical Control Variables or Scalars

To repeat statements for different values of a control variable, you should follow the for key-
word by a control variable initialization, the word to, and then an ending value. After the
ending value you may include the word step followed by a number indicating an amount to
change the control variable each time the loop is executed. If you don’t include step, the
step is assumed to be 1. Consider, for example the loop:
for !j=1 to 10
series decile{!j} = (income<level{!j})
next

In this example, STEP=1 and the variable !J is twice used as a replacement variable, first for
the ten series declarations DECILE1 through DECILE10 and for the ten variables LEVEL1
through LEVEL10.

We may add the step keyword and value to the FOR loop to modify the step:
for !j=10 to 1 step -1
series rescale{!j}=original/!j
next

In this example, the step is -1, and !J is used as a replacement variable in naming the ten
constructed series RESCALE10 through RESCALE1 and as a control variable scalar divisor in
the series ORIGINAL.

The commands inside the FOR loop are first executed for the initial control value (unless
that value is already beyond the terminal value). After the initial execution, the control vari-
able is incremented by step and EViews compares the new control variable value to the
limit. If the limit is exceeded, execution stops.
142—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

One important use of FOR loops with control variables is to change the workfile sample
using a smpl command. If you add a control variable to a date in a smpl command state-
ment, you will get a new date as many observations forward as the current value of the con-
trol variable. Here is a FOR loop that gradually increases the size of the sample and
estimates a recursive regression:
for !horizon=10 to 72
smpl 1970m1 1970m1+!horizon
equation eq{!horizon}.ls sales c orders
next

One other important case uses loops and control variables to access elements of a matrix
object. For example,
!rows = @rows(vec1)
vector cumsum1 = vec1
for !i=2 to !rows
cumsum1(!i) = cumsum1(!i-1) + vec1(!i)
next

computes the cumulative sum of the elements in the vector VEC1 and saves it in the vector
CUMSUM1.

To access an individual element of a series, you will need to use the @elem function and
@otod to get the desired element
for !i=2 to !rows
cumsum1(!i) = @elem(ser1, @otod(!i))
next

The @otod function returns the date associated with the observation index (counting from
the beginning of the workfile), and the @elem function extracts the series element associ-
ated with a given date.

You may nest FOR loops to contain loops within loops. The entire inner FOR loop is exe-
cuted for each successive value of the outer FOR loop. For example:
matrix(25,10) xx
for !i=1 to 25
for !j=1 to 10
xx(!i,!j)=(!i-1)*10+!j
next
next

You should avoid changing the control variable within a FOR loop. Consider, for example,
the commands:
 Control of Execution—143

' potentially confusing loop (avoid doing this)

for !i=1 to 25
vector a!i
!i=!i+10
next

Here, both the FOR assignment and the assignment statement within the loop change the
value of the control variable !I. Loops of this type are difficult to follow and may produce
unintended results. If you find a specific need to change a control variable inside the loop,
you should consider using a WHILE loop (“The WHILE Loop” on page 145) as an alterna-
tive to the FOR loop.

You may execute FOR loops with scalars instead of control variables. However, you must
first declare the scalar, and you may not use the scalar as a replacement variable. For exam-
ple,
scalar i
scalar sum = 0
vector (10) x
for i=1 to 10
x(i) = i
sum = sum + i
next

In this example, the scalar objects I and SUM remain in the workfile after the program has
finished running, unless they are explicitly deleted. When using scalar objects as the looping
variable you should be careful that the scalar is always available white the FOR loop is
active. You should not, for example, delete the scalar or change the workfile page within the
FOR loop.

FOR Loops with String Variables and String Objects

To repeat statements for different values of a string variable, you may use the FOR loop to let
a string variable range over a list of string values. You should list the FOR keyword, followed
by the name of the string program variable, followed by the list of values. For example,
for %y gdp gnp ndp nnp
equation {%y}trend.ls {%y} c {%y}(-1) time
next

executes the commands

equation gdptrend.ls gdp c gdp(-1) time
equation gnptrend.ls gnp c gnp(-1) time
equation ndptrend.ls ndp c ndp(-1) time
equation nnptrend.ls nnp c nnp(-1) time
144—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

You may include multiple string variables in the same FOR statement—EViews will process
the string values in sets. For example, we may define a loop with list three string variables:
for %1 %2 %3 1955q1 1960q4 early 1970q2 1980q3 mid 1975q4 1995q1
late
smpl %1 %2
equation {%3}eq.ls sales c orders
next

In this case, the elements of the list are taken in groups of three. The loop is executed three
times for the different sample pairs and equation names:
smpl 1955q1 1960q4
equation earlyeq.ls sales c orders
smpl 1970q2 1980q3
equation mideq.ls sales c orders
smpl 1975q4 1995q1
equation lateeq.ls sales c orders

Both string objects and replacement variables may be used to specify a list for use in loops,
by surrounding the object name or replacement variable with curly braces (“{ }”). For
example,
string dates = "1960m1 1960m12"
%label = "year1"
for %1 %2 %3 {dates} {%label}
smpl {%1} {%2}
equation {%3}eq.ls sales c orders
next

finds the three strings for the loop by taking two elements of the string list and one element
of the string variable:
smpl 1960m1 1960m12
equation year1eq.ls sales c orders

Note the difference between using a FOR loop with multiple string variables and using
nested FOR loops. In the multiple string variable case, all string variables are advanced at
the same time, while with nested loops, the inner variable is advanced over all choices, for
each value of the outer variable. For example:
!eqno = 1
for %1 1955q1 1960q4
for %2 1970q2 1980q3 1975q4
smpl %1 %2
'form equation name as eq1 through eq6
 Control of Execution—145

equation eq{!eqno}.ls sales c orders

!eqno=!eqno+1
next
next

Here, the equations are estimated over the samples 1955Q1–1970Q2 for EQ1, 1955Q1–
1980Q3 for EQ2, 1955Q1–1975Q4 for EQ3, 1960Q4–1970Q2 for EQ4, 1960Q4–1980Q3 for
EQ5, and 1960Q4–1975Q4 for EQ6.

Note that you may use the exitloop command to exit a FOR loop early. See “Exiting
Loops” on page 147.

The WHILE Loop

In some cases, we wish to repeat a series of commands several times, but only while one or
more conditions are satisfied. Like the FOR loop, the WHILE loop allows you to repeat com-
mands, but the WHILE loop provides greater flexibility in specifying the required conditions.

The WHILE loop begins with a while statement and ends with a wend statement. Any num-
ber of commands may appear between the two statements. WHILE loops can be nested.

The WHILE statement consists of the while keyword followed by an expression involving a
control variable or scalar object. The expression should have a logical (true/false) value or a
numerical value. In the latter case, zero is considered false and any non-zero value is consid-
ered true.

If the expression is true, the subsequent statements, up to the matching wend, will be exe-
cuted, and then the procedure is repeated. If the condition is false, EViews will skip the fol-
lowing commands and continue on with the rest of the program following the wend
statement. For example:
!val = 1
!a = 1
while !val<10000 and !a<10
smpl 1950q1 1970q1+!a
series inc{!val} = income/!val
!val = !val*10
!a = !a+1
wend

There are four parts to this WHILE loop. The first part is the initialization of the control vari-
ables used in the test condition. The second part is the WHILE statement which includes the
test. The third part is the statements updating the control variables. Finally the end of the
loop is marked by the word wend.
146—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

Unlike a FOR statement, the WHILE statement does not update the control variable used in
the test condition. You need to include an explicit statement inside the loop to change the
control variable, or your loop will never terminate. Use the F1 key to break out of a program
which is in an infinite loop.

Earlier, we cautioned against this behavior creating FOR loops that explicitly change the
control variable inside the loop and offered an example to show the resulting lack of clarity
(p. 142). Note that the equivalent WHILE loop provides a much clearer program:
!i = 1
while !i<=25
vector a{!i}
!i = !i + 11
wend

Note that you may use the exitloop command to exit a WHILE loop early. See “Exiting
Loops” on page 147.

Execution Errors
By default, EViews will stop executing after encountering any errors. You can instruct the
program to continue running even if errors are encountered by changing the maximum error
count from the Run dialog (see “Executing a Program” on page 120), or by using the set-
maxerrs (p. 721) command inside a program.

Handling Errors
You may wish to perform different tasks when errors are encountered. For example, you may
wish to skip a set of lines which accumulate estimation results when the estimation proce-
dure generated errors, or you may wish to overwrite the default EViews error with one of
your own, using the seterr (p. 720) command.

EViews offers a number of different ways to test for and handle execution errors. For exam-
ple, the @lasterrstr (p. 715) command will return a string containing the previous line's
error. If the previous line of your program did not error, this string will be empty. Alterna-
tively you could use the @errorcount (p. 709) function to check the number of errors cur-
rently encountered before and after a program line has been executed.

For example, to test whether the estimation of an equation generated an error, you can com-
pare the number of errors before and after the command:
!old_count = @errorcount
equation eq1.ls y x c
!new_count = @errorcount
if !new_count > !old_count then
[various commands]
 Control of Execution—147

endif

Here, we perform a set of commands only if the estimation of equation EQ1 incremented the
error count.

For additional error handling functions, see “Support Commands” on page 701 and “Support
Functions” on page 702.

Stopping Programs
Occasionally, you may want to stop a program based on some conditions. To stop a program
executing in EViews, use the stop command. For example, suppose you write a program
that requires the series SER1 to have nonnegative values. The following commands check
whether the series is nonnegative and halt the program if SER1 contains any negative value:
series test = (ser1<0)
if @sum(test) <> 0 then
stop
endif

Note that if SER1 contains missing values, the corresponding elements of TEST will also be
missing. But since the @sum function ignores missing values, the program does not halt for
SER1 that has missing values, as long as there is no negative value.

Exiting Loops
Sometimes, you do not wish to stop the entire program when a condition is satisfied; you
just wish to exit the current loop. The exitloop command will exit the current for or
while statement and continue running the program.

As a simple example, suppose you computed a sequence of LR test statistics LR11, LR10,
LR9, ..., LR1, say to test the lag length of a VAR. The following program sequentially carries
out the LR test starting from LR11 and tells you the statistic that is first rejected at the 5%
level:
!df = 9
for !lag = 11 to 1 step -1
!pval = 1 - @cchisq(lr{!lag},!df)
if !pval<=.05 then
exitloop
endif
next
scalar lag=!lag

Note that the scalar LAG has the value 0 if none of the test statistics are rejected.
148—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

If the exitloop is issued inside nested loops it will stop execution of the innermost loop.
Execution of the remaining loops is unaffected.

Multiple Program Files

When working with long programs, you may wish to organize your code using multiple
files. For example, suppose you have a program file named “Powers.PRG” which contains a
set of program lines that you wish to use.

While you may be tempted to string files together using the run command, we caution you
that EViews will stop after executing the commands in a run-referenced file. Thus, a pro-
gram containing the lines
run powers.prg
series x = nrnd

will only execute the commands in the file “Powers.PRG”, and will stop before generating
the series X. This behavior is probably not what you intended.

The exec command may be used execute commands in a file in place of the run command.
Though exec is quite similar to the run command, there are important differences between
the two commands:
• First, exec allows you to write general programs that execute other programs, some-
thing that is difficult to do using run, since the run command ends all program exe-
cution when processing of the named file is completed. In contrast, once exec
processing completes, the calling program will continue to run.
• Second, the default directory for exec is the Add-ins directory (in contrast with both
run and include which defaults to using the EViews default directory). Thus, the
command
exec myprog1.prg
will run the program file “Myprog1.prg” located in the default Add-ins directory. You
may specify files using relative paths in the standard fashion. The command:
exec MyAddIn\myprog2.prg
runs the program “Myprog2.prg” located in the “MyAddIn” subdirectory of the Add-
ins directory.

If you wish to run a program that is located in the same directory as the calling program,
simply issue a “.\” at the start of the program name:
exec .\myprog2.prg

Alternatively you may use the include keyword to include the contents of a program file in
another program file. For example, you can place the line
include powers
 Subroutines—149

at the top of any other program that needs to use the commands in POWERS. include also
accepts a full path to the program file, and you may have more than one include statement
in a program. For example, the lines,
include c:\programs\powers.prg
include durbin_h
[more lines]
will first execute all of the commands in “C:\Programs\Powers.PRG”, will execute the com-
mands in “Durbin_h.PRG”, and then will execute the remaining lines in the program file.

If you do not provide an absolute path for your include file, EViews will use the location of
the executing program file as the base location. In the example above, EViews will search for
the “Durbin_h.PRG” file in the directory containing the executing program.

Note that in contrast to using exec to execute another program, include simply inserts the
child program into the parent. This insertion is done prior to executing any lines in either
program. One important consequence of this behavior is that any program variables that are
declared in the parent program will not be available in the child/included program, even if
they are declared prior to the include statement.

Subroutines
A subroutine is a collection of commands that allows you to perform a given task repeatedly,
with minor variations, without actually duplicating the commands. You may also use sub-
routines from one program to perform the same task in other programs.

Defining Subroutines
A subroutine begins with the keyword subroutine followed by the name of the routine and
any arguments, and ends with the keyword endsub. Any number of commands can appear
in between. The simplest type of subroutine has the following form:
subroutine z_square
series x = z^2
endsub

where the keyword subroutine is followed only by the name of the routine. This subrou-
tine has no arguments so that it will behave identically every time it is used. It forms the
square of the existing series Z and stores it in the new series X.

You may use the return command to force EViews to exit from the subroutine at any time.
A common use of return is to exit from the subroutine if an unanticipated error is detected.
The following program exits the subroutine if Durbin’s h statistic (Greene, 2008, p. 646, or
Davidson and MacKinnon, 1993, p. 360) for testing serial correlation with a lagged depen-
dent variable cannot be computed:
150—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

subroutine durbin_h
equation eqn.ls cs c cs(-1) inc
scalar test=1-eqn.@regobs*eqn.@cov(2,2)
' an error is indicated by test being nonpositive
' exit on error
if test<=0 then
return
endif
' compute h statistic if test positive
scalar h=(1-eqn.@dw/2)*sqr(eqn.@regobs/test)
endsub

Subroutine with Arguments

The subroutines we have seen thus far have been written to work with a specific set of vari-
ables. More generally, subroutines can take arguments. Arguments allow you to change the
behavior of the group of commands each time the subroutine is used. You may be familiar
with the concept from other programming languages, but if now, you are probably familiar
with similar concepts in mathematics. You can define a function, say
2
f x  x (6.1)

where f depends upon the argument x . The argument x is merely a place holder—it’s
there to define the function and it does not really stand for anything. Then, if you want to
evaluate the function at a particular numerical value, say 0.7839, you can write f  0.7839  .
If you want to evaluate the function at a different value, say 0.50123, you merely write
f  0.50123  . By defining the function, you save yourself from writing the full function
expression every time you wish to evaluate it for a different value.

To define a subroutine with arguments, you start with the subroutine keyword, followed
by the subroutine name and (with no space) the arguments separated by commas, enclosed
in parentheses. Each argument is specified by listing a type of EViews object, followed by
the name of the argument. For example:
subroutine power(series v, series y, scalar p)
v = y^p
endsub

This subroutine generalizes the example subroutine Z_SQUARE. Calling the subroutine
POWER will fill the series given by the argument V with the power P of the series specified
by the argument Y. So if you set V equal to X, Y equal to Z, and P equal to 2, you will get the
equivalent of the subroutine Z_SQUARE above. See the discussion below on how to call sub-
routines.
 Subroutines—151

When creating subroutines with scalar or string arguments, you will define your arguments
using the scalar or the string types. Beyond that, you have a choice of whether you can
to make the corresponding argument a (temporary) program variable or a (permanent)
workfile object:
• To make the argument a program variable, you should use a program variable name
(beginning with a “!” for a control variable and a “%” for a string variable). If you
choose to use program variables, they should be referred to using the “!” or “%”
name inside the subroutine.
• To make the argument a workfile object, you should use a standard EViews object
name. The object should be referred to by the argument name inside the subroutine.

Obviously, you can mix the two approaches in the definition of any subroutine.

For example, the declaration

subroutine mysub(scalar !a, string %b)

uses program variable names, while

subroutine mysub(scalar a, string b)

uses object names. In the first case you should refer to “!A” and “%B” inside the subroutine;
in the latter case, you should refer to the objects named “A” and “B”.

If you define your subroutine using program variables, the subroutine will operate on them
as though they were any other program variable. The variables, which cannot go out-of-
scope, should be referred to using the “!” or “%” argument name inside the subroutine.

If you define your subroutine using object names, the subroutine will operate on those vari-
ables as though they were scalar or string objects. The variables, which may be deleted and
may go out-of-scope (if, for example, you change the workfile page), should be referred to
using the argument names as though they were scalar or string objects.

(We discuss in detail related issues in “Calling Subroutines,” beginning on page 151.)

You should note that EViews makes no distinction between input or output arguments in a
subroutine. Each argument may be an input to the subroutine, an output from the subrou-
tine, or both (or neither!). There is no way to declare that some arguments are inputs and
some are outputs. There is no need to order the arguments in any particular order. However
we find it much easier to read subroutine code when we stick to a convention, such as list-
ing all output arguments prior to all input arguments (or vice versa).

Calling Subroutines
Once a subroutine is defined, you may execute the commands in the subroutine by using the
call keyword. call should be followed by the name of the subroutine, and a list of any
argument values you wish to use, enclosed in parentheses and separated by commas (with
152—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

no space after the subroutine name). If the subroutine takes arguments, the arguments must
be provided in the same order as in the declaration statement. Here is an example program
file that calls subroutines:
include powers
load mywork
fetch z gdp
series x
series gdp2
series gdp3
call z_square
call power(gdp2,gdp,2)
call power(gdp3,gdp,3)

The call of the Z_SQUARE subroutine fills the series X with the value of Z squared. Next, the
call to the POWER subroutine creates the series GDP2 which is GDP squared. The last call to
POWER creates the series GDP3 as the cube of GDP.

When calling your subroutine, bear in mind that:

• When the subroutine argument is a scalar, the subroutine may be called with a scalar
object, a control variable, a simple number (such as “10” or “15.3”), a matrix element
(such as “mat1(1,2)”) or a scalar expression (such as “!y+25”).
• Subroutines with a string argument may be called with a string object, a string pro-
gram variable, simple text (such as “hello”) or an element of an svector object.
• Subroutines that take matrix and vector arguments can be called with a matrix name,
and if not modified by the subroutine, may also take a matrix expression.
• All other arguments must be passed to the subroutine with an object name referring
to a single object of the correct type.

In “Subroutine with Arguments” on page 150 we described how you can define subroutines
that use either program variables or objects for scalar or string arguments. However you
define your subroutine, you may call the subroutine using either program variables or
objects—you are not required to match the calling arguments with the subroutine definition.
Suppose, for example, that you define your subroutine as
subroutine mysub(scalar a, string b)

Then for scalar and string objects F and G, and program variables !X and %Y,
scalar f = 3
string g = "hello"
!x = 2
%y = "goodbye"
 Subroutines—153

you may call the subroutine using any of the following commands:
call mysub(!x, %y)
call mysub(!x, g)
call mysub(f, %y)
call mysub(f, g)

Note that changes to the scalars A and B inside the subroutine will change the correspond-
ing program variable or object that you pass into the routine.

Similarly, you may define

subroutine mysub(scalar !a, string !b)

and use the same four call statements to execute the subroutine commands.

However the subroutine is called, bear in mind that behavior inside the subroutine is depen-
dent on whether the subroutine declaration is in terms of program variables or objects, not
on the variable type that is passed into the subroutine.

Subroutine Placement
Subroutine definitions may be placed anywhere throughout your program. However, for
clarity, we recommend grouping subroutine definitions together either at the start or at the
end of your program. The subroutines will not be executed until they are executed by the
program using a call statement. For example:
subroutine z_square
series x=z^2
endsub
' start of program execution
load mywork
fetch z
call z_square

Execution of this program begins with the load statement; the subroutine definition is
skipped and is executed only at the last line when it is “called.”

Subroutine definitions must not overlap—after the subroutine keyword, there should be
an endsub before the next subroutine declaration. Subroutines may call each other, or
even call themselves.

Alternatively, you may place frequently used subroutines in a separate program file and use
an include statement to insert them at the beginning of your program. If, for example, you
put the subroutine lines in the file “Powers.PRG”, then you may put the line:
include powers
154—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

at the top of any other program that needs to call Z_SQUARE or POWER. You can use the
subroutines in these programs as though they were built-in parts of the EViews program-
ming language.

Global and Local Variables

Subroutines work with variables and objects that are either global or local.

Global variables refer either to objects which exist in the workfile when the subroutine is
called, and to objects that are created in the workfile by a subroutine. Global variables
remain in the workfile when the subroutine finishes.

A local variable is one that is defined within the subroutine. Local variables are deleted from
the workfile once a subroutine finishes. The program that calls the subroutine will not be
able to use a local variable since the local variable disappears once the subroutine finishes
and the original program continues.

Global Subroutines
By default, subroutines in EViews are global. Global subroutine may refer to any global
object that exists in the workfile at the time the subroutine is called. Thus, if Z is a series in
the workfile, the subroutine may refer to and, if desired, alter the series Z. Similarly, if Y is a
global matrix that has been created by another subroutine, the current subroutine may use
the matrix Y.

The rules for variables in global subroutines are:

• All objects created by a global subroutine are global and will remain in the workfile
when the subroutine finishes.
• Global objects may be used and updated directly from within the subroutine. If, how-
ever, a global object has the same name as an argument in a subroutine, the variable
name will refer to the argument and not to the global variable.
• The global objects corresponding to arguments may be used and updated by referring
to the arguments.

Here is a simple program that calls a global subroutine:

subroutine z_square
series x = z^2
endsub
load mywork
fetch z
call z_square
 Subroutines—155

Z_SQUARE is a global subroutine which has access to the global series Z. The new global
series X contains the square of the series Z. Both X and Z remain in the workfile when
Z_SQUARE is finished.

If one of the arguments of the subroutine has the same name as a global variable, the argu-
ment name takes precedence so that any reference to the name in the subroutine will refer
to the argument, not to the global variable. For example:
subroutine sqseries(series z, string sername)
series {sername} = z^2
endsub
load mywork
fetch z
fetch y
call sqseries(y, "y2")

In this example, there is a series Z in the original workfile and Z is also an argument of the
subroutine. Calling SQSERIES with the argument set to Y tells EViews to use the series
passed-in via the argument Z instead of the global Z series. On completion of the routine,
the new series Y2 will contain the square of the series Y, not the square of the series Z. Since
keeping track of variables can become confusing when subroutine arguments take the same
name as existing workfile objects, we encourage you to name subroutine arguments as
clearly and distinctly as possible.

Global subroutines may call global subroutines. You should make certain to pass along
required arguments when you call a subroutine from within a subroutine. For example,
subroutine wgtols(series y, series wt)
equation eq1
call ols(eq1, y)
equation eq2
series temp = y/sqr(wt)
call ols(eq2, temp)
delete temp
endsub
subroutine ols(equation eq, series y)
eq.ls y c y(-1) y(-1)^2 y(-1)^3
endsub

can be run by the program:

load mywork
fetch cpi
fetch cs
156—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

call wgtols(cs,cpi)

In this example, the subroutine WGTOLS must explicitly pass along arguments to the sub-
routine OLS so that it uses the correct series and equation objects.

You cannot use a subroutine to change the object type of a global variable. Suppose that we
wish to declare new matrices X and Y by using a subroutine NEWXY. In this example, the
declaration of matrix X generates an error since X exists and is a series, but the declaration
of the matrix Y works (assuming there is no Y in the workfile MYWORK, or that Y exists and
is already a matrix):
subroutine newxy
matrix(2,2) x = 0
matrix(2,2) y = 0
endsub
load mywork
series x
call newxy

If you call this subroutine, EViews will return an error indicating that the global series X
already exists and is of a different type than a matrix.

Local Subroutines
If you include the word local in the definition of the subroutine, you create a local subrou-
tine. Local subroutines are most useful when you wish to write a subroutine which creates
many temporary objects that you do not want to keep.

The rules for variables in local subroutines are:

• All objects created by a local subroutine will be local and will be removed from the
workfile upon exit from the subroutine.
• The global objects corresponding to subroutine arguments may be used and updated
in the subroutine by referring to the arguments.
• You may not use or update global objects that do not correspond to subroutine argu-
ments.

There is one exception to the general inaccessibility of non-argument global variables in

local subroutines. When a global group is passed as an argument to a local subroutine, all of
the series in the group are accessible to the local routine.

The last two rules deserve a bit of elaboration. In general, local subroutines do not have
access to any global variables unless those variables are associated with arguments passed
into the subroutine. Thus, if there is a series X in the workfile, a local subroutine will not be
 Subroutines—157

allowed to use or modify X unless it is passed into the subroutine using a series argument.
Conversely, if X is passed into the subroutine, it may be modified.

Since locally created objects will vanish upon completion of the subroutine, to save results
from a local subroutine, you have to include them as arguments. For example, consider the
subroutine:
subroutine local ols_local(series y, series res, scalar ssr)
equation temp_eq.ls y c y(-1) y(-1)^2 y(-1)^3
temp_eq.makeresid res
ssr = temp_eq.@ssr
scalar se = ssr/temp_eq.@df
endsub

This local subroutine takes the series Y as input and modifies the argument series RES and
argument scalar SSR as output. Note that since Y, RES, and SSR are the only arguments of
this local subroutine, the only global variables that may be used or modified are those asso-
ciated with these arguments.The equation object TEMP_EQ and the scalar SE are local to the
subroutine and will vanish when the subroutine finishes.

Here is an example program that calls this local subroutine:

load mywork
fetch hsf
equation eq1.ls hsf c hsf(-1)
eq1.makeresid rres
scalar rssr = eq1.@ssr
series ures
scalar ussr
call ols_local(hsf, ures, ussr)

Note that we first declare the series URES and scalar USSR before calling the local subrou-
tine. These objects are global since they are declared outside the local subroutine. Since we
call the local subroutine by passing these global objects as arguments, the subroutine can
use and update these global variables.

Object commands that require access to global variables should be used with care in local
subroutines since that the lack of access to global variables can create problems for views or
procs of objects passed into the routine. For example, a subroutine of the form:
subroutine local bg(equation eq)
eq.hettest z c
endsub
158—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

will fail because the hettest equation proc requires access to the original variables in the
equation and the global variable Z, and these series are not available since they are not
passed in as arguments to the subroutine.

Care should also be taken when using samples and local subroutines. If the workfile sample
is based upon a series in the workfile (for example “smpl @all if x>0”), most procedures
inside the local subroutine will fail unless all of the series used in the sample are passed into
the subroutine.

Local Samples
Local samples in subroutines allow you to indicate that changes to the workfile sample are
temporary, with the original sample restored when you exit the routine. This feature is use-
ful when designing subroutines which require working on a subset of observations in the
original sample.

You may, in a subroutine, use the local smpl statement to indicate that subsequent
changes to the sample are temporary, and should be undone when exiting the subroutine.
The command
local smpl

makes a copy of the existing sample specification. You may then change the sample as many
times as desired using the smpl statement, and the original sample specification will be
reapplied when existing from the subroutine.

You may use the global smpl statement to indicate that subsequent smpl statements will
result in permanent changes to the workfile sample. Thus, the commands:
global smpl
smpl 5 100

in a subroutine permanently change the sample.

For example, consider the following program snippet which illustrates the behavior of local
and global samples:
workfile temp u 100
call foo
subroutine foo
smpl 2 100
local smpl
smpl 10 100
endsub

Here, we create a workfile with 100 observations and an initial workfile sample of “1 100”,
then call the subroutine FOO. Inside FOO, the first smpl statement changes the workfile
 User-Defined Dialogs—159

sample to “2 100”. We then issue the local smpl statement which backs up the existing
sample and identifies subsequent sample changes as local. The subsequent change to the
“10 100” sample is local so that when the subroutine exits, the sample is reset to “2 100”.

If instead we define FOO to be

subroutine foo
smpl 2 100
local smpl
smpl 10 100
global smpl
smpl 5 100
local smpl
smpl 50 100
endsub

As before, first smpl statement changes the workfile sample to “2 100” and the local smpl
statement and following smpl statement set the local sample to “10 100”. The global smpl
indicates that subsequent sample statements will once again be global so the next line per-
manently changes the workfile sample to “5 100”. Note that the last local smpl and subse-
quent smpl statement change the local sample only. When we exit the subroutine the
sample will be set to the last global sample of “5 100”.

User-Defined Dialogs
EViews offers the ability to construct several types of user-interface controls, or dialogs,
within your program. These dialogs permit users to input variables or set options during the
running of the program, and allow you to pass information back to users.

There are five different functions that create dialogs in EViews:

• @uiprompt (p. 733) – creates a prompt control, which displays a message to the user.
• @uiedit (p. 729) – creates an edit control, which lets users input text.
• @uilist (p. 731) – creates a list control, which lets users select from a list of choices.
• @uiradio (p. 734) – creates a set of radio controls, which lets users select from a set
of choices.
• @uidialog (p. 726) – creates a dialog which contains a mixture of other controls.
• @uifiledlg (p. 730) – creates a open/save-style dialog to obtain the name of a file.

Each dialog function returns an integer indicating how the user exited the dialog:
160—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

User Selection Return Value

Cancel -1
OK 0
Yes 1
No 2

Note that the only dialog types that can return exit conditions other than “Cancel” or “OK”
are @uiprompt and @uidialog. If “Cancel” is pressed, the variables passed into the dialog
will not be updated with whatever settings the user has chosen. If “OK” is pressed, then the
dialog changes are accepted.

Each of the dialog functions accept arguments that are used to define what will be displayed
by the dialog, and that will be used to store the user's inputs to the dialog. You may use
string or a scalar arguments, where both the string and scalar can be a literal, a program
variable, or a workfile object.

@uiprompt
The @uiprompt(string prompt, string type) function creates a simple message/prompt box
that displays a single piece of text, specified using the prompt argument, and lets the user
click a button to indicate an action. The choices of action offered the user will depend upon
the string specified in type.
• if type is equal to “O”, or is omitted completely, then the dialog will only have an
“OK” button. This type of prompt dialog would typically be used to provide a message
to the user.
• if type is equal to “OC”, then the dialog will have an “OK” button and a “Cancel” but-
ton. This type of prompt dialog would be used to pass a message onto the user and let
them continue or cancel from the procedure.
• if type is equal to “YN”, then the dialog will contain a “Yes” button and a “No” button
which can be used to ask the user a question requiring an affirmative or negative
response.
• if type is equal to “YNC” the dialog will have a “Yes” button, a “No” button and a
“Cancel” button.

For example, the command:

@uiprompt("Welcome to EViews")
 User-Defined Dialogs—161

will display a simple dialog box with a simple welcome mes-

sage and an “OK” button, while the command
@uiprompt("Would you like to continue",
"YN")

displays a dialog asking the user if they would like to continue

the program, with a “Yes” or “No” answer.

Note that the arguments to the function may be a program variable or string object rather
than string literals. The following sets of commands give identical results to that above:
%type = "YN"
%msg = "Would you like to continue"
scalar ret = @uiprompt(%msg, %type)

The return value of the control is determined by the user response: Cancel (-1), OK (0), Yes
(1), No (2).

See @uiprompt (p. 733) for additional detail.

@uiedit
The @uiedit(string IOString, string prompt, scalar maxEditLen) function provides an edit
control that lets the user enter text which is then stored in the string IOString. If IOString
contains text before the @uiedit function is called, the edit box will be initialized with that
text.

The string prompt is used to specify text to be displayed above the edit box, which may be
used to provide a message or instructions to the user.

maxEditLen is an option integer scalar that specifies the maximum length that IOString can
take. If the user tries to enter text longer than maxEditLen characters, the extra characters
will be truncated. By default maxEditLen is set to 32.

Both prompt and maxEditLen may be written in-line using string literals, but IOString must
be either a program variable or a string object in your workfile.

As an example,
%eqname = "eq_unemp"
scalar ret = @uiedit(%eqname, "Enter a name for your equation")
equation {%eqname} unemp c gdp gdp(-1)

will display the following dialog box and then create an equation object with a name equal
to whatever was entered for %EQNAME.
162—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

The return value of the control is determined by the user response: Cancel (-1) or OK (0).

See @uiedit (p. 729) for additional detail.

@uilist
This function creates a list box dialog, which lets the user select one item from a list. There
are two forms of the @uilist function, one that returns the user's selection as a string
IOString,
@uilist(string IOString, string prompt, string list)

and one that stores it as an integer IOScalar representing the position of the selection in the
list,
@uilist(scalar IOScalar, string prompt, string list)

The string prompt is used to specify text to be displayed above the list box, providing a mes-
sage or instructions to the user.

The string list is a space delimited list of items that will be displayed in the list box. To spec-
ify entries with spaces, you should enclose the entry in double-quotes using double-quote
escape characters.

Both prompt and list may be provided using in-line text, but IOString or IOScalar must be
either a program variable or an object in your workfile.

If the IO variable (IOString or IOScalar) is defined before the function is called, then the list
box control will have the item defined by the variable pre-selected. If the IO variable does
not match an item in the list box, or if it is not pre-defined, the first item in the list will be
selected.

The following program lines provide the user with a choice of robust standard errors, and
then displays that choice on the statusline:
%choice = "White"
%list = "Default White HAC"
scalar ret = @uilist(%choice, "Standard Errors Choice", %list)
statusline %list
 User-Defined Dialogs—163

Note that the above program could also be run with the following lines:
!choice = 2
%list = "Default White HAC"
scalar ret = @uilist(!choice, "Standard Errors Choice", %list)
%choice = @word(%list,!choice)
statusline %choice

The return value of the control is determined by the user response: Cancel (-1) or OK (0).

See @uilist (p. 731) for details.

@uimlist
This function is similar to @uilist in that it creates a list box dialog, with a difference being
that here multiple selections from the list may be made. The form of the @uimlist function
is:
@uimlist(vector IOVector, string prompt, string list)

The string prompt is used to specify text to be displayed above the list box, providing a mes-
sage or instructions to the user.

The string list is a space delimited list of items that will be displayed in the list box. To spec-
ify entries with spaces, you should enclose the entry in double-quotes using double-quote
escape characters.

Both prompt and list may be provided using in-line text, but IOString or IOScalar must be
either a program variable or an object in your workfile.

If the IO variable (IOVector) is defined before the function is called, then the list box control
will have the items defined by the vector pre-selected. If the IO variable does not match an
item in the list box, or if it is not pre-defined, the first item in the list will be selected.

The following program lines provide the user with a choice of robust standard errors, and
then displays those choices on the statusline:
vector(1) choice = 2
%list = "Default White HAC"
scalar ret = @uimlist(choice, "Standard Errors Choice", %list)
164—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

statusline %list

@uiradio
@uiradio(scalar IOScalar, string prompt, string list) is similar to @uilist in that it pro-
vides a dialog that lets the user select from a list of choices. However rather than selecting
an item from a list box, the user must select the desired item using radio buttons. The
@uiradio function will return the user's choice in IOScalar.

The string prompt should be used to specify a message or instructions to the user to be dis-
played above the set of radio buttons.

The string list is a space delimited list of items that contains the items for the radio buttons.
To specify entries with spaces, you should enclose the entry in double-quotes using double-
quote escape characters.

Both prompt and list may be specified using in-line text, but IOScalar must be either a pro-
gram variable or an object in your workfile.

If IOScalar is defined and set equal to a valid integer before the function is called, the radio
button associated with that integer will be the default selection when the dialog is shown. If
IOScalar is not a valid choice, the first radio will be selected.

As an example, we replicate the standard error choice example from the @uilist function,
but this time use radio buttons:
!choice = 2
%list = "Default White HAC"
scalar ret = @uiradio(!choice, "Standard Errors Choice", %list)
%choice = @word(%list,!choice)
statusline %choice
 User-Defined Dialogs—165

The return value of the control is determined by the user response: Cancel (-1) or OK (0).

See @uiradio (p. 734) for additional detail.

@uidialog
The @uidialog(control_spec1[, control_spec2, ….]) function displays a dialog which may be
composed of different controls, including simple text, edit boxes, list boxes, radio buttons
and check boxes. The dialog is specified using a list of control specifications passed into the
function as arguments. Each control specification is a type keyword specifying the type of
control, followed by a list of parameters for that control.

The type keywords should be from the following list:

Keyword Control
“caption” Dialog title
“text” Plain text
“edit” Edit box
“list” List box
“radio” Radio buttons
“check” Check box
“button” OK-type button
“buttonc” Cancel-type button
“colbreak” Column break
“setoc” Set OK/Cancel text

The “edit”, “list” and “radio” controls are similar to their individual dialog functions, and
the specifications for those controls follow the same pattern. Thus the specification for an
edit box would be (“edit”, string IOString, string prompt, scalar maxEditLen).

The “caption” control changes the title of the dialog, shown in the title bar. The caption
keyword should be followed by a string containing the text to be used as the caption, yield-
ing a specification of (“caption”, string caption).
166—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

The “text” control adds basic text to the dialog. Like the caption control, the text control
keyword, “text”, should be followed by a string containing the text to be used, yielding a
specification of (“text”, string text).

The “check box” control adds a check box to the dialog. The check keyword should be fol-
lowed by a scalar, IOScalar, which stores the selection of the check box - 1 for checked, and
0 for unchecked, and then by a string prompt which contains the text to be used as a
prompt/instructions for the check box. The specification for the check box control is then:
(“check”, scalar IOScalar, string prompt).

The “button” and “buttonc” controls add a custom button to the dialog. The dialog will
close after a button has been pressed. The behavior of the button will depend on the type of
button —buttons of type “button” will behave in the same way as the “OK” button (i.e., all
variables passed into the dialog will be updated to reflect changes made to their correspond-
ing controls). Buttons of type “buttonc” will behave in the same way as the “Cancel” button
(i.e., all variables will be reset to the values that were passed into the dialog).

The return value of the dialog will correspond to the order in which buttons are placed in
the dialog. If only one button (apart from the standard “OK” and “Cancel”) is included in
the dialog, the return value for that button will be “1”. If there is more than one button, then
the first button will return a value of “1”, the second will return a value of “2” and so on.
Note that the return value is independent of whether the button was of type “button” or
“buttonc”. The specification for the button controls is (“button[c]”, “text”) where text speci-
fies the text that will be on the button.

The column break control inserts a column break. By default, EViews will automatically
choose the number of columns in the constructed dialog. There is still a maximum of only
two columns allowed, but by adding a “colbreak” control, you can force the position of a
break in the dialog.

“setoc” allows you to change the text of the “OK” and “Cancel” buttons on the dialog. You
should supply two words, separated by a space as the text for “OK” and “Cancel”.

As an example, a dialog that offers a choice of covariance matrix options, plus a check box
for degree of freedom adjustment, could be made with:
!choice = 2
!doDF = 1
%list = "Default White HAC"
scalar ret = @uidialog("caption", "Covariance Options", "list",
!choice, "Covariance method", %list, "check", !doDF, "DF-
adjust")
 User-Defined Dialogs—167

See @uidialog (p. 726) for details.

@uifiledlg
The @uifiledlg(string IO_Filespec, string filter, string style) displays a standard Windows
file open or save dialog so that you may obtain the path and name of a file.

@uifiledlg function will return the user's specification in file_spec.

The string IO_Filespec should be used to specify an initial location and possibly the name for
the file. IO_Filespec will also contain the file specified on return.

The string filter is used to specify the types of files to show in the dialog using the filter argu-
ment, with, for example, “” used to denote all files, and “prg” used to limit the display to
files ending in “.prg”.

The type argument is used to determine whether the shown dialog has an “open” or a
“save” prompt.

(Note that the clicking OK on the dialog does not actually open or save the selected file, it
merely returns the name of the selected file. Thus, specifying the type argument is for cos-
metic reasons only.)

Both filter and style may be specified using in-line text, but IO_Filespec must be either a pro-
gram variable or an object in your workfile.

The displayed dialog will display both an OK and a Cancel button, and will return an inte-
ger representing the button clicked: Cancel (-1), OK (0).
string myfile = "c:\temp\"
@uifiledlg(myfile, "prg”, "open")

These commands display a file open dialog style containing a list of all files with a “.prg”
extension in the folder “c:\temp\”. The user can navigate through the file system and select
another file, whose path and name will be returned in the string MYFILE.

Note that the slightly different set of commands

string myfile = "c:\temp"
@uifiledlg(myfile, "prg", "save")
168—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

will instead display a save dialog that opens in the “c:\” folder with the filename initialized
to “temp.prg” (MYFILE does not have the trailing “\”).

See also @uifiledlg (p. 730).

Example Program
This program creates a workfile and some series, then puts up dialogs asking the user to
specify the dependent variable and the regressors to be used in a least-squares equation.
Note that the part of the example program that generates the data could be replaced with a
command to open up an existing workfile.
'Create a workfile and some series
wfcreate temp u 100
series y=nrnd
series x=nrnd
series w=nrnd
'-------------------------------------
'variable to store name of dependent variable
%dep = ""
'variable to store list of regressors. Default is "c" for a con-
stant.
%regs = "c "
'variable that will track the result of dialogs. -1 indicates user
hit Cancel. 0 Indicates user hit OK.
!result = 0
'put up an Edit dialog asking for dependent variable.
!result = @uiedit(%dep,"Enter the dependent variable")
if !result=-1 then 'if user cancelled, then stop program
stop
endif
'put up an Edit dialog asking for regressors list.
!result = @uiedit(%regs,"Enter the list of regressors")
if !result=-1 then 'if user cancelled, then stop program
stop
endif

equation eq1.ls {%dep} {%regs} 'estimate equation.

Three program variables are used in this program: %DEP, %REGS and !RESULT. %DEP is
the string variable that will contain the user’s entry for the dependent variable. To begin, we
set this equal to an empty string. %REGS is used to store the user’s entry for the list of
 Version 4 Compatibility Notes—169

regressors. We set this equal to “C” to begin with. This means that the default setting for the
regressor list will be a constant. !RESULT will be used to track the completion of the dialogs.
Every dialog returns an integer value depending on whether the user clicked OK or Cancel
(or in some cases Yes or No). We initialize this value to 0.

Following the declaration of the variables, the first dia-

log is brought up using the @uiedit command. This
will create an Edit dialog asking the user to “Enter the
dependent variable.” The user’s response will be
stored in %DEP. Following the dialog command, we
check whether the value of !RESULT is equal to -1. A -1
indicates that the user pressed Cancel in the dialog. If
this is the case, the program quits, using the stop command.

The second dialog command is similar to the first, but rather than asking for the dependent
variable, it asks the user to “Enter the list of regressors,” and stores that list in %REGS. Note
that since %REGS was set equal to “C” prior to the dialog being put up, the dialog will be
pre-filled with the constant term. Users can still delete the constant or add extra regressors.

Finally, having obtained entries for both %DEP and %REGS, equation EQ1 is estimated via
least squares with the specified variables.

Version 4 Compatibility Notes

While the underlying concepts behind strings, string variables, and replacement variables
have not changed since the first version of EViews, there were three important changes in
the implementation of these concepts introduced in EViews 5. In addition, there has been an
important change in the handling of boolean comparisons involving numeric NA values,
and blank string values.

String vs. Replacement Variables

First, the use of contextual information to distinguish between the use of string and replace-
ment variables has been eliminated.

Prior to EViews 5, the underlying notion that the expression “%X” refers exclusively to the
string variable %X while the expression “{%X}” refers to the corresponding replacement
variable was modified slightly to account for the context in which the expression was used.
In particular, the string variable expression “%X” was treated as a string variable in cases
where a string was expected, but was treated as a replacement variable in other settings.

For example, suppose that we have the string variables:

%y = "cons"
%x = "income"
170—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

When used in settings where a string is expected, all versions of EViews treat %X and %Y
as string variables. Thus, in table assignment, the command,
table1(2, 3) = %x + " " + %y

is equivalent to the expression,

table1(2, 3) = "cons" + " " + "income"

However, when string variables were used in other settings, early versions of EViews used
the context to determine that the string variable should be treated as a replacement variable;
for example, the three commands
equation eq1.ls %y c %x
equation eq1.ls {%y} c {%x}
equation eq1.ls cons c income

were all viewed as equivalent. Strictly speaking, the first command should have generated
an error since string variable substitution would replace %Y with the double-quote delim-
ited string “cons” and %X with the string “income”, as in
equation eq1.ls "cons" c "income"

Instead, EViews determined that the only valid interpretation of %Y and %X in the first
command was as replacement variables so EViews simply substituted the names for %Y and
%X.

Similarly, the commands,

series %y = %x
series {%y} = {%x}
series cons = income

all yielded the same result, since %Y and %X were treated as replacement variables in the
first line, not as string variables.

The contextual interpretation of string variables was convenient since, as seen from the
examples above, it meant that users rarely needed to use braces around string variables. The
EViews 5 introduction of alphanumeric series meant, however, that the existing interpreta-
tion of string variables was no longer tenable. The following example clearly shows the
problem:
alpha parent = "mother"
%x = "parent"
alpha temp = %x

Note that in the final assignment statement, the command context alone is not sufficient to
determine whether %X should refer to the string variable value “parent” or to the replace-
ment variable PARENT, which is an Alpha series containing the string “mother”.
 Version 4 Compatibility Notes—171

Consequently, in EViews 5 and later, users must now always use the expression “{%X}” to
refer to the replacement variable corresponding to the value of %X. Thus, under the new
interpretation, the final line in the example above resolves to
alpha temp = "parent"

Under the EViews 4 interpretation of the final line, “%X” would have been treated as a
replacement variable so that TEMP would contain the value “mother”.

To interpret the last line as a replacement variable in EViews 5 and later, you must now
explicitly provide braces around the string variable
alpha temp = {%x}

to resolve to the command

alpha temp = parent

String Variables in String Expressions

The second major change in EViews 5 is that text in a string expression is now treated as a
literal string. The important implication of this rule is that string variable text is no longer
substituted for inside a string expression.

Consider the assignment statements

%b = "mom!"
%a = "hi %b"
table(1, 2) = %a

In EViews 4 and earlier, the “%B” text in the string expression was treated as a string vari-
able, not as literal text. Accordingly, the EViews 4 string variable %A contains the text “hi
mom!”. One consequence of this approach is that there was no way to get the literal text of
the form “%B” into a string using a program in EViews 4.

Beginning in EViews 5, the “%B” in the second string variable assignment is treated as lit-
eral text. The string variable %A will contain the text “hi %b”. Obtaining a %A that con-
tains the EViews 4 result is straightforward. Simply move the first string variable %B outside
of the string expression, and use the string concatenation operator:
%a = "hi " + %b

assigns the text “hi mom!” to the string variable %A. This expression yields identical results
in all versions of EViews.

Case-Sensitive String Comparison

In early versions of EViews, program statements could involve string comparisons. For
example, you might use an if-statement to compare a string variable to a specific value, or
you could use a string comparison to assign a boolean value to a cell in a matrix or to a
172—Chapter 6. EViews Programming

numeric series. In all of these settings, the string comparisons were performed caselessly, so
that the string “Abc” was viewed as equal to “ABC” and “abc”.

The introduction of mixed case alpha series in EViews 5 meant that caseless string compari-
sons could no longer be supported. Accordingly, the behavior has been changed so that all
EViews 5 and later string comparisons are case-sensitive.

If you wish to perform caseless comparison in newer versions of EViews, you can use the
@upper or @lower string functions, as in
if (@lower(%x) = "abc") then

or
if (@upper(%x) = "ABC") then

Alternately, programs may be run in version 4 compatibility mode to enable caseless com-
parisons for element operations (see “Version 4 Compatibility Mode” on page 173). For
example, the if-statement comparison:
if (%x = "abc") then

will be performed caselessly in compatibility mode.

Note that compatibility mode does not apply to string comparisons that assign values into
an entire EViews series. Thus, even in compatibility mode, the statement:
series y = (alphaser = "abc")

will be evaluated using case-sensitive comparisons for each value of ALPHASER.

Comparisons Involving NAs/Missing Values

Prior to EViews 5, NA values were always treated as ordinary values for purposes of
numeric equality (“=”) and inequality (“<>”) testing. In addition, when performing string
comparisons in earlier versions of EViews, empty strings were treated as ordinary blank
strings and not as a missing value. In these versions of EViews, the comparison operators
(“=” and “<>”) always returned a 0 or a 1.

In EViews 5 and later, the behavior of numeric and string inequality comparisons involving
NA values or blank strings has been changed so that comparisons involving two variables
propagate missing values. To support the earlier behavior, the @eqna and @neqna functions
are provided so that users may perform comparisons without propagating missing values.
Complete details on these rules are provided in “String Relational Operators” on page 79 of
the Command and Programming Reference and in “Numeric Relational Operators” on
page 172 of User’s Guide I.

Programs may be run in version 4 compatibility mode to enable the earlier behavior of com-
parisons for element operations. For example, the if-statement comparison:
 References—173

if (!x = !z) then

will not propagate NA values in compatibility mode.

Note that compatibility mode does not apply to comparisons that assign values into an
EViews numeric or alpha series. Thus, even in compatibility mode, the statement:
series y = (x = z)

will propagate NA values from either X or Z into Y.

Version 4 Compatibility Mode

While the changes to the handling of string variables and element boolean comparisons are
required for extending the programming language to handle the new features of the EViews
5 and later, we recognize that users may have a large library of existing programs which
make use of the previous behavior.

Accordingly, EViews provides a version 4 compatibility mode in which you may run EViews
programs using the previous context sensitive handling of string and substitution variables,
the earlier rules for resolving string variables in string expressions, and the rules for caseless
string comparison and propagation of missing values in element comparisons.

There are two ways to ensure that your program is run in version 4 compatibility mode.
First, you may specify version 4 compatibility mode at the time the program is run. Compat-
ibility may be set interactively from the Run Program dialog (“Executing a Program” on
page 120) by selecting the Version 4 compatible variable substitution and program bool-
ean comparisons checkbox, or in a program using the “ver4” option (see run (p. 467)).

Alternatively, you may include “MODE VER4” statement in your program. See “Program
Modes” on page 134 for details.

References
Davidson, Russell and James G. MacKinnon (1993). Estimation and Inference in Econometrics, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Greene, William H. (2008). Econometric Analysis, 6th Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
174—Chapter 6. EViews Programming
Chapter 7. External Connectivity

EViews offers several methods for interacting with external applications and data:
• The EViews OLEDB driver provides an easy-to-use interface for external programs to read
data stored in EViews workfiles (WF1) and EViews databases (EDB) (“The OLEDB Driver”
on page 176).
• The EViews Excel Add-in offers a simple interface for reading data stored in EViews work-
files and databases from within Microsoft Excel (“The Excel Add-in” on page 176).
• The EViews Database Objects (EDO) Library gives you the ability to access data objects
held inside EViews databases and workfiles from within an external application (“EViews
Database Objects (EDO) Library” on page 176).
• EViews offers COM Automation server support so that external programs or scripts can
launch or control EViews, transfer data, and execute EViews commands (“EViews COM
Automation Server” on page 177).
• EViews offers COM Automation client support for MATLAB and R application servers so
that EViews may be used to launch and control the application, transfer data, and exe-
cute commands (“EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R)” on
page 177).
• EViews offers an EViews Database Extension (EDX) interface for developers who wish to
provide EViews access to their database formats. Any external data source that imple-
ments this interface can be opened directly from within EViews Enterprise Edition and
used just like an EViews database (“EViews Database Extension Interface” on page 184).

Reading EViews Data

EViews offers a variety of ways for you to access data stored in EViews workfiles (WF1) and
EViews databases (EDB) from external sources.

The EViews OLEDB driver provides an easy way for OLEDB-aware clients or custom programs to
read EViews data

Alternatively, the EViews Microsoft Excel Add-in allows users to fetch and link to EViews data
located in workfiles and databases. The Add-in offers an easy-to-use interface to OLEDB for read-
ing EViews data from within Excel.

Lastly, you may use the EViews Database Objects Library to access EViews data from within an
external application.
176—Chapter 7. External Connectivity

The OLEDB Driver

The EViews OLEDB driver is automatically installed and registered on your computer when
you install EViews. Once installed, you may use OLEDB-aware clients or custom programs
to read series, vector, and matrix objects directly from EViews workfiles and databases.

See “The OLEDB Driver” on page 158 of User’s Guide I for discussion. For additional details,
see the Using the EViews OLEDB Driver whitepaper available from our website
www.eviews.com/download/download.html.

The Excel Add-in

The EViews Excel Add-in offers a simple interface for fetching and linking to data stored in
EViews workfiles and databases from within Microsoft Excel (2000 and later).

See “The Excel Add-in” on page 155 of User’s Guide I for discussion. For additional details,
see the Using the EViews OLEDB Driver whitepaper available from our website
www.eviews.com/download/download.html.

EViews Database Objects (EDO) Library

The EViews Database Objects (EDO) Library is an EViews Enterprise Edition feature that
provides access to data objects held inside EViews databases and workfiles from within an
external application.

The library consists of a set of COM objects exported by EViews that can easily be used in a
variety of development environments such as Microsoft .NET and Visual Basic for Applica-
tions (VBA).

The EDO API provides full read and write access to EViews databases, as well as read-only
access to EViews workfiles. The interface provides access to both the observation values and
the attributes of an object. In contrast, the EViews OLEDB interface “The OLEDB Driver” on
page 176 offers data reading support but not write operations nor object attributes.

The EDO library supports reading and writing of the following EViews data objects:
• Numeric series (including series containing dates)
• Alpha series (containing character data)
• Scalars
• Vectors
• Matrices
• Strings
• String Vectors
 EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R)—177

The library does not currently support access to data within structured EViews objects such
as equations or models.

Use of the EDO library requires that a machine is registered with a valid EViews Enterprise
Version license.

For additional details, see the EViews Data Objects Library whitepaper, available from our
website www.eviews.com/download/download.html.

EViews COM Automation Server

EViews may be used as a COM Automation server so that an external program or script may
launch and control EViews programmatically. EViews COM is comprised of two class
objects: Manager and Application.

The Manager class is used to manage and create instances of the main EViews Application
class. The Application class provides access to EViews functionality and data. Most notably,
the Application class Run and a variety of Get and Put methods provide you with access to
EViews commands and allow you to obtain read or write access to series, vectors, matrix,
and scalar objects.

For a complete description of these methods, please refer to the EViews COM Automation
Server whitepaper, available from our website www.eviews.com/download/download.html.

Note that web server access to EViews via COM is not allowed. Furthermore, EViews will
limit COM access to a single instance when run by other Windows services or run remotely
via Distributed COM.

EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R)

EViews offers COM Automation client support for select external application servers. Sup-
port is currently provided for two applications: MATLAB and R.

The client support includes a set of EViews functions for exporting EViews data to the exter-
nal application, running commands and programs in the application, and importing data
back into EViews. These functions provide easy access to the powerful programming lan-
guages of MATLAB and R to create programs and routines that perform tasks not currently
implemented in EViews. The interface also offers access to the large library of statistical rou-
tines already written in the MATLAB and R languages.

There are six EViews commands that control the use of external applications: xclose
(p. 537), xget (p. 537), xlog (p. 540), xopen (p. 540), xput (p. 542), and xrun (p. 544).

xopen and xclose are used to open and close a connection to the external application
(MATLAB or R). xput and xget are used to send data to and from the external application.
178—Chapter 7. External Connectivity

xrun is used to send a command to the external application, and, finally, xlog lets you
show or hide an external application log window within EViews.

Using MATLAB®
To open a connection to MATLAB, simply use the xopen(type=m) command. EViews will
then attempt to launch MATLAB on your computer. Note, your computer must have access
to MATLAB, either through a local installation, or through a network. EViews has been
tested with MATLAB release R2008a, although other versions may work as well.

Once a connection to MATLAB has been made, xput (p. 542) may be used to pass data from
EViews over to MATLAB. All numerical data is passed to MATLAB as a matrix. String data
(in the form of an alpha series or svector) will be passed to a MATLAB char if each string
contains the same number of characters. Otherwise the string data will be passed as a cell
array. Series and group objects are always filtered by the current sample unless you specify
an explicit sample in the xput command.

Note that object names in EViews are not case sensitive. Unless otherwise specified, EViews
objects that are passed into MATLAB using xput will have the same name as the EViews
objects that are being pushed, with the case determined by the case established for the COM
connection (see xopen (p. 540)).

xrun can be used to issue a single line command to MATLAB. You may, for example, use
xrun to invert a matrix or run a program in MATLAB. If you wish to run multiple com-
mands, each command must be entered with a separate xrun command. Commands should
be surrounded in quotes.

xget can be used to fetch data from MATLAB into EViews. The “type=” option lets you
specify the type of object that will be created in EViews. If no option is specified, MATLAB
matrices will be brought in as EViews matrix objects, while chars and cell arrays will be
brought in as svectors. If you use “type=series” or “type=alpha” to specify that the data is
brought in as a series or an alpha series, EViews will create a series of workfile length, and
either truncate the data, or pad with NAs, if the incoming matrix does not have the same
number of rows as there are workfile observations.

The follow program offers a simple example using MATLAB to perform a least-squares
regression (more complicated operations may be performed by using xrun to run a MATLAB
program):
'create a workfile
wfcreate u 100
'create some data
series y=nrnd
series x1=nrnd
 EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R)—179

series x2=nrnd
'group regressor data into a group
group xs c x1 x2
'open a connection to Matlab with lower-case default output names
xopen(type=m, case=lower)
'put regressors and dependent variable into Matlab
xput xs
xput y
'run a command to perform least squares as a matrix operation
xrun "beta = inv(xs'*xs)*xs'*y"
'retrieve betas back into EViews
xget beta
'perform same least squares estimation in EViews
equation e1.ls y xs
show e1
show beta
'close Matlab connection
xclose

The program first creates a new workfile, and then creates some series objects. The series
called Y is the dependent variable, and the series X1 and X2 are the regressors (along with a
constant). xopen is used to open a connection to MATLAB, and then xput is used to pass
the dependent variable and the regressors over to MATLAB. Note that the names of the
matrices and vectors will all be lower-cased in MATLAB since the connection was opened
with the “case=lower” option.

xrun is used to create a vector in MATLAB, called “beta”, equal to the least squares coeffi-
cient, using the matrix algebra formula for LSQ. beta is brought back into EViews with the
xget command, and then we estimate the same equation inside EViews and show the two
results for comparison. Finally the connection to MATLAB is closed.

Using R
R is a GNU-project software environment for statistical computing and graphics. R is free
software (under the terms of the GNU General Public License) that is readily available for
download from the Official R Project website: http://www.r-project.org/ and other mirror
sites.

To use the EViews external interface to R, you must have R installed on your Windows com-
puter, along with the rscproxy and statconnDCOM packages. Once installed, you may use
the commands listed above to communicate with R from within EVIews.
180—Chapter 7. External Connectivity

Installing R Components
EViews was developed and tested with the following R components. You must have the fol-
lowing installed on the machine running EViews (or have R server components registered
on the same machine via DCOM):
• R, version 2.8.1 or later.
• rscproxy, version 1.0-12.
• statconnDCOM, version 3.1-1B2.

Newer versions of rscproxy or statconnDCOM may work, but have not been tested with
EViews. Note that rscproxy version 1.0-13 has known issues with the console output feature,
such that you may not see any output in the R Output Log window in EViews.

New R installation
If you do not currently have R installed, the easiest procedure is to run the latest RAnd-
Friends setup file located at
http://rcom.univie.ac.at/download.html

As of this documentation, RAndFriendsSetup2090V3.0-14-2.exe is the latest file, which

includes the proper rscproxy version 1.0-12. Run the basic installation of RAndFriendsSet-
up2090V3.0-14-2.exe, leaving the Direct internet connection box checked, to install R ver-
sion 2.9.0, rscproxy version 1.0-12, and statconnDCOM version 3.1-1B2. After installing
statconnDCOM, you may cancel out of the installation of RExcel, as it is not needed by
EViews.

Modifying an Existing R installation

If you already have R installed, verify that it is at least version 2.8.1. Also, you should check
your R installation write path and version information in your windows registry, as this
information is needed by statconnDCOM to find your R installation. You should have an
entry in the registry that looks like the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\R-core]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\R-core\R]
"InstallPath"="C:\\Program Files\\R\\R-2.8.1"
"Current Version"="2.8.1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\R-core\R\2.8.1]
 EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R)—181

"InstallPath"="C:\\Program Files\\R\\R-2.8.1"

If you don’t have these entries in your registry, you can re-install R and check the checkbox
Save version number in registry (this option is checked by default) or you can manually
add them to the registry (with your proper values for “Install Path” and “Current Version”).
If you choose to edit your registry, we highly recommend that you first make a backup copy.

The current version of R is available at one of the Comprehensive R Archive Network sites
near you (go to “http://cran.r-project.org/mirrors.html” for a current list). You should navi-
gate to the “bin/windows/base” directory and download the installer for the current version
(it should have a name that looks like “R-X.X.X-win32.exe”. For more info, see the R Win-
dows FAQ, which currently may be found at
http://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/rw-FAQ.html

Installing rscproxy and statconnDCOM

When you have verified that the R installation path and version in your registry are correct,
you can install rscproxy and statconnDCOM.

To install the rscproxy package, open R and

select the Packages\Install Package(s)...
menu item to see a list of available packages.
First select your country and region, and
then find rscproxy and click OK.

To install statconnDCOM, download the lat-

est version from
http://rcom.univie.ac.at/download.html
and run the setup program.

Verifying installation
Once installation is complete, run the statconn “Server 01 - Basic Test” program, usually
found under Start->All Programs->statconn->DCOM->Server01 – Basic Test, to verify
that everything is working. Click on the Start R button to begin the test.
182—Chapter 7. External Connectivity

Once you have run the test, you should be able to run
EViews and use the xopen command to open a connec-
tion to R.
xopen(type=r)

This command will open a connection to R from within

EViews and will also open an R output log window in
EViews.

You may then use the xput, xrun, and xget com-
mands to transfer data and run commands in R from
within EViews.

By default, EViews series, alpha, vector, and matrix

objects transferred to R using xput will be written as R
vectors. EViews group objects are sent to an R
data.frame that contains both column and row identifiers.

Series objects may be grouped into a data.frame by including the “rtype=data.frame” and
“name=” options. Certain series objects may be written as R time-series objects using the
“rtype=ts” option. Objects may be grouped into an R list object by including the
“rtype=list” option.

Series and group objects are always filtered by the current sample unless you specify an
explicit sample in the xput command.

Example
The following commands show you how to move data from EViews into R, how to use
EViews to run an R command, and how to retrieve results from R into EViews.
'create a workfile
wfcreate u 100
'create some data
series y=rnd
series x1=rnd
series x2=rnd
'open a connection to R with upper-case default output names
xopen(type=r, case=upper)
'put regressors and dependent variable into R
xput(rtype=data.frame, name=vars) y x1 x2
'run a command to perform GLM
xrun "z<-glm(Y~X1+X2, family=Gamma(link=log), data=vars)"
 EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R)—183

xrun "summary(z)"
'retrieve coefs
xget(name=beta, type=vector) z$coef
'create EViews equation
equation e1.glm(family=gamma,link=log) y c x1 x2
show e1
show beta
'close R connection
xclose

The program first creates a workfile, then creates some series objects. The series Y is the
dependent variable, and the series X1 and X2 and a constant are regressors. xopen is used to
open a connection to R, and then xput is used to pass the series into an R data.frame con-
tainer, which we name “VARS”. Note that the names of the data.frame, and its contents are
all uppercased in R since the connection was opened with the “case=upper” option.

xrun is used to estimate a GLM equation in R, with the results being stored in a GLM output
object, “z”. xget is used to retrieve the coefficient member of z back into EViews, where it is
stored as a vector called BETA.

Finally, the same GLM specification is estimated inside EViews, and the coefficient estimates
are shown on the screen for comparison.

Output Display
Note that the statconnDCOM package does not always automatically capture all of your R
output. Consequently, you may find that using xrun to issue a command that displays out-
put in R may return only a subset of the usual output to your log window. In the most
extreme case, you may see a simple “OK” message displayed in your log window. To instruct
statconnDCOM to show all of the output, you should use enclose your command inside an
explicit print statement in R. Thus, to display the contents of a matrix X, you must issue
the command
xrun print(X)

instead of the more natural

xrun X

R Related Links
The Official R Project website: http://www.r-project.org/

StatConn Project website: http://rcom.univie.ac.at/

184—Chapter 7. External Connectivity

EViews Database Extension Interface

EViews offers built-in support for a handful of foreign database formats (e.g. DataStream,
EcoWin, Haver, FRED, etc.), providing users direct access to data in these formats via the
standard EViews database interface (“Foreign Format Databases” on page 335 of User’s
Guide I).

If data reside in unsupported database formats, users can resort to ODBC (if an ODBC driver
was available) or using an intermediate file format (such as XLS, CSV or HTML) or the Win-
dows clipboard to exchange data. These approaches are less convenient than working with
the standard interface, and there are a number of limitations, including the inability to
obtain additional attributes such as source, units, etc. alongside observation values and the
fact that data brought into EViews using these approaches cannot be "linked” back to the
source to allow for automatic refreshes when a workfile is loaded.

To overcome these limitations, EViews Enterprise Edition supports the EViews Database
Extension (EDX) Interface which allows any external data source that implements this inter-
face to be opened from within EViews and used just like an EViews database.

Programmers who implement a database extension for an external database format can
extend EViews so that:
• an EViews user can ask what objects the external database contains
• an EViews user can read data objects from the external database
• an EViews user can write data objects to the external database
• an EViews user can browse through the contents of the external database using a cus-
tom graphical interface developed specifically for the data source
 EViews Database Extension Interface—185

Using EDX, a developer can offer EViews access to a external database that is indistinguish-
able from built-in access to data sources. Notably, EViews built-in support for connecting to
the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on-line databases was developed using an
EDX interface to the EIA API.

More precisely, EDX is a set of COM interfaces. Supporting a new format involves creating a
small library (usually housed in a DLL) that contains COM objects that implement these
interfaces. The library can be developed in many different programming environments
including native C++ and Microsoft .NET. These COM objects are used by EViews to inter-
act with the underlying database.
186—Chapter 7. External Connectivity

For details and extensive examples of the EDX interface, please see the whitepaper EViews
Database Extension Interface Release x.x (available from our website www.eviews.com/
download/download.html).
Chapter 8. Add-ins

In Chapter 6. “EViews Programming,” beginning on page 117, we explained how you can
put commands in program files to repeat tasks, produce a record of your research project, or
augment the built-in features of EViews.

This chapter describes Add-ins, which extend the utility of the programming tools by provid-
ing seamless access to programs from the standard EViews menus and command line. Creat-
ing an Add-in is a simple procedure and involves little more than defining a command and
menu items for your existing EViews program.

Keep in mind that Add-ins aren’t just for EViews programmers. Even if you have never writ-
ten an EViews program, you may take advantage of these tools by installing prepackaged
Add-ins from the IHS EViews website or from third-parties. Once installed, Add-ins can pro-
vide you with user-defined features that are virtually indistinguishable from built-in EViews
features.

What is an Add-in?
Fundamentally, an Add-in is simply an EViews program that is integrated into the EViews
menus and command line, allowing you to execute the program using the menus or user-
defined command. In this regard, any EViews program can be used as the basis of an Add-
in.

More specifically, the Add-ins infrastructure lets you:

• add entries to EViews global or object-specific menus to offer point-and-click execu-

tion of the Add-in program.
• specify a user-defined single-word global or object-specific command which may be
used to run the Add-in program.
• display Add-in output in standard EViews object windows.

For example, suppose you have created a program to implement an econometric procedure
that prompts the user for needed input. You may turn this program into an EViews Add-in
that may be run by selecting a menu item or typing a command. Lastly, the Add-in might
display the output in the window of an existing EViews object.

Getting Started with Add-ins

The easiest way to get started with Add-ins is to download and install one of the previously
written Add-ins packages from the EViews website. Simply go to the main menu in EViews
and select Add-ins/Download Add-ins...
188—Chapter 8. Add-ins

EViews will open the corresponding Add-ins dialog opened to the Available tab showing
the list of Add-ins that are available for download from the EViews.com website. The list
shows the name of the Add-in, the publication date, version, and status. The status field
indicates whether the entry has not been installed (blank), has previously been installed, or
has previously been installed and is out-of-date.
 Getting Started with Add-ins—189

Select the desired entry to display additional information in the bottom of the dialog and to
enable the Install button. Clicking on Install instructs EViews to download the Add-in and
begin the installation procedure. (Alternately, you may click on the Website button and fol-
low the navigation links to the Add-ins page. Download the appropriate file to your com-
puter then open it using EViews by double-clicking on the file or dropping it onto the
EViews application window or the application icon.)

The first step in the

installation procedure is
to unpack the Add-in
files onto your computer.
By default, EViews will
put the files in a sub-
folder of your default
directory (see “Manag-
ing Add-ins” on page 198), but you may choose an alternate location if desired (you may
use the “...” button on the right-hand side to navigate to a specific directory). Click on OK to
proceed.

Note that if you manually downloaded the Add-in from the EViews website, you need not
use EViews to unpack the files. You may instead change the download file extension from
190—Chapter 8. Add-ins

“AIPZ” to “ZIP” and use your favorite ZIP file tools to extract the contents into the desired
directory.

Next, EViews will prompt you to run the installation program that is included in the Add-in
package.

The installation program is a file con-

taining EViews commands that auto-
matically registers the Add-in by
defining menu entries and commands
for the program.

If you click on No in response to the

prompt, EViews will finish the auto-
matic installation procedure without running the installation program and registering the
Add-in. The Add-in program files will be on your computer but will not be integrated into
the standard command or menu interface. You may, at a later time, examine and run the
installation program as you would any other EViews program, or you may manually register
your programs as described in “Registering an Add-in” on page 202.

Click on Yes to display other add-in options and to finish registering the Add-in. If there are
conflicts with existing directory names or existing Add-ins, EViews will warn you before pro-
ceeding.

After completion of the automatic installation procedure, EViews will report that the Add-in
was installed successfully:

We note that installing and running an EViews program file provided by an unknown indi-
vidual has risks. Accordingly, we recommend that care be taken when installing packages
from non-trusted sites. All of the packages provided on the EViews website have been exam-
ined to ensure that they do not include potentially harmful commands.

Once your Add-in is installed, you may wish to consult the Add-in documentation to obtain
additional information on features, options, and commands. Open the Add-ins management
dialog by selecting Add-ins/Manage Add-ins... from the main EViews menu, select the Add-
in of interest and click on the Docs button to display any documentation provided by the
author:
 Using Add-ins—191

Using Add-ins
Add-ins are integrated into the EViews menus and command line so that they work much
like built-in routines. To run an Add-in program, simply select the corresponding menu entry
or issue the appropriate command.

Beyond that, working with Add-ins menu and command entries does require some under-
standing of the difference between the two types of Add-ins: object-specific and global. As
the names suggest, object-specific Add-ins are designed to work with a single object type,
while global Add-ins are designed to work more generally with more than one object or
object type.

For example, an Add-in that computes a spline using data in a series is likely to be object-
specific, since it operates on a single series, while an Add-in that copies tables, graphs, and
spools into an RTF file would naturally be defined as global.

The menu entries and form of commands differs between the two Add-in types.
• Global Add-ins have menu entries that appear only in the main Add-ins menu. Global
add-in commands follow the EViews command syntax:
command(options) [args]
192—Chapter 8. Add-ins

• Object-specific Add-ins have menu entries that appear in both the main Add-ins menu
and in the menu of objects of the specified object type. Object-specific Add-in com-
mands follow the standard EViews object command syntax:
object_name.command(options) [args]
Suppose, for example, we have a global Generate time-series data Add-in with associated
command tsdgp. Since the Add-in is global, it will have a menu item in the main Add-ins
menu,

Moreover, the global command

tsdgp(diff="2", seed=100, meanconst="2", ar="0.1", ma="0.15",
varconst="0.8", arch = "0.15", garch="0.2 0.2") y

will run the Add-in program with the specified options.

Suppose, in addition, that we have two equation-specific Add-ins, Simple rolling regression
and Advanced rolling regression, with associated object-specific commands, roll and
advroll. If equation EQ1 is the active object, the main Add-ins menu will contain both the
global (Generate time series data) and the two equation-specific entries (Simple rolling
regression and Advanced rolling regression):
 Using Add-ins—193

In contrast, the EQ1 equation object will have an object Add-ins menu contains only the
two object-specific entries:

To run the simple rolling regression Add-in you may select either the main or the equation
menu Add-ins entries, or you may enter the equation object command:
eq1.roll
194—Chapter 8. Add-ins

in the EViews command window.

If you wish to see the available Add-ins and their types, you may click on the Add-ins/Man-
age Add-ins... entry in the main menu to display the Add-ins management dialog. EViews
will display the list of installed Add-ins with a Type column showing the type associated
with each entry:

Note that you may use the Add-in type drop-down to filter the display.

In this example, the Recshade (Add USA Recession Shading, ROLL (Simple Rolling Regres-
sion), and Advroll (Advanced Rolling Regression), Add-ins are all object-specific, while the
Tsdgp (Generate time series data) Add-in is global.

Add-ins Examples
To further illustrate the use of Add-ins, we examine two of the Add-ins currently available
for download from the EViews website. (To follow along with these examples, we recommend
that you first download and install the corresponding Add-in using the steps outlined in “Get-
ting Started with Add-ins” on page 187.)

Summarize Equation Results

Our first example is a global Add-in (EqTabs) that creates a table summarizing the results
from multiple equations. If you have not already downloaded and installed this Add-in, we
 Add-ins Examples—195

recommend that you do so now. We employ the workfile “Demo.WF1” (which may be
found in the examples subdirectory of your EViews installation directory.

To run the Add-in, go to the main EViews menu, and select Add-ins/Equation Output Table
(Summary form). EViews will display a dialog prompting you for the names of the equa-
tions you wish to summarize:

The default entry of “e*” is sufficient for this example since we want to summarize results
for the previously estimated equations EQ01 and EQ02. Click on OK to continue.

EViews will display a series of dialogs prompting you to specify the headers you wish to
include in the summary table, the information you wish to display, and the display format.
For example, the last dialog lets you choose the standard errors and t-statistics display for-
mats, along with the number of significant digits for coefficients and other statistics:

EViews will use the specified settings in constructing a table that summarizes the results
from all of the specified equations.
196—Chapter 8. Add-ins

You may also launch the Add-in from the command line or via batch execution of a program
file. Simply enter the user-defined command:
eqsumtab eq*

in the command line or include it in your batch program. The command instructs EViews to
run the program, displaying the set of dialogs prompting you for additional input, and con-
structing the table accordingly.

U.S. Recession Graph Shading

Our second example uses the graph-specific Add-in (RecShade) to add shading for periods of
U. S. recession (as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research).

We start by opening the graph object GT in the “Macromod.WF1” workfile (which may be
found in the example files subdirectory of your EViews installation directory).
 Add-ins Examples—197

Next, click on the Proc/Add-ins menu item in the graph toolbar to display the Add-ins we
have installed that work with graph objects. In this case, there is only a single menu item
Add US Recession Shading:
198—Chapter 8. Add-ins

You may also access the active object menu items by clicking on the Add-ins entry in the
main EViews menu. When the graph object GT is the active object, the main Add-ins menu
shows both the global and graph specific menu items:

Selecting the Add US Recession Shading entry in either the main or graph object Add-ins
menu runs the Add-in program which adds shading to the existing graph:

For those who prefer to use a command, you may go to the command line and enter the
user-defined object command
gt.recshade

to apply the recession shading. This command may also be included in a program file for
batch execution.

Managing Add-ins
EViews offers a complete system for managing your Add-ins. To bring up the management
dialog, you should select Add-ins/Manage Add-ins... from the main EViews menu:
 Managing Add-ins—199

The management dialog is divided into two sections:

• The Registered Add-ins section is where you will perform most of the tasks of man-
aging your Add-ins (add, delete, edit, update, and reorder Add-in definitions, and
view the documentation file).
• The Default Add-ins directory section allows you to set the default directory for your
Add-ins.

Registered Add-ins
The top portion of the dialog shows settings for currently installed Add-ins, with each line
devoted to an Add-in.
200—Chapter 8. Add-ins

By default, all of the installed Add-ins will be displayed. You may use the Add-in-type drop-
down menu to filter the list, showing for example only global or only equation-specific Add-
ins.

The File name column shows the name (and possibly location) of the Add-in program, and
the Type column indicates whether the Add-in is global or object-specific. The Proc column
shows the command keyword associated with the Add-in (if any), while the Menu Text col-
umn shows the text used in the user-defined menu entries. The Version column show the
version number of the Add-in.

You may use the buttons and arrows on the right-hand side of the dialog to manage your
Add-ins:

• To add a new Add-in to the list, simply click on the Add button to display the Add/
Edit Program dialog. The Add/Edit Program dialog is described in detail in “Regis-
tering an Add-in” on page 202.

• To delete an Add-in, simply click on the name in the Add-ins management dialog
and press the Remove button.
• The order in which your Add-ins appear in the menus may be controlled using the
up and down arrows. If you have many Add-ins, putting the most frequently used
Add-ins first in the list may simplify menu access (see “Menu Congestion” on
page 205). In addition, the order in which Add-ins appear can have important conse-
quences in the event that Add-ins duplicate command names (see “Command Mask-
ing” on page 204).

• To edit the settings of an existing Add-in, select it from the list and chick on the Edit
button to display the Add/Edit Program dialog. The Add/Edit Program dialog is
described in detail in “Registering an Add-in” on page 202.
 Creating an Add-in—201

• To examine the documentation file associated with an Add-in, click on the name and
press the Docs button.
• To check whether the Add-in has an updated version available, and to install the
update if available, click on the Update button.

Note you may select multiple Add-ins at the same time and click on the Remove or Update
buttons to perform the specified operation. You may also right click anywhere on the list of
Add-ins and select Update All to check for updates on all of your Add-ins.

After modifying the desired settings, click on OK to accept any changes.

Default Add-ins Directory

The bottom portion of the Add-ins dialog shows the current default Add-ins directory. The
default directory is where an Add-in will search for supplementary files if explicit directory
locations are not provided. To change the default directory, click on the button on the right
and navigate to the desired directory, or simply enter the desired folder name. Click on OK
to accept the settings.

Creating an Add-in
You can use Add-ins developed by others without ever having to create one yourself. Indeed,
many users will never need to go beyond running Add-ins downloaded from the EViews
website or other repositories.

You may find, however, that creating your own Add-ins is both useful, if only to add a menu
item or assign a one-word command for running your favorite EViews program, and easy-to-
do.

Assuming that you already have an EViews program, creating an Add-in requires at most
two steps:
• Register the program as an Add-in. Registering an Add-in is the process of defining the
Add-in type and assigning menu entry and command keywords to an EViews pro-
gram.
• (optional) Create an Add-in package for distribution. Bundling your program files into
a self-installing package file and providing a program for automatically registering the
Add-in means that others can more easily incorporate your Add-in into their EViews
environment.

While only the first step is required, you should consider the optional step of creating a self-
installing Add-in package if you wish to distribute your Add-ins more widely.
202—Chapter 8. Add-ins

In the remainder of this section we describe the steps required to register an Add-in. In addi-
tion, we provide design tips and describe additional programming tools that will aid you in
writing sophisticated Add-in programs.

Registering an Add-in
The process of defining the Add-in type and assigning menu entry and command keywords
to an EViews program is termed registration. The Add-in registration process may also be
used to associate documentation with the Add-in.

To register an EViews program file as an new Add-in, click on the Add-ins/Manage Add-
ins... menu entry in the main EViews menu. The top portion of the management dialog
shows the list of currently registered Add-ins:

Click on the Add button to display a standard file Open dialog. Navigate to the program file
you wish to register and click on OK to continue.

EViews will display the Add/Edit Program dialog with various default settings.
 Creating an Add-in—203

The dialog allows you to specify a command keyword for the Add-in, to add menu items for
point-and-click access to the Add-in, and to attach documentation and descriptions.

• The Program file edit field in the dialog should be used to specify the program to be
used as an Add-in. You may enter the name of a file (with an absolute or Add-ins
directory relative path, if necessary) or you may click on the button to the right-hand
side of the edit field to navigate to the file.
• The Documentation file edit field allows you specify a PDF, Text, RTF, Microsoft
Word file, or URL containing documentation for the Add-in. Note that relative paths
are evaluated with respect to the directory of the Add-in program, not the default
Add-in directory.
• The Menu/Procedure type dropdown setting determines whether the program is a
global or an object specific Add-in. (Recall that global Add-ins are those designed to
work with multiple objects or object types, while object-specific Add-ins work with a
single object and object type.)
• If you check Assign as Command or Proc, EViews will add the specified single-word
command or proc keyword to the EViews language, so you may run the Add-in using
a global or object command. Names for the keyword must follow standard EViews
command naming convention. Global Add-ins should not be given the same name
as built-in EViews commands. (See “Command Masking” below, for additional dis-
cussion.)
• If you check Include in Add-ins menu, EViews will add the specified Menu text to
the appropriate menus.
204—Chapter 8. Add-ins

• You may use the Brief description edit field to describe the purpose of the Add-in.
• You may enter a Version number for your Add-in and an Update URL indicating
where to find the update XML file (see “XML File Specification” on page 207).

In the example above, we instruct EViews to use the file “Rtf_out.PRG”, which is located in
the default Add-ins directory, as an Add-in program. We indicate that the program is a global
Add-in that may be run from the main EViews menu by selecting the Add-ins menu item
Output to RTF or by issuing the command rtf_out. There is no documentation file.

Add-ins Design Issues

For the most part, defining commands and menu items for an Add-ins is straightforward.
There are, however, a few issues that you should bear in mind when designing your Add-in.

Command Masking
Allowing you to define user-specified Add-in command names opens up the possibility that
an Add-in will be assigned the same command as an existing EViews command, or that mul-
tiple Add-in programs will be assigned the same name. Duplicate command names will gen-
erate an error or will lead to command masking where some of the instances will be
ignored.
• If you specify a global Add-in command name that is identical to an EViews command
or a previously defined global Add-in command, EViews will issue an error message,
and will display the Add/Edit Program dialog so you can provide a different name.
EViews will not, for example, permit you to register an Add-in with the global com-
mand copy since this conflicts with the built-in command.
• EViews will not generate an error message if you provide an object-specific command
name that is identical to a built-in command, but the EViews command will mask the
user-defined command. EViews will, for example, permit you to register an equation
command with the name resid, but if you enter the equation command “eq01.resid”,
EViews will display the built-in resid view of equation EQ01, instead of running the
user-defined Add-in.
• If you specify an object-specific Add-in command name that is identical to another
object-specific command, EViews will not error. When multiple Add-ins are assigned
the same object-specific command, the first Add-in listed in the list of registered Add-
ins will be used and the remainder will be masked. To eliminate masking, you must
edit the conflicting Add-in command definitions. If you wish to retain the same com-
mand name for multiple Add-ins, you should use the Add-ins management dialog to
reorder the Add-ins list so that the desired Add-in has priority (“Managing Add-ins”
on page 198).
 Creating an Add-in—205

We emphasize that masking only occurs within like Add-ins. You may have a global, series,
and group Add-in that each use the same command without experience masking, but two
global Add-ins or two series Add-ins with the same name will lead to masking.

Menu Congestion
While you may define as many Add-in menu items as you like, EViews does place limits on
the number of menu items that may be displayed by default. If you have more than 10 global
menu entries or more than 10 object-specific menus of a given type, the corresponding
menus will display the first 10 entries, along with an 11th menu entry, More... Clicking on
More... displays a listbox showing the full set of entries. In such circumstances, we recom-
mend that you reorder your Add-ins so that the most used Add-ins are given priority.

Multiple Object Add-ins

You may wish to use a single program file to define Add-ins for several object types. Since it
is not possible to use a single Add-in entry to define multiple object-specific types, you must
create separate entries for each object-type which point to the single program file. For each
relevant object type, select Add-ins/Manage Add-ins... from the main EViews menu, then
navigate to and select the program file. Use the Add/Edit Program dialog to define the
object-specific entry.

Creating an Add-in Package

If you are developing Add-ins for use by others, we recommend that you create a self-install-
ing package so that users may easily incorporate your Add-ins in their EViews environment.
You can then host your package on a company intranet or perhaps submit your package to
be hosted on the EViews.com website for wide distribution.

The process of creating an Add-in package is straightforward, requiring at most two steps:
• (optional) Create a table of contents (TOC) information file and installer program file.
• Create a self-extracting Add-in package file containing the program and support files
(including the TOC and installer program file, if available).

The second step, creating the self-extracting package, is trivial. Simply create a standard ZIP
archive file containing all of the files for your Add-in, then rename the ZIP file so that it has
the extension “AIPZ”. You now have an self-extracting Add-in package file.

Opening a self-extracting package file, either automatically by a browser after completing

the download, by double clicking on the file, or by dropping it onto EViews, will prompt you
to unpack and copy the files to the location of your choice.

The Add-in will not, however, automatically be installed and registered unless you include a
table of contents (TOC) information file and installer program along with your program files.
Creating the TOC and installer program files takes only a few minutes and allows you to
206—Chapter 8. Add-ins

automate the Add-in installation and allow for automatic updating of your Add-in as you
provide newer versions. We strongly recommend that package distributors take the time to
create these files as described below.

Table of Contents
First, you should create a table-of-contents file named “Toc.INI” for inclusion in your pack-
age. The TOC file should contain setup information which describes the directory in which
the Add-in files should be installed, and if appropriate, the name of an EViews installer pro-
gram for registering the Add-in. The format of the TOC file is:
[package]
installer = <name of installer file>
folder = <name of folder to create>

A TOC file should always begin with the line “[package]”, followed by lines which give the
directory and installer information.

The installer keyword is used to indicate the name of the EViews program file, if one
exists, that should be run to register the Add-in (see “Installer Program” on page 207). If, for
example, a registration program file named “Recession shade install.PRG” is included in
your package, you should include the line
installer = recession shade install.prg

If you include this line in your TOC, EViews will automatically run the installer program
when it opens the AIPZ package. If you do not wish to provide an installer program, you
should include the line “installer=none” in the TOC file.

The folder keyword may be used to indicate a subfolder of the default Add-ins directory
into which you will extract the packaged files. Thus,
folder = RecShade

tells EViews to extract the contents of the AIPZ file into the “RecShade” folder of the Add-ins
directory. If no folder is specified, the name of the AIPZ file will be used as the target folder
name. Additionally, you may use the special folder name “<addins>” to indicate that the
contents of the AIPZ archive should be placed in the main Add-ins directory. (Note, how-
ever, that only folders in an AIPZ archive may be written to the main Add-ins directory in
this fashion; individual files in AIPZ files must be written into subdirectories.

We emphasize that creating a TOC file and providing an installer program are not required.
In the absence of a TOC file or an installer= specification, EViews will, after unpacking
the AIPZ files, simply display a message reminding the user that the installed programs may
be registered manually using the Add-ins management dialog.
 Creating an Add-in—207

Nevertheless, we strongly recommend that package distributors provide both a TOC file and
installation program to facilitate use of their Add-ins. Packages hosted on the EViews web-
site must include both a TOC and an installer.

Installer Program
Next, you should create a simple EViews program that uses the addin (p. 288) command to
register the Add-in with appropriate type, menu, and command settings. Note that the TOC
file installer= specification should point to this installer program.

For example, the graph-specific Add-in described in “U.S. Recession Graph Shading” on
page 196 may be registered by including the following command in a program file:
addin(type="graph", menu="Add USA Recession Shading",
proc="recshade", docs=".\recession shade.txt", desc="Applies US
recession shading to a graph object.") ./recshade.prg

The options in this example should be self-explanatory. The command registers the program
“./recshade.PRG” as a graph-specific Add-in with menu item “Add USA Recession Shading”,
command name “recshade”, and description text “Applied US Recession shading to a graph
object”.

See addin (p. 288) for details and a complete list of options. Use of the following addin
options is highly recommended:

Documentation
We recommend that you provide documentation for your Add-in, and use the “docs=”
option to point to the documentation file.

Documentation could be anything from a simple text file with some syntax hints, to a
lengthy PDF document that describes the Add-in features in detail.

Version
EViews allows Add-ins to have a version number which allows the users of your Add-in to
use automatic updating to ensure they have the latest version of the Add-in. When a user
uses the Update button on the Manage Add-ins dialog to check for Add-in updates, EViews
will compare the hosted version number with the currently registered version number and
download the latest version if necessary.

You may use the “version=” option to specify the version number. If omitted, EViews will
assume that the Add-in version number is 1.0.

XML File Specification

One of the most useful Add-ins management features is the ability of users to automatically
update their installed Add-ins as newer versions become available. To support this feature,
208—Chapter 8. Add-ins

EViews must know where to look to determine the most recent version of the Add-in and
where to download any updates.

This information is communicated in an XML file, typically located on the Add-ins package
hosting site. If you will be hosting this file, you should use the addin option “url=” to spec-
ify the URL for the XML file. If this option is not supplied, EViews will look for the XML file
on EViews.com.

The XML file should contain one or more item definitions, where each item contains infor-
mation on a specific Add-in. An item definition is contained in the lines between an <item>
and </item> tag. An example of the full specification of an item is as follows:
<item>
<title>BMA</title>
<path>bma\bma.prg</path>
<path>bma\bmamlogit.prg</path>
<version>1.0</version>
<description>Computes different Bayesian Model Averaging methods
including LM, GLM and Multinomial Logit models.</description>
<link>http://eviews.com/Addins/BMA.aipz</link>
<pubDate>13 Mar 2012</pubDate>
</item>

Note that the only required specifications are the <title> and <link>.

The <path> specification is used to identify the paths and file names of the main program
files used by the Add-in, with the path location specified relative to the Add-ins directory.
Automatic updating will update these files when a newer Add-in version is available. If
<path> is not specified, EViews will use the <title> specification to determine the rele-
vant Add-in proc name, and use registration information for the proc name to determine the
files to update.

When an add-in package has multiple main program files, a <path> statement is required.
You should list each file using a separate <path> entry. In the example above, the BMA Add-
in has two program files, called “bma.PRG”, and “bmalogit.PRG” that are associated with
procs. EViews will update all of the files associated with these procs when updating the
Add-in.

The <version> is used to specify the current Add-in version number. When the user checks
for updates, EViews will download the updated version if the version number they have cur-
rently installed is lower than the one given in the <version> tag.

Finally, the <link> specification contains the URL (or network file location) of the AIPZ file
containing the Add-in. This is the location from which EViews will download the updated
Add-in package should the user request an update.
 Add-ins Design Support—209

The <description> and <pubDate> specifications should be self-explanatory.

Add-ins Design Support

EViews offers several programming language features that will aid you in developing and
working with Add-ins.

Add-ins Registration Command

The addin command may be used to register an EViews program file as an Add-in. You may
use the command to specify the Add-in file, Add-in type, menu text, user-defined command
name, description, version number, documentation file, XML file, etc.

See addin (p. 288) for details.

The Active Object Keyword

“_this” Keyword
Central to the construction of an object-specific Add-in program is the ability to reference
the object on which the program should act. If, for example, you wish to write an Add-in
that computes a statistic based on the data in a series object, you must have a convenient
method of referring to the series.

Accordingly, EViews provides an object placeholder keyword, _this, which refers to the
currently active object upon which a program may operate. Typically the use of _this in an
EViews program indicates that it has been designed to work with a single object.

There are three ways in which the identity of the _this object may be set:
• _this refers to the active object whose window was last active in the workfile; when
used in a program, _this refers to the active object at the time the program was run.
• executing an Add-in using the object-command syntax, obj_name.proc, sets _this to
obj_name.
• _this can be set to a specific object using the “this=” option in an exec or run com-
mand.

While the above description is a bit abstract, a simple example should illustrate the concepts
that lay behind the three methods. Suppose we have the trivial (silly) program
“Myline.PRG” which consists of the command:
_this.line

First, if we register this program as a global Add-in with menu item text “Show line”, we can
display a line graph of a series or group object by opening the series or group and selecting
Show line from the Add-in menu. From the program’s point of view, the _this object is
210—Chapter 8. Add-ins

simply the opened series or group whose menu we are using (the last one active in the
workfile).

Alternately, if we had registered the program as a series-specific Add-in with proc name
“myl”, the command:
ser01.myl

identifies SER01 as the _this object, so that the object used by the Add-in will be the series
SER01, regardless of which object is active in the workfile.

Lastly, you may specify _this explicitly when using the exec or run command to run the
program by including the “this=” option to identify an object by name. The command:
exec(this=ser01) myline.prg

explicitly specifies SER01 as the _this object.

Custom Object Output

EViews allows you to display the contents of a table, graph, or spool object in the window of
another object. This feature will undoubtedly most often be used to mimic the behavior of
EViews views and procedures in Add-ins programs.

Suppose, for example, that your Add-in program performs some calculations and constructs
an output table TABLE_OUT. You may instruct EViews to display the contents of
TABLE_OUT in the object OBJECT_01 using the display command:
object_01.display table_out

Thus, a useful approach to constructing an object-specific Add-in involves creating a pro-

gram of the form:
[use _this to perform various calculations]
[create an output table or graph, say the table TABLE01]
’ put the output in the _this window
_this.display table01
delete table01

Note that we delete the TABLE01 after we put it in the window of _this. (You may instead
wish to employ local subroutine to enable automatic cleanup of the temporary table.)

If the above program is registered as a series-specific Add-in with the command “FOO”, then
you may run it by issuing the command
series01.foo

which will display the output in the SERIES01 window.

 Add-ins Design Support—211

The display object command is a documented view for each supported object. See for
example, Series::display (p. 554) in Object Reference.
212—Chapter 8. Add-ins
Chapter 9. User Objects

As the name suggests, the EViews user object allows you to create your own object types
inside of EViews. A user object may be as simple as a storage container for other EViews
objects, or it may be a sophisticated new estimation object defined by multiple EViews pro-
grams, with views containing post-estimation tests and results, and procedures producing
output from the estimation results. Once defined, a user object is almost indistinguishable
from a built-in EViews object.

Defining a user object is quite easy—simply specify the types of data and objects stored
inside your object, and if desired, define a set of views and procedures that be accessed via
commands, menus and dialogs.

Even if you do not go to the trouble of creating your own objects, you may take advantage of
this powerful tool by using user objects downloaded from the IHS EViews website or
obtained from third-parties.

What is a User Object?

An EViews user object is a custom object that can contain data and objects and may offer
views and procedures. In its simplest form, a user object is a storage container for EViews
objects. More sophisticated user objects also provide views and procs that allow you to run
EViews programs to perform various tasks and display results. These latter objects work
almost identically to built-in EViews objects such as a series or equation.

In the discussion to follow it will be important to distinguish between user objects that are
unregistered or registered:
• Unregistered user objects are simple container objects which require virtually no
effort to create.
• Registered user objects are more powerful than unregistered user objects. Registering
a user object class is the process of describing what happens each time a new
instance of the user object is created, and defining data and a set of views and procs
available to the user object class.

A relatively complex registered user object might be a complete econometric estimator. Each
time a new instance of the estimator object is created, it could specify and perform estima-
tion, saving results inside the user object in the form of data objects such as coefficient vec-
tors and covariance matrices. The object could also offer views such as coefficient tests and
procs to perform forecasting. And like an EViews equation object, you may have multiple
instances of this estimator in the workfile, each corresponding to a different set of estimates.
214—Chapter 9. User Objects

We note that a registered user object need not be particularly complex. For example, you
could have a simple user object called “RESULTS” that contains a collection of graphs,
tables, and estimation objects obtained from a particular form of analysis. You could define
simple views for your user object that display the stored tables or graphs, and define procs
that let you extract those tables or graphs into new EViews objects. Registering the object
allows you to have multiple results objects in your workfile.

Unregistered User Objects

To create a new, unregistered user object, select Object/New Object in the main EViews
menu.

Scroll down and select UserObj, enter a name for the object in the workfile (in this example,
MYOBJ), and click on OK. Alternately, you may enter the generic user object declaration
command
userobj myobj

to create a user object named MYOBJ in the workfile.

 Unregistered User Objects—215

Notice that MYOBJ has a black icon. A user object created in this fashion is empty, with no
user-defined views or procedures. Double-clicking on MYOBJ opens the object and displays
its contents:

As you can see, the object is empty. Clicking on the View menu of the object shows only a
single Label entry. The Proc menu is completely empty.

An empty, unregistered userobj is not particularly interesting. You may, however, use the
object as a container for EViews matrix objects (including scalars), string objects, estimation
objects, and view objects (graphs, tables, spools):
• The add (p. 811) and drop (p. 814) procs may be used to populate the user object and
the extract (p. 814) proc may be employed to extract objects into the workfile.
• You may use user object data members to provide information about the contents of
the object: the @hasmember(obname) member function can be used to determine
whether obname exists inside the user object, while @members returns a space delim-
ited string listing all objects in the user object.
216—Chapter 9. User Objects

See “User Object Programming Support” on page 236 for details.

The following program offers a simple example showing the use of these commands:
userobj myobj
myobj.add mygraph
myobj.add mytable
%list = myobj.@members
myobj.drop mygraph
myobj.extract mytable mynewtable

The first line creates a new, empty, user object called “MYOBJ”. The second and third lines
copy the workfile objects “MYGRAPH” and “MYTABLE” into MYOBJ. The fourth line creates
a string variable whose contents are “mygraph mytable”. The fifth line removes MYGRAPH
from MYOBJ, and the final line copies MYTABLE back into the workfile under the name
MYNEWTABLE.

Registered User Objects

While simple, unregistered user objects may only be employed as storage containers, regis-
tering a user object class creates a more powerful working environment. Note that we used
the term user object class, reflecting the fact that when you register a user object, you are not
simply declaring a single object but rather are defining the general characteristics of a type
of object.

Registering a user object class allows you to have multiple objects of a given type in your
workfile, each of which has its own data. Additionally, registering allows you, if desired, to
define views and procs that can be used by any object of that class. These views and procs
will execute a set of EViews programs that you specify as part of the registration procedure.

While not difficult, creating a registered user object class is a bit more involved than creating
an unregistered user object. Details are provided in “Defining a Registered User Object
Class” on page 230.

You may, of course, download and register user object classes created by others. Since work-
ing with example user objects provides good introduction to this powerful tool, we begin by
discussing the steps required to download an object from the EViews website.

Downloading a Registered User Object

To download and install object class definitions from the EViews website, simply select Add-
ins/Download User Objects...from the main EViews menu.
 Registered User Objects—217

EViews opens the User objects management dialog opened to the Available tab, which
shows a list of the user objects classes (in this case ResStore, Roll, and BiProbit), that are
available for download along with the date they were published, their version number, and
their status (blank for un-installed, installed, or installed but out of date):
218—Chapter 9. User Objects

Selecting an entry displays a description of what the user object does below the listbox.
Clicking on the Install button downloads the selected user object and prompts you to install
the package on your the local computer. (Alternately, you may click on the Website button
and follow the navigation links to the user objects page. Download the appropriate file to
your computer then open it using EViews by double-clicking on the file or dropping it onto
the EViews application window or the application icon.)

The first step in installa-

tion is to unpack and
copy the files to your
computer. By default,
EViews will put the files
in a sub-folder of your
default directory (see
“Default User Objects
Directory” on page 230) but you may choose an alternate location if desired (you may use
the “...” button on the right-hand side to navigate to a specific directory). Click on OK to
proceed.

To unpack the files without using EViews, simply change the download file extension from
“AIPZ” to “ZIP” and use your favorite ZIP file tools to extract the contents into the desired
directory.

Next, EViews will prompt you to run and installation program that is included in the user
object package.

If you click on No in response to the installation prompt, EViews will finish the automatic
install procedure without running the installation program and registering the userobj. You
may later examine the installation program prior to running it as you would any other
EViews program, or you may manually register your object as described in “Registering a
User Object Class” on page 232.

Click on Yes to finish the installation and registration. If there are conflicts with existing
directory names or existing user objects, EViews will warn you before proceeding.

After completion of the automatic installation procedure, EViews will report the status of the
installation:
 Examples—219

We note that installing and running an EViews program file provided by an unknown indi-
vidual has risks. Accordingly, we recommend that care be taken when installing packages
from non-trusted sites.

All of the packages provided on the EViews website have been examined to ensure that they
do not include potentially harmful commands.

Working with Registered User Objects

Once you have registered your user object you may work with it much as you would any
built-in EViews object.

You can create a new instance of the object using the Object/New Object... main menu
item, or by declaring it on the command line using the name of the object and any relevant
options or arguments:
userobj_class_name(options) my_objname [args]

You may use the defined views and procs of the object using the object View or Proc menu,
or via the command line using the standard syntax:
userobj_name.view_name(options) [args]
userobj_name.proc_name(options) [args]

The user object data member @-functions may be accessed using the syntax:
[result_type] result = userobj_name.@datamember_name[(arg)]

Examples
To illustrate the use of registered user objects, we examine two of the EViews user objects
that are currently available for download from our website. (To follow along with these
examples, we recommend that you first download and install the corresponding user object
using the steps outlined in “Downloading a Registered User Object” on page 216.)

The first example uses a simple container user object (of type ResStore) that allows you to
add, extract, and display graphs, tables and estimation objects. The second example per-
forms rolling regression estimation using the Roll user object.

Simple Container Object (ResStore)

This first example uses the ResStore user object to create a storage container for objects from
our workfile. This is a bare bones registered object that nonetheless shows the basic features
of registered user objects.

We use the workfile “Demo.WF1” (which may be found in the example files subdirectory of
your EViews installation directory) and assume that you have already installed the ResStore
object class.
220—Chapter 9. User Objects

You may create a new ResStore object by clicking on Object/New Object... and then select-
ing resstore in the list of object types.

Notice that while the built-in EViews objects are listed alphabetically, the two user objects
(ResStore and Roll) are simply placed at the bottom of the listbox. Select resstore and spec-
ify the name STOREDOBJECT for our new object. Click on OK to create the object. Alter-
nately, enter the command
resstore storedobject

in the EViews command line and hit ENTER.

As part of its construction, the ResStore object will display a dialog asking you to enter the
names of the workfile objects you would like to store:

You may enter the names of any matrix objects (including scalars), strings objects, estima-
tion objects, or view objects (graphs, tables, spools).
 Examples—221

Note that there is a check-box that lets you specify whether to remove the objects from the
workfile after storing them. You should selection this option if you wish to move, rather than
copy, the specified objects into the ResStore.

Once you hit OK, a new ResStore object named STOREDOBJECT will be added to your
workfile. If you open up the ResStore object, a spool view display of all objects currently
stored is shown:

You may use the View menu to access the defined views for this type of object which allow
you to show various subset types of the objects in the container:

Similarly, the Proc menu lists procs which allow you to add, remove, and extract objects
from the storage container:
222—Chapter 9. User Objects

As with other EViews objects, you may use the command language to work with the ResS-
tore object. For example the defined view command,
storedobject.graphs

displays all of the graph objects in the object

storedobject.extractobjects

extracts all of the objects from STOREDOBJECT into the workfile.

The command
string storednames = storedobject.@members

saves a list of the stored object names in the string object STOREDNAMES.

Rolling Regression Estimation Object (Roll)

Our second example uses the Roll user object to estimate rolling regressions. We again use
the workfile “Demo.WF1”, and we assume that you have already installed the Roll object
class.

You can create a new Roll object by clicking on Object/New Object... and then selecting roll
in the list of object types, or by entering the roll command followed by the name of a new
object in the command line:
roll myroll

As part of its creation, the Roll object will display a series of dialogs prompting you to pro-
vide information on how the object should be constructed. First, you will be asked whether
to create the new object using the specification from an existing equation or by specifying an
equation manually:
 Examples—223

Since we will use one of the previously estimated equations in our workfile as the basis of
our rolling regression, click on OK to accept the default.

Next, you will be asked to select your base equation and to specify the basic type of rolling
regressions you wish to perform:

To obtain recursive estimates based on equation EQ01 choose EQ01 in the drop-down menu
and select Anchored at start. Click on OK to continue.

Lastly, you will be prompted to provide sample information and a step size:

Click on OK to create the Roll object using the specified settings.

(Note that if you had chosen Manual equation specification in the first dialog or Fixed
window estimation in the second dialog, the subsequent dialogs would provide a different
set of options).

EViews estimates the rolling regression and, like built-in estimation objects, displays basic
estimation information in the object window:
224—Chapter 9. User Objects

Roll: MYROLL
Roll type: Anchored at start
Specification: EQ01
Estimation command: ROLL(AS,STEP=1,ANCHOR=1953Q1) MYROLL
@ EQ01

Anchor point: 1953Q1

Number of subsamples: 160
Number of coefficients: 4
Step size: 1

Full sample estimation results:

Dependent Variable: LOG(M1)

Method: Least Squares
Date: 01/31/13 Time: 10:19
Sample (adjusted): 1952Q2 1992Q4
Included observations: 163 after adjustments

Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

C 1.312383 0.032199 40.75850 0.0000

LOG(GDP) 0.772035 0.006537 118.1092 0.0000
RS -0.020686 0.002516 -8.221196 0.0000
DLOG(PR) -2.572204 0.942556 -2.728967 0.0071

R-squared 0.993274 Mean dependent var 5.692279

Adjusted R-squared 0.993147 S.D. dependent var 0.670253
S.E. of regression 0.055485 Akaike info criterion -2.921176
Sum squared resid 0.489494 Schwarz criterion -2.845256
Log likelihood 242.0759 Hannan-Quinn criter. -2.890354
F-statistic 7826.904 Durbin-Watson stat 0.140967
Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000

These basic results may be viewed at any time by selecting View/Summary in the object
view menu or by entering the object command
myroll.summary

in the command line.

Next, consider the custom views that have been defined for this object. In addition to the
summary view, you may display information on the coefficient statistics, residual statistics,
likelihood statistics, members of the object, and the standard label information view for the
Roll object:
 Examples—225

Clicking on View/View rolling coefficient statistics... display a dialog prompting you to

select the coefficients and statistics you wish to display. By default, the object will display
the coefficient estimates for all of the coefficients in the regression:

Click on OK to accept the default values and to display a graph of the results in the object
window:
226—Chapter 9. User Objects

Equivalently, you could have issued the command:

myroll.rollcoefs c log(gdp) rs dlog(pr)

in the command line.

Note that you could have specified a different statistic in the dialog or add the “stat=”
option to the command to display a different coefficient statistic. For example, selecting P-
values in the dialog or entering,
myroll.rollcoefs(stat=pvals) c log(gdp) rs dlog(pr)

displays the coefficient t-statistic p-values:

 Examples—227

Similarly, you may click on the Proc menu to display a list of the user defined procs:

The first two entries re-initialize the Roll object using the dialogs we first encountered when
creating MYROLL. The next three menu entries extract results into the workfile. For exam-
ple, clicking on Extract rolling residual statistics... opens a dialog prompting you to iden-
tify the results you wish to extract along with the destination:
228—Chapter 9. User Objects

2
Clicking on OK t saves the R statistics in the workfile in the series ROLL_R2. The com-
mand
myroll.extractresidstat(stat=r2s) roll_r2

performs an equivalent operation.

It is worth noting that behind-the-scenes in this object is a set of user programs that use
standard EViews programming tools to display dialogs, perform computations, and display
and extract results.

Managing User Object Classes

To manage your user object definitions, select Add-ins/Manage User Objects... from the
main EViews menu.
 Managing User Object Classes—229

EViews will display the User objects management dialog opened to the Installed tab:

The top portion of the dialog shows settings for currently registered user object classes. The
Name column shows the name of the class, the Definition file column displays the location
and file name of the definition “.INI” file for the class (see “Creating an Object Definition
230—Chapter 9. User Objects

File” on page 231), and the Version column shows the version number of the user object
class.

Note that you may click on the column headers in the list to sort the list by the contents of
column.

You may use the buttons on the right-hand side of the dialog to manage your classes:
• To add a new user object to the list, simply click on the Add button to display the
Add/Edit User Object dialog. The dialog settings are described in “Registering a User
Object Class” on page 232.

• To delete a class, simply click on the name in the Add-ins management dialog and
press the Remove button.
• To edit the settings of an existing user object class, select it from the list and click on
the Edit button to display the Add/Edit User Object dialog. The dialog settings are
described in “Registering a User Object Class” on page 232.

• To open and edit the INI definition file for the user object class, select it from the list
and click on the Open button.
• To examine the documentation file associated with a class, click on the name and
press the Docs button.
• To check whether the userobj class has an updated version available, and to install
the update if available, click on the Update button. Note you may select multiple
classes at the same time and click the Update button to update the set. You may also
right click anywhere on the list of user object classes and select Update All to update
all of your classes.

Default User Objects Directory

The bottom portion of the Installed tab shows the default user objects directory. The default
directory is where user objects will be installed and where the user object programs will
search for supplementary files if explicit directory locations are not provided. To change the
default directory, click on the button on the right and navigate to the desired directory, or
simply enter the desired folder name. Click on OK to accept the settings.

Defining a Registered User Object Class

To define a registered user object class, you must provide information on how to construct
(create) an instance of the object. While the constructor information is all that is required,
you may optionally specify menu items and custom command names for views and procs
that will execute EViews programs.

We may divide the registration procedure into two distinct steps:

 Defining a Registered User Object Class—231

• Create an object definition file which includes constructor, view, and proc definitions.
• Register the object definition file with EViews.

This discussion assumes that you have already written programs to initialize your object and
possibly to display views and execute procs. These programs will be standard EViews pro-
grams that use ordinary EViews commands. There are, however, several programming fea-
tures which are designed specifically for user object (and Add-in) program development that
you should find useful. See “Add-ins Design Support” on page 209 in the Command and Pro-
gramming Reference.

Creating an Object Definition File

The object definition file is a simple text file with a “INI” extension. This file describes how
to construct the custom object using an EViews program and optionally provides menu
items and custom command names for views and procs that will execute EViews programs.

There are three sections in the file, corresponding to the constructor, the views, and the
procs of the object.

The first section of the definition file should start with a line consisting of the text “[con-
structor]” (without the quotes). The line immediately following should contain the path and
name of an EViews program file that will be used as the constructor. The constructor pro-
gram file describes how the object should be initialized, or constructed, when you create a
new instance using the Object/New Object... menu item or the command line.

The second section contains the view definition specifications. This section should start
with a line consisting of the keyword “[views]”. Each line following this keyword will define
a view for the user object. Each view definition line should consist of the menu text, fol-
lowed by a comma, a custom command name for the view, a comma, the path and name of
the program file to be run when the view is selected from the menu or run from the com-
mand line.

The third section contains the proc definition specifications. It follows the same format as
the views section, but begins with “[procs]” rather than “[views]”.

Note that when providing the path of the programs in your definitions, the “.\” shortcut can
be used to denote the folder containing the definition INI file.

For example, the following is the definition file for the ResStore user object:
[constructor]
".\resstore construct.prg"
[views]
"View stored objects", objects, ".\viewall.prg"
"View stored equations", equations, ".\viewequations.prg"
232—Chapter 9. User Objects

"View stored graphs", graphs, ".\viewgraphs.prg"

"view stored tables", tables, ".\viewtables.prg"
[procs]
"Extract objects from store", extractobjects, ".\extract
objects.prg"
"Add objects to store", addobjects, ".\resstore construct.prg"
"Remove objects from store", dropobjects, ".\remove objects.prg"

The ResStore user object use a constructor program called “resstore construct.PRG” which is
called when you create a new ResStore object from the dialogs or command line.

There are four view menu items, each associated with a different EViews program. The first
view definition tells EViews that it should create a view menu item View stored objects and
object command objects, and associate both with the EViews program “viewall.PRG”
(which is located in the ResStore directory). This definition means that selecting View/View
stored objects from the object menu, or entering the object command
my_object.objects

will run the “viewall.PRG” program which displays all of the stored objects in MY_OBJECT.

Similarly, there are three proc menu items. Selecting Proc/Remove objects from store or
issuing the command
my_object.dropobjects

runs the “remove objects.PRG” program which displays a dialog prompting you for the
name of the objects to remove from MY_OBJECT.

Registering a User Object Class

To register a new user object class, select Add-ins/Manage User Objects... from the main
EViews menu to display the User objects management dialog, then click on the Add button
to display the Add/Edit Program dialog.
 Defining a Registered User Object Class—233

The dialog allows you to provide a name for the user object class, to specify the INI file,
attach a documentation file, and provide various object attributes:

• The Object name edit field should be used to specify the user object class name.
Note that if you provide the name of a built-in EViews object, the EViews built-in
object will take precedence.
• The Definition file edit field must be used to enter the name and path of the INI
definition file. Note you may press the “...” button to navigate to and select the file.
• The Documentation file edit field allows you specify a PDF, Text, RTF, Microsoft
Word file, or URL containing documentation for the user object class. (Note that rel-
ative paths are evaluated with respect to the directory of the INI file, not the default
user object directory.)
• You may use the Brief description edit field to describe the purpose of the User
Object.
• You may enter a Version number for your user object and an Update URL indicating
where to find the update XML file (see “XML File Specification” on page 235).

You must provide an object name and a definition file to register your object. The remaining
information is recommended, but not required.

Creating a User Object Package

In “Defining a Registered User Object Class” on page 230 we showed how you can use
EViews program files and an object definition file to register a new user object class for per-
sonal use.

If you wish to distribute your custom object to others, we highly recommend that you create
a user object package. Packaging the user object allows you to bundle all of the files for dis-
234—Chapter 9. User Objects

tribution and, if you provide an installer program, offers automatic installation of the object
by dragging-and-dropping the package onto EViews or double clicking on the file.

The process of creating a user object package is virtually identical to packaging of an EViews
Add-in, with a few minor exceptions. We summarize briefly the main steps. Related discus-
sion may be found in.

Creating the Self-installing Package

The process of creating a user object package is straightforward, requiring only two steps:
• (optional) Create a table of contents (TOC) information file and installer program file
to allow for automatic registration and updating of the Add-in.
• Create a self-extracting user object package file containing the object definition file
and any support files (including the TOC and installer program file, if available).

To create the self-extractive file simply create a standard ZIP archive file containing all of the
files for your user object, then rename the ZIP file so that it has the extension “UOPZ”.
Opening such an file, automatically after completing the download, by double clicking on
the file, or by dropping it onto EViews, will begin the automatic installation procedure.

The user object will not, however be automatically installed and registered unless you
include a table of contents (TOC) information file and installer program along with your pro-
gram files. Creating the TOC and installer program files takes only a few minutes and allows
you to support automatic registration and updating of the user object. We strongly recom-
mend that package distributors take the time to create these files as described below.

Table of Contents
Next, you should create a table-of-contents file named “Toc.INI”. The TOC file should con-
tain setup information for the user object which describes the directory in which it should
be installed, and the name of the EViews program, if any, that should be run to register the
user object files. The format of the TOC file is:
[package]
installer = <name of installer file>
folder = <name of folder to create>

A TOC file should always begin with the line “[package]”. The “installer” keyword is used to
indicate the name of the EViews program file that should be run to register the user object.
If, for example, a registration file named “Roll install.PRG” is included in your package, you
should include the line
installer = roll install.prg

The “folder” keyword may be used to indicate the subfolder of the default user object direc-
tory into which you wish to extract the package files. Thus,
 Defining a Registered User Object Class—235

folder = Roll

tells EViews to extract the contents of the UOPZ file into the “Roll” folder of the User Object
directory. If no folder is specified, the basename of the UOPZ file will be used as the target
folder name.

Installer Program
If you wish to facilitate automatic registration of the user object class, you should create a
simple EViews “.PRG” program that uses the adduo command to register the User Object
class. For example, the rolling regression user object described in “Rolling Regression Esti-
mation Object (Roll)” on page 222 may be registered by including the command
adduo(name="roll", version="1.0", desc="Rolling regression
object") ./rolldef.ini

in a program file, and including a reference to this file in the package table-of-contents.

Documentation
We recommend that you provide documentation for your user object, and use the “docs=”
option to point to the documentation file. Providing some documentation for the command
line methods of initializing the object and accessing views and procs is especially important.
Documentation could be anything from a simple text file with some syntax hints, to a
lengthy PDF document that describes the user object features in detail.

Version
You may specify an version number for your user object. Version numbers allow users to use
automatic updating to ensure they have the latest version of the object class definition files.
When a user uses the Update button on the Manage User Objects dialog to check for
updates, EViews will compare the hosted version number with the currently registered ver-
sion number and download the latest version if newer.

You may use the “version=” option to specify the version number. If omitted, EViews will
assume that the user object version number is 1.0.

XML File Specification

One of the most useful user object management features is the ability of users to automati-
cally update their installed user object as newer versions become available. To support this
feature, EViews must know where to look to determine the most recent version of the user
object and where to download any updates.

(Note that this specification is identical to the file specification for Add-ins and the material
below is virtually identical to the discussion for Add-ins.)

This information is communicated in an XML file, typically located on the Add-ins package
hosting site. If you will be hosting this file, you should use the adduo option “url=” to spec-
236—Chapter 9. User Objects

ify the URL for the XML file. If this option is not supplied, EViews will look for the XML file
on EViews.com.

The XML file should contain one or more item definitions, where each item is a set of infor-
mation on a specific user object. The item definition is contained in the lines between an
<item> and </item> tag. The full specification of an item is as follows:
<item>
<title>Roll</title>
<version>1.0</version>
<description>User Object for performing rolling regression.</
description>
<link>http://eviews.com/Addins/Roll.uopz</link>
<pubDate>14 Dec 2012</pubDate>
</item>

The only required specifications are the <title> and <link>.

The <version> is used to specify the current user object version number. When the user
checks for updates, EViews will download the user object if the version number they have
currently installed is lower than the one given in the <version> tag.

The <link> specification contains the URL (or network file location) of the UOPZ file con-
taining the user object package. This is the location from which EViews will download the
updated Add-in package should the user request an update.

The <description> and <pubDate> specifications should be self-explanatory.

User Object Programming Support

EViews offers several programming language features that will aid you in creating, register-
ing and working with user objects.

Note that there is additional programming language support for creating the programs that
will be used to define your user object. These features are described in “Add-ins Design Sup-
port” on page 209.

Declaration
The userobj command is used to create a new, unregistered user object as in
userobj myobject

where myobject is the name of the object to be created. A userobj created using this com-
mand will be empty, and will have no constructor or defined views and procs defined.
 User Object Programming Support—237

To declare a registered user object, you will use the name of the class followed by the name
of the object:
userobj_class_name(options) myobject [args]

Depending on how the user object is designed, the declaration program may use options and
additional arguments args when running the constructor program.

See Userobj::userobj (p. 817).

Registration
The adduo command may be used to register a user object, as in
adduo(name="roll", version="1.0", desc="Rolling regression
object") ./rolldef.ini

You may use the command to specify the object definition file, path, description, version
number, documentation file, XML file, etc.

See adduo (p. 290) for details.

View and Procs

Each type of user object will have its own views and procs:
• All user objects provide a small number of generic built-in views and procs. For exam-
ple, the standard EViews label view for viewing and modifying the label contents
and the display view for showing output in the object window are supported.
• All user objects support the add and drop procs which may be used to populate the
user object, and the extract proc may be employed to extract objects into the work-
file.
• In addition, registered user objects may provide custom views and procs. You should
view the specific user object documentation file for details.

As with any EViews object, you may access the views and procs of the user object using the
object View or Proc menu, or via the command line using the standard syntax:
myobject.view_name(options) [args]
myobject.proc_name(options) [args]

See “User Object Views,” on page 810 and “User Object Procs,” on page 810 for a listing of
the built-in views and procs.

Data Members
The @hasmember(obname) function, available as a data member for all user objects,
returns a boolean value depending on whether an object called obname currently exists
inside the User Object.
238—Chapter 9. User Objects

The @members data member returns a space delimited string containing a list of all objects
currently inside the user object.

See “User Object Data Members,” on page 810.

Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

EViews offers a wide variety of built-in estimation methods that involve optimization,
including (but not limited to) those supported by the Equation, System, Sspace, and VAR
objects.

In addition, the EViews Logl object lets you maximize user-defined likelihood functions.
While useful in a wide range of settings, the Logl object is nevertheless restricted in the
types of functions that it can handle. In particular, the Logl requires that all computations be
specified using series expressions, and that the log-likelihood objective can be expressed as
a series containing log-likelihood contributions for each observation.

In contrast, the optimize (p. 419) command provides tools that allow you to find the opti-
mal parameters or control values of a user-defined function. Notably, optimize supports
quite general functions so that the computations and the user-defined objective need not be
series-based.

Defining the Objective and Controls

To use optimize, you must first construct an EViews subroutine with arguments to define
an output objective which depends on input controls.

Recall that a subroutine with arguments is simply a set of commands in a program that can
be called one or more times within the program (“Subroutine with Arguments” on
page 150). The arguments of the subroutine will correspond to the objective and to inputs
that are required to calculate the objective. Each time the subroutine is called, the objective
will be computed using the current values of the input controls.

The objective, which must be associated with an argument of the subroutine, may be a sca-
lar, or may consist of many values stored in an EViews object such as a vector, matrix, or
series.

The controls, which may be thought of as input parameters, are passed into the subroutine
as an argument. As with the objective, the controls may be a scalar value, or a multi-valued
object such as a vector, matrix, or series.

Note that when series objects are employed as either the objective or control, only the corre-
sponding elements in the current workfile sample will be used.

optimize will determine the values of the controls that optimize the objective. If the objec-
tive is many-valued, EViews will optimize the sum or sum-of-squares of the values, with
respect to the control elements.
240—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

Since the objective is defined using an EViews subroutine, you may optimize almost any-
thing that may be computed using EViews commands. Notable, you may use optimize to
optimize general functions as well as likelihoods involving matrix computations (neither of
which may be optimized using the Logl object).

Consider, for example, the simple quadratic function defined as an EViews subroutine:
subroutine f(scalar !y, scalar !x)
!y = 5*!x^2 - 3*!x - 2
endsub

This subroutine has one output and one input, the program variable scalars !X and !Y,
respectively. For a given control value for !X, the subroutine computes the value of the sca-
lar objective !Y.

In its simplest form, a subroutine designed to work with optimize requires only two argu-
ments—an objective and control parameters. However you may include additional argu-
ments, some of which may be used by optimize, while others are ignored. For example, the
subroutine,
subroutine SqDev(series out, scalar in, series y)
out = (y - in)^2
endsub

computes the squared deviations of the argument series Y from the control scalar, and
places the element results in the output objective series OUT. The subroutine argument for
the series Y will not be used by optimize, but allows optimization to be performed on arbi-
trary series without re-coding the subroutine.

By default, optimize will assume that the first subroutine argument corresponds to the
objective and the second argument corresponds to the controls. As we will see, the default
associations may be changed through the use of options in the optimize command (“The
Optimize Command” on page 241).

Typically, multiple control values are passed into the subroutine in the form of a vector or
matrix, as in
subroutine local loglike(series logl, vector beta, series dep,
group regs)
!pi = @acos(-1)
series r = dep - beta(1) - beta(2)*regs(1) - beta(3)*regs(2) -
beta(4)*regs(3)
logl = @log((1/beta(5)*@dnorm(r/beta(5))
endsub

where the control vector BETA and the auxiliary arguments for the dependent variable series
DEP and the regressors group REGS are used as inputs for the computation of the normal
 The Optimize Command—241

log-likelihood contributions in the objective series LOGL. Note that the first four elements of
the vector BETA correspond to the mean regression coefficients, and the last element is the
parameter for the standard deviation of the error distribution.

Lastly, when designing your subroutine, you should always define the objective to return
NA values for bad control values, since returning an arbitrary value may make numeric
derivatives unreliable at points close to the invalid region.

The Optimize Command

The syntax for the optimize command is:
optimize(options) subroutine_name(arguments)
where subroutine_name is the name of the defined subroutine in your program (or included
programs). The full set of options is provided in optimize (p. 419),

By default, EViews will assume that the first argument of the subroutine is the objective of
the optimization, and that the second argument contains the controls. The default is to max-
imize the objective or sum of the objective values (with the sum taken over the current
workfile sample, if a series).

Specifying the Method and Objective

You may control the type of optimization and which subroutine argument corresponds to
the objective by providing one of the following options to the optimize command:
• max [=integer]
• min [=integer]
• ls [=integer]
• ml [=integer]

The four options correspond to different optimization types: maximization (“max”), minimi-
zation (“min”), least squares (“ls”) and maximum likelihood (“ml”). If the objective is sca-
lar valued only “max” and “min” are allowed.

As the names suggest, “min” and “max” correspond to minimizing and maximizing the
objective. If the objective is multi-valued, optimize will minimize or maximize the sum of
the elements of the objective.

“ls” and “ml” are special forms of minimization and maximization that may be specified
only if the multi-valued objective argument has a value for each observation. “ls” tells
optimize that you wish to perform least squares estimation so the optimizer should mini-
mize the sum-of-squares of the elements of the objective. “ml” informs optimize you wish
242—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

to perform maximum likelihood estimation by maximizing the sum of the elements in the
objective.

“ls” and “ml” differ from “min” and “max” in supporting an additional option for approxi-
mating the Hessian matrix (see “Calculating the Hessian” on page 243) that is used in the
estimation algorithm. Indeed the only difference between the “max” and “ml” for a multi-
valued objective is that “ml” supports the use of this option (“hess=opg”).

By default, the first argument of the subroutine is taken as the objective. However you may
specify an alternate objective argument by providing an integer value identifier with one of
the options above. For example, to identify the second argument of the subroutine as the
objective in a minimization problem, you would use the option “min=2”.

Identifying the Control

By default, the second argument in the subroutine contains the controls for the optimiza-
tion. You may modify this by including the “coef=integer” option in the optimize com-
mand, where integer is the argument identifier. For example, to identify the first argument of
the subroutine as the control, you would use the option “coef=1”.

Starting Values
The values of the objects containing the control parameters at the onset of optimization are
used as starting values for the optimization process. You should note that if any of the con-
trol parameters contain missing values at the onset of optimization, or if the objective func-
tion, or any analytic gradients cannot be evaluated at the initial parameter values, EViews
will error and the optimization process will terminate.

Specifying Gradients
If included in the optimize command, the “grad=” option specifies which subroutine
argument contains the analytic gradients for each of the coefficients. If you specify the
“grad=” option, the subroutine should fill out the elements of the gradient argument with
values of the analytical gradients at the current coefficient values.
• If the objective argument is a scalar, the gradient argument should be a vector of
length equal to the number of elements in the coefficient argument.
• If the objective argument is a series, the gradient argument should be a group object
containing one series per element of the coefficient argument. The series observations
should contain the corresponding derivatives for each observation in the current
workfile sample.
• For a vector objective, the gradient argument should be a matrix with number of rows
equal to the length of the objective vector, and columns equal to the number of ele-
ments in the coefficient argument.
 The Optimize Command—243

• “grad=” may not be specified if the objective is a matrix.

If “grad=” is not specified, optimize will use numeric gradients. In general, we have found
that using numerical gradients performs as well as analytic gradients. Since programming
the calculation of the analytic gradients into the subroutine can be complicated, omitting the
“grad=” option should usually be one’s initial approach.

Calculating the Hessian

The “hess=” option tells EViews which Hessian approximation should be used in the esti-
mation algorithm. You may employ numeric Hessian (“hess=numeric”), Broyden-Fletcher-
Goldfarb-Shanno (“hess=bfgs”), or outer-product of the gradients (“hess=opg”) approxi-
mations to the Hessian (see “Hessian Approximation” on page 251).

You may not specify an analytic Hessian, though all three approximations use information
from the gradients, so that there will be slight differences in the Hessian calculation depend-
ing on whether you use numeric versus analytical gradients.

The “finalh=” option allows you to save the Hessian matrix of the optimization problem at
the final coefficient values as a matrix in the workfile. For least squares and maximum like-
lihood problems, the Hessian is commonly used in the calculation of coefficient covariances.

For OPG and numeric Hessian approximations, the final Hessian will be the same as the
Hessian approximation used during optimization. For BFGS, the final Hessian will be based
on the numeric Hessian, since the BFGS approximation need not converge to the true Hes-
sian.

Numeric Derivatives
You can control the method of computing numeric derivatives for gradient or Hessian calcu-
lations using the “deriv=” option.

At the default setting of “deriv=auto”, EViews will change the number of numeric deriva-
tive evaluation points as the optimization routine progresses, switching to a larger number
of points as it approaches the optimum.

When you include the “deriv=high” option, EViews will always evaluate the objective func-
tion at a larger number of points.

Iteration and Convergence

The “m=” and “c=” options set the maximum number of iterations, and the convergence
criterion respectively. Note that for optimization, the number of iterations is the number of
successful steps that take place, and that each iteration may involve many function evalua-
tions, both to evaluate any required numeric derivatives and for backtracking in cases where
a trial step fails to improve the objective.
244—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

Reaching the maximum number of iterations will cause an error to occur (unless the “noerr”
option is set).

Advanced Optimization Options

There are several advanced options which control different aspects of the optimization pro-
cedure. In general, you should not need to worry about these settings, but they may prove
useful in cases where you are experiencing estimation difficulties.

Trust Region
You may use the “trust=” option to set the initial trust region size as a proportion of the ini-
tial control values. The default trust region size is 0.25.

Smaller values of this parameter may be used to provide a more cautious start to the optimi-
zation in cases where larger steps immediately lead into an undesirable region of the objec-
tive.

Larger values may be used to reduce the iteration count in cases where the objective is well
behaved but the initial values may be far from the optimum values.

See “Technical Details,” on page 250 for discussion.

Step Method
optimize offers several methods for determining the constrained step size which you may
specify using the “step=” option. In additional to the default Marquardt method
(“step=marquardt”), you may specify dogleg steps (“step=dogleg”) or a line-search deter-
mined step (“step=linesearch”).

Note that in most cases the choice of step method is less important than the selection of
Hessian approximation. See “Step Method,” on page 253 for additional detail.

Scale
By default, the optimization procedure automatically adjusts the scale of the objective and
control variables using the square root of the maximum observed value of the second deriv-
ative (curvature) of each control parameter. Scaling may be switched off using the
“scale=none” option. See “Scaling,” on page 254 for discussion.

Objective Accuracy
The “feps=” option may be used to specify the expected relative accuracy of the objective
function. The default value is 2.2e-16.

The value indicates what fraction of the observed objective value should be considered to be
random noise. You may wish to increase the “feps=” value if the calculation of your objec-
tive may be relatively inaccurate.
 Examples—245

Status Functions
To support the optimize command, EViews provides three functions that return informa-
tion about the optimization process:
• @optstatus provides a status code for the optimizer, both during and post-optimiza-
tion.
• @optiter returns the current number of iterations performed. If called post-optimiza-
tion, it will return the number of iterations required for convergence.
• @optmessage returns a one line text message based on status and iteration informa-
tion that summarizes the current state of an optimization.

All three of these functions may be used during optimization by including them inside the
optimization subroutine, or post-optimization by calling them after the optimize com-
mand.

Error Handling
The “noerr” option may be used as an option to suppress any error messages created when
the optimization fails. By default, the optimization procedure will generate an error when-
ever the results of the optimization appear to be unreliable, such as if convergence was not
met, or the gradients are non-zero at the final solution.

If noerr is specified, these errors will be suppressed. In this case, your EViews program may
still test whether the optimization succeeded using the @optiter function. Note that the
noerr option is useful in cases where you are deliberately stopping optimization early using
the m= maximum iterations option, since otherwise this will generate an error.

Examples
We demonstrate the use of the optimize command with several examples. To begin, we
consider a regression problem using a workfile created with the following set of commands:
wfcreate u 100
rndseed 1
series e = nrnd
series x1 = 100*rnd
series x2 = 30*nrnd
series x3 = -4*rnd
group xs x1 x2 x3
series y = 3 + 2*x1 + 4*x2 + 5*x3 + e
equation eq1.ls y c x1 x2 x3

These commands create a workfile with 100 observations, and then generate some random
data for series X1, X2 and X3, and E (where E is drawn from the standard normal distribu-
tion). The series Y is created as 3+2*X1+4*X2+5*X3 + E.
246—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

To establish a baseline set of results for comparison, we regress Y against a constant, X1, X2,
and X3 using the built-in least squares method of the EViews equation object. The results
view for the resulting equation EQ1 contains the regression output:

Next we use the optimize command with the least squares method to estimate the coeffi-
cients in the regression problem. Running a program with the following commands pro-
duces the same results as the built-in regression estimator:
subroutine leastsquares(series r, vector beta, series dep, group
regs)
r = dep - beta(1) - beta(2)*regs(1) - beta(3)*regs(2) -
beta(4)*regs(3)
endsub

series LSresid
vector(4) LSCoefs
lscoefs = 1
optimize(ls=1, finalh=lshess) leastsquares(LSresid, lscoefs, y, xs)
scalar sig = @sqrt(@sumsq(LSresid)/(@obs(LSresid)-@rows(LSCoefs)))
vector LSSE = @sqrt(@getmaindiagonal(2*sig^2*@inverse(lshess)))

We begin by defining the LEASTSQUARES subroutine which computes the regression resid-
ual series R, using the parameters given by the vector BETA, the dependent variable given
by the series DEP, and the regressors provided by the group REGS. All of these objects are
arguments of the subroutine which are passed in when the subroutine is called.

Next, we declare the LSRESID series and a vector of coefficients, LSCOEFS, which we arbi-
trarily initialize at a value of 1 as starting values.
 Examples—247

The optimize command is called with the “ls” option to indicate that we wish to perform a
least squares optimization. The “finalh” option is included so that we save the estimated
Hessian matrix in the workfile for use in computing standard errors of the estimates. opti-
mize will find the values of LSCOEFS that minimize the sum of squared values of LSRESID
as computed using the LEASTSQUARES subroutine.

Once optimization is complete, LSCOEFS contains the point estimates of the coefficients. For
least squares regression, the standard error of the regression s is calculated as the square
root of the sum of squares of the residuals, divided by T – k . We store s in the scalar SIG.
Standard errors may be calculated from the Hessian as the square root of the diagonal of
2 –1
2s H . We store these values in the vector LSSE.
The coefficients in LSCOEFS, standard error of the regression s in SIG, and coefficient stan-
dard errors in LSSE, all match the results in EQ1.

Alternately, we may use optimize to estimate the maximum likelihood estimates of the
regression model coefficients. Under standard assumptions, an observation-based contribu-
tion to the log-likelihood for a regression with normal error terms is of the form:
2
 1  –et   1 e
-    log  --- f  ----t  
L t  log  -------------- exp  --------- (10.1)
 j 2p  2j   2  j  j 

The following code obtains the maximum likelihood estimates for this model:
subroutine loglike(series logl, vector beta, series dep, group regs)
series r = dep - beta(1) - beta(2)*regs(1) - beta(3)*regs(2) -
beta(4)*regs(3)
logl = @log((1/beta(5))*@dnorm(r/beta(5)))
endsub

series LL
vector(5) MLCoefs
MLCoefs = 1
248—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

MLCoefs(5) = 100
optimize(ml=1, finalh=mlhess, hess=numeric) loglike(LL, MLCoefs, y,
xs)
vector MLSE = @sqrt(@getmaindiagonal(-@inverse(mlhess)))
scalar ubsig = mlcoefs(5)*@sqrt(@obs(LL)/(@obs(LL) - @rows(MLCoefs)
+ 1))
%status = @optmessage
statusline {%status}

The subroutine LOGLIKE computes the regression residuals using the coefficients in the vec-
tor BETA, the dependent variable series given by DEP, and the regressors in the group REGS.
Given R, the subroutine evaluates the individual log-likelihood contributions and puts the
results in the argument series LOGL.

The next lines declare the series LL to hold the likelihood contributions and the coefficient
vector BETA to hold the controls. Note that the coefficient vector, BETA, has five elements
instead of the four used in least-squares optimization, since we are simultaneously estimat-
ing the four regression coefficients and the error standard deviation j . We arbitrarily initial-
ize the regression coefficients to 1 and the distribution standard deviation to 100.

We set the maximizer to perform a maximum likelihood based estimation using the “ml=”
option and to store the OPG Hessian in the workfile in the sym objected MLHESS. The coef-
ficient standard errors for the maximum likelihood estimates may be calculated as the
square root of the main diagonal of the negative of the inverse of MLHESS. We store the esti-
mated standard errors in the vector MLSE.

Although the regression coefficient estimates match those in the baseline, the ML estimate
of j in the fifth element of BETA differs. You may obtain the corresponding unbiased esti-
mate of sigma by multiplying the ML estimate by multiplying BETA(5) by T   T – k  ,
which we calculate and store in the scalar UBSIG.
 Examples—249

Note also that we use @optmessage to obtain the status of estimation, whether convergence
was achieved and if so, how many iterations were required. The status is reported on the
statusline after the optimize estimation is completed.

The next example we provide shows the use of the “grads=” option. This example re-calcu-
lates the least-squares example above, but provides analytic gradients inside the subroutine.
Note that for a linear least squares problem, the derivatives of the objective with respect to
the coefficients are the regressors themselves (and a series of ones for the constant):
subroutine leastsquareswithgrads(series r, vector beta, group grads,
series dep, group regs)
r = dep - beta(1) - beta(2)*regs(1) - beta(3)*regs(2) -
beta(4)*regs(3)
grads(1) = 1
grads(2) = regs(1)
grads(3) = regs(2)
grads(4) = regs(3)
endsub

series LSresid
vector(4) LSCoefs
lscoefs = 1
series grads1
series grads2
series grads3
series grads4
group grads grads1 grads2 grads3 grads4
optimize(ls=1, grads=3) leastsquareswithgrads(LSresid, lscoefs,
grads, y, xs)

Note that the series for the gradients, and the group containing those series, were declared
prior to calling the optimize command, and that the subroutine fills in the values of the
series inside the gradient group.

Up to this point, our examples have involved the evaluation of series expressions. The opti-
mizer does, however, work with other EViews commands. We could, for example, compute
the least squares estimates using the optimizer to “solve” the normal equation
 XX b  XY for b . While the optimizer is not a solver, we can trick it into solving that
equation by creating a vector of residuals equal to  XX b – XY , and asking the opti-
mizer to find the values of b that minimize the square of those residuals:
subroutine local matrixsolve(vector rvec, vector beta, series dep,
group regs)
stom(regs, xmat)
xmat = @hcat(@ones(100), xmat)
stom(dep, yvec)
rvec = @transpose(xmat)*xmat*beta - @transpose(xmat)*yvec
250—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

rvec = @epow(rvec,2)
endsub
vector(4) MSCoefs
MSCoefs = 1
vector(4) rvec
optimize(min=1) matrixsolve(rvec, mscoefs, y, xs)

Since we will be using matrix manipulation for the objective function, the first few lines of
the subroutine convert the input dependent variable series and regressor group into matri-
ces. Note that the regressor group does not contain a constant term upon input, so we
append a column of ones to the regression matrix XMAT, using the @hcat command.

Lastly, we use the optimize command to find the minimum of a simply function of a single
variable. We define a subroutine containing the quadratic form, and use the optimize com-
mand to find the value that minimizes the function:
subroutine f(scalar !y, scalar !x)
!y = 5*!x^2 - 3*!x - 2
endsub
create u 1
scalar in = 0
scalar out = 0
optimize(min) f(out, in)

This example first creates an empty workfile and declares two scalar objects, IN and OUT,
for use by the optimizer. IN will be used as the parameter for optimization, and is given an
arbitrary starting value of 0. The subroutine F calculates the simple quadratic formula:
2
Y  5X – 3X – 2 (10.2)

After running this program the value of IN will be 0.3, and the final value of OUT (evaluated
at the optimal IN value) is -2.45. As a check we can manually calculate the minimal value of
the function by taking derivatives with respect to X, setting equal to zero, and solving for X:
dY
-------  10X – 3
dX (10.3)
X  0.3

Technical Details
The optimization procedure uses a Newton (or quasi-Newton) based approach to optimiza-
tion. In this approach, the first and second derivatives of the objective are used to form a
local quadratic approximation to the objective function around the current value of the con-
trol parameters. The procedure then calculates the change in the control values that would
maximize (or minimize) the objective if the objective function were to exactly follow the
local approximation.
 Technical Details—251

Mathematically, if the local approximation of the objective f around the control values
x  x is:
1
min f  p   f  x   g  x p  --- pH  x p (10.4)
2
where f is the objective function, g is the gradient, and H is the Hessian, then the first-
order conditions for a maximum give the following expression for the Newton step:
–1
p  – H  x  g  x  (10.5)

Note that this local approximation may become quite inaccurate as we move away from the
current parameter values. At the full Newton step, the objective may improve by much less
than the approximation suggests, or may even worsen. To deal with this possibility, the opti-
mization procedure uses a trust region approach (More and Sorensen, 1983). In the trust
region approach, the local quadratic approximation is only maximized within a limited
neighborhood of the current control values, so that the change in control values at each step
is not allowed to exceed a current maximum step size. We then evaluate the objective at the
new proposed parameter values. If the local approximation appears to be accurate, the max-
imum allowed step size is increased. If the local approximation appears to be inaccurate, the
maximum allowed step size is decreased. A step is only accepted when it results in a suffi-
ciently large reduction in the objective relative to the reduction that was predicted by the
local approximation.

Mathematically the constrained step can be written as:

min f  p  s.t. p  d (10.6)

where d is the trust region maximum step size. In the case where the maximum step con-
straint is binding, typically the step has a solution
–1
p  –  H  x   lI  g  x  (10.7)

where l is chosen so that | p  d.

Note that the Newton approach will work best when the objective can be fitted reasonably
well by a local quadratic approximation. This will not be the case if the function is discon-
tinuous or has discontinuous first or second derivatives. In these cases, the procedure may
be slow to find an optimum, and the final parameter values may end up adjacent to a dis-
continuity so that the results will need to be interpreted with caution.

Hessian Approximation
In the discussion above we assumed that the Hessian matrix of second derivatives of the
objective with respect to the control parameters are readily available. In practice these deriv-
atives will need to be approximated. The optimize procedure provides three different
methods: numeric Hessian, Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS), outer-product of the
gradients (OPG).
252—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

Numeric Hessian
The numeric Hessian approach approximates the Hessian using numeric derivatives. If ana-
lytic gradients are provided, the Hessian is based on taking numeric first derivatives of the
analytic gradients. If analytic gradients are not provided, the Hessian is based on numeric
second derivatives of the objective function.

You may specify the use of numeric Hessians by including the option “hess=numeric”
option in the optimize command.

Note that calculating numeric second derivatives may require many evaluations of the
objective function. In the case of numeric second derivatives, each Hessian approximation
will require additional evaluations proportional to the square of the number of control
parameters in the problem. For a large number of control parameters, this method may be
quite slow.

Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS)
The Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) method approximates the Hessian using an
updating scheme where the previous iteration's approximation to the Hessian is adjusted
after each step based on the observed change in the gradients.

The BFGS update makes as small a change as possible to the existing Hessian approximation
so that it is compatible with the observed change in gradients, while ensuring that the
approximation to the Hessian remains positive definite. (See Chapter 9 of Dennis and Schna-
bel (1983) for a detailed discussion.)

To specify the BFGS method, use the optimize command with the “hess=bfgs” option.

BFGS requires fewer objective function evaluations per step than computing a numeric Hes-
sian, but may take more iterations to converge. Note that the BFGS approximation need not
converge to the true Hessian at the optimized control parameter values, so it cannot be used
for calculating the coefficient covariances in statistical problems. Note also that the itera-
tions are started from a diagonal approximation to the Hessian.

Outer-product of Gradients (OPG)

For certain statistical problems, the Hessian can be approximated by a multiple of the sum of
the outer products of the gradients (OPG) of individual contributions to the total objective
with respect to the coefficients. In the case of least squares problems, this method is com-
monly referred to as the Gauss-Newton method. In maximum likelihood settings, this
method is often referred to as the BHHH (Berndt, Hall, Hall, and Hausman, 1974) method.

In both settings, the approximations are based on the statistical idea that the expected value
of the Hessian at the optimized parameter values is equal to a multiple of the expected value
of the sum of the outer product of gradients and that the two will converge as the sample
 Technical Details—253

size becomes large. The asymptotic equivalence implies that these OPG approximations will
be closer to the true Hessian when working with medium to large sample sizes and when
coefficients are close to the true coefficient values.

You may select the OPG approximation using the “hess=opg” option.

Note that the OPG method may only be used when the objective is a set of least squares
residuals (specified using the “ls” option) or a set of maximum likelihood contributions
(specified using the “ml” option), since there is no reason to believe the approximation is
valid for an arbitrary maximization or minimization objective.

OPG uses the same number of objective evaluations per step as BFGS, which is less than the
number required for evaluating the numeric Hessian.

Step Method
Different step methods are supported by optimize, with each following a trust region
approach, where the full Newton step is taken whenever the step is less than the current
maximum step size, and a constrained step is taken when the full Newton step exceeds the
current maximum step size. The methods differ in how the constrained step is taken. Note
that in most cases, the choice of step method is less important than the selection of Hessian
approximation.

Marquardt
The default Marquardt option closely follows the method outlined above where the con-
strained step is calculated by an iterative procedure that searches for a diagonal adjustment
to the Hessian that makes the step size equal to the maximum allowed step size. The Mar-
quardt step has the highest computational cost, although since for most statistical estima-
tion most computation time is spent evaluating the objective rather than calculating an
optimal step, this is unlikely to matter unless the number of controls is fairly large and the
objective can be evaluated cheaply.

Dogleg
The dogleg method is a cheaper approximation to the trust region problem where the con-
strained step is calculated by combining a Newton step with a Cauchy step (a step in the
direction of the scaled gradients that minimizes the local quadratic approximation to the
objective). For both the Marquardt and dogleg steps, the direction of the step shifts away
from the direction of the Newton step towards the direction of steepest descent as the trust
region contracts, but the dogleg step uses a simple linear combination of the two steps to
achieve this. When the dogleg step is used with a BFGS Hessian (the hess=bfgs option)
approximation, the calculations required per iteration are proportional to the square rather
than the cube of the number of parameters. This makes the dogleg step attractive if the
number of control variables is very large and the objective can be evaluated cheaply.
254—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

Line-search
The line-search method is the simplest approach in which the constrained step is formed by
proportionally scaling down the Newton step until it satisfies the maximum step size con-
straint. With this method, only the length of the step is changed as the trust region con-
tracts, but not its direction. The line-search method is the cheapest method in terms of
calculational cost but may be less robust, particularly when used with poor initial values.

Note that for both the dogleg and line-search algorithms, an adjustment will be made to the
diagonal of the Hessian to ensure positive definiteness before calculating the Newton step.
There is also special handling for non-positive definite matrices in the Marquardt step fol-
lowing the method outlined in More and Sorensen (1983).

Scaling
The Newton step is theoretically invariant to both the scale of the objective and the scale of
the control variables since any changes to the gradients and the Hessian cancel each other
out in the expression for the Newton step. In practice, numerical issues may cause the
equivalence to be inexact. Additionally, the constrained trust region steps do not have the
invariance property unless scaling is applied to the control variables when calculating a con-
strained step.

By default, the optimization procedure scales automatically using the square root of the
maximum observed value of the second derivative (curvature) of each control parameter.
This makes the procedure theoretically invariant to the scaling of the variables.

In most cases you should leave the default scaling turned on, but in cases where the Hessian
approximation may be unreliable, scaling may be switched off using the “scale=none”
option. When scaling is switched off, you may wish to define your objective so that equal
size changes to each control variable will have a similar order of magnitude of impact on the
objective.

Optimization Termination
The optimization process will terminate immediately if the initial control parameters contain
missing values, the objective function, or if provided, the analytical gradients cannot be
evaluated at the starting parameter values.

Once the optimization procedure begins, it will proceed even if numerical errors (such as
taking the log of a negative number) prevent the objective function from being evaluated at
a trial step. An objective with missing values will be taken as indicating that the control val-
ues are invalid, and the optimization will step back from the problematic values.

Note that you should always define the objective to return NA values for bad control values
since returning an arbitrary value may make numeric derivatives unreliable at points close
to the invalid region.
 Technical Details—255

The optimization procedure will terminate when:

• An unconstrained Newton step improved the objective and the length of the step was
less than the specified convergence tolerance.
• A constrained step failed to improve the objective and the maximum allowed step size
for the next iteration was decreased to become less than the specified convergence tol-
erance.
• The maximum number of iterations (successful steps) was reached without one of the
above criteria being met.

When the procedure terminates for a condition other than the maximum iterations being
reached, the procedure checks the gradients and curvature of the objective to see whether
the first and second order conditions for an optimum appear to be satisfied. If the conditions
are not met, the optimization will be considered to have failed. There are a variety of rea-
sons that failure may occur:
• The objective may have no optimum value, but just gradually flatten out as a control
variable becomes very large or small.
• The objective may not be defined for some values of the control parameters but may
improve as we approach these values. This will cause the optimization to stall with
control variables very close to the invalid region, but with non-zero gradients at the
final control values.
• There may be values for some controls which make other controls included in the
optimization have little or no impact on the objective, so that both the gradients and
the elements of the Hessian corresponding to the variables gradually become zero as
the optimization progresses.
• The control variables may 'collapse' so that two or more controls are serving the same
role in the objective and their individual effect cannot be separated. This will result in
a Hessian that is numerically singular since changes in one control can be exactly off-
set by changes in one or more of the other controls without changing the objective.
(For statistical problems, this implies that the coefficients are unidentified).

In all these cases, a useful approach is to carefully consider starting values so that the initial
values for the controls are as close as possible to what you believe the optimum values
might be. You should also avoid starting values that are close to any regions in which the
objective function cannot be evaluated. If the optimization continues to report problems
from a wide range of starting values, this may indicate that your optimization problem is not
well defined.

Successful convergence does not guarantee that the optimization procedure has found the
global optimum of the function. The optimization procedure only tests whether the final
point appears to satisfy the conditions necessary for a local optimum. In cases where more
256—Chapter 10. User-Defined Optimization

than one local optimum may exist, the optimization procedure may converge to different
final values depending on what starting values are used.

Note that when the optimization completes successfully (no error is reported) the last call to
the subroutine that calculates the objective will always be with the control parameters set to
the optimized values. (An additional final call to the subroutine will be made in situations
where this is not already the case). This guarantees that any intermediate results saved
inside the subroutine will also be left at their optimized results after the optimization is com-
plete.

References
Berndt, E., Hall, B., Hall, R., and Hausman, J. (1974). Estimation and Inference in Nonlinear Structural
Models, Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Vol. 3, 653–665.
Dennis, J. E. and R. B. Schnabel (1983). “Secant Methods for Systems of Nonlinear Equations,” Numerical
Methods for Unconstrained Optimization and Nonlinear Equations. Prentice-Hall, London.
More and Sorensen (1983). Computing a Trust Region Step, SIAM Journal of Scientific Statistical Comput-
ing, Vol. 4, 553–572.
Chapter 11. Matrix Language

EViews provides you with tools for working directly with data contained in matrices and
vectors. You can use the EViews matrix language to perform calculations that are not avail-
able using the built-in views and procedures.

The following objects may be created and manipulated using the matrix command lan-
guage:
• matrix: two-dimensional array.
• vector: column vector.
• sym: symmetric matrix (stored in lower triangular form).
• scalar: scalar.
• rowvector: row vector.
• coef: column vector of coefficients to be used by equation, system, pool, logl, and
sspace objects.

We term these objects matrix objects (despite the fact that some of these objects are not
matrices).

Declaring Matrix Objects

You must declare a matrix object for it to exist in the workfile. A listing of the declaration
statements for the various matrix objects is provided in “Object Creation Commands” on
page 281.

Briefly, a matrix object declaration consists of the object keyword, along with size informa-
tion in parentheses and the name to be given to the object, followed (optionally) by an
assignment statement. If no assignment is provided, the object will be initialized to have all
zero values.

The various matrix objects require different sizing information. A matrix requires the num-
ber of rows and the number of columns. A sym requires that you specify a single number
representing both the number of rows and the number of columns. A vector, rowvector, or
coef declaration can include information about the number of elements. A scalar requires no
size information. If size information is not provided, EViews will assume that there is only
one element in the object.

For example:
matrix(3,10) xdata
sym(9) moments
258—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

vector(11) betas
rowvector(5) xob

creates a 3  10 matrix XDATA, a symmetric 9  9 matrix MOMENTS, an 11  1 column

vector BETAS, and a 1  5 rowvector XOB. All of these objects are initialized to zero.

One common operation, creating and filling a vector in one-step, may be performed using
the @fill (p. 673) function, as in
vector v = @fill(1,4,6,21.3)

which returns a 4 element vector, where the first element is set to 1, the second to 4, the
third to 6 and the fourth to 21.3.

To change the size of a matrix object, you may repeat the declaration statement. Further-
more, if you use an assignment statement with an existing matrix object, the target will be
resized as necessary. For example:
sym(10) bigz
matrix zdata
matrix(10,2) zdata
zdata = bigz

will first declare ZDATA to be a matrix with a single element, and then redeclare ZDATA to
be a 10  2 matrix. The assignment statement in the last line will resize ZDATA so that it
contains the contents of the 10  10 symmetric matrix BIGZ.

Assigning Matrix Values

There are three ways to assign values to the elements of a matrix: you may assign values to
specific matrix elements, you may fill the matrix using a list of values, or you may perform
matrix assignment.

Element assignment
The most basic method of assigning matrix values is to assign a value for a specific row and
column element of the matrix. Simply enter the matrix name, followed by the row and col-
umn indices, in parentheses, and then an assignment to a scalar value.

For example, suppose we declare the 2  2 matrix A:

matrix(2,2) a

The first command creates and initializes the 2  2 matrix A so that it contains all zeros.
Then after entering the two commands:
a(1,1) = 1
a(2,1) = 4
 Assigning Matrix Values—259

we have

A  1 0 . (11.1)
4 0

You can perform a large number of element assignments by placing them inside of program-
ming loops:
vector(10) y
matrix (10,10) x
for !i = 1 to 10
y(!i) = !i
for !j = 1 to 10
x(!i,!j) = !i + !j
next
next

Note that the fill procedure provides an alternative to using loops for assignment (see, for
example, the matrix object version of the procedure, Matrix::fill).

Fill assignment
The second assignment method is to use the fill object procedure to assign a list of num-
bers to each element of the matrix in the specified order. By default, the procedure fills the
matrix column by column, but you may override this behavior to fill by rows.

You should enter the name of the matrix object, followed by a period, the fill keyword,
and then a comma delimited list of values. For example, the commands:
vector(3) v
v1.fill 0.1, 0.2, 0.3
matrix(2,4) x
matrix.fill 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

create the matrix objects:

0.1
V  X  1 3 5 7
0.2 , (11.2)
2 4 6 8
0.3

If we replace the last line with

matrix.fill(b=r) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

then X is given by:

260—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

X  1 2 3 4 . (11.3)
5 6 7 8

In some situations, you may wish to repeat the assignment over a list of values. You may use
the “l” option to fill the matrix by repeatedly looping through the listed numbers until the
matrix elements are exhausted. Thus,
matrix(3,3) y
y.fill(l) 1, 0, -1

creates the matrix:

1 1 1
Y  0 0 0 (11.4)
–1 –1 –1

See Matrix::fill for a complete description of the fill procedure for a matrix. Equivalent
procedures are available for the remaining matrix objects.

Matrix assignment
You can copy data from one matrix object into another using assignment statements. To per-
form an assignment, you should enter the name of the target matrix followed by the equal
sign “=”, and then a matrix object expression. The expression on the right-hand side should
either be a numerical constant, a matrix object, or an expression that returns a matrix
object.

There are rules for how EViews performs the assignment which vary depending upon the
types of objects involved in the assignment.

Scalar values on the right-hand side

If there is a scalar on the right-hand side of the assignment, every element of the matrix
object is assigned the value of the scalar.

Examples:
matrix(5,8) first
scalar second
vec(10) third
first = 5
second = c(2)
third = first(3,5)

Since declaration statements allow for initialization, you can combine the declaration and
assignment statements. Examples:
 Copying Data Between Objects—261

matrix(5,8) first = 5
scalar second = c(2)
vec(10) third = first(3,5)

Same object type on right-hand side

If the source object on the right is a matrix or vector, and the target or destination object on
the left is of the same type, the target will be resized to have the same dimension as the
source, and every source element will be copied. For example:
matrix(10,2) zdata = 5
matrix ydata = zdata
matrix(10,10) xdata = ydata

declares that ZDATA is a 10  2 matrix filled with 5’s. In the second line, YDATA is auto-
matically resized to be a 10  2 matrix and is filled with the contents of ZDATA.

The third line declares and initializes XDATA. Note that even though the declaration of
XDATA calls for a 10  10 matrix, XDATA is a 10  2 matrix of 5’s. This behavior occurs
because the declaration statement above is equivalent to issuing the two commands:
matrix(10,10) xdata
xdata = ydata

which will first declare the 10  10 matrix XDATA, and then automatically resize it to
10  2 when you fill it with the values for YDATA (see also “Copying Data From Matrix
Objects” on page 262).

The matrix object on the right hand side of the declaration statement may also be the output
from a matrix function or expression. For example,
sym eye4 = @identity(4)

declares the symmetric matrix EYE4 which is equal to the 4  4 identity matrix, while
vector b = @inverse(xx)*xy

inverts the matrix XX, multiplies it by XY, and assigns the value to the new vector B.

The next section discusses assignment statements in the more general case, where you are
converting between object types. In some cases, the conversion is automatic; in other cases,
EViews provides you with additional tools to perform the conversion.

Copying Data Between Objects

In addition to the basic assignment statements described in the previous section, EViews
provides you with a large set of tools for copying data to and from matrix objects.
262—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

At times, you may wish to move data between different types of matrix objects. For example,
you may wish to take the data from a vector and put it in a matrix. EViews has a number of
built-in rules which make these conversions automatically.

At other times, you may wish to move data between a matrix object and an EViews series or
group object. There are a separate set of tools which allow you to convert data across a vari-
ety of object types.

Copying Data From Matrix Objects

Data may be moved between different types of matrix objects using assignment statements.
If possible, EViews will resize the target object so that it contains the same information as
the object on the right side of the equation.

The basic rules governing expressions of the form “Y=X” may be summarized as follows:
• The object type of the target Y cannot change.
• The target object Y will, if possible, be resized to match the object X; otherwise,
EViews will issue an error. Thus, assigning a vector to a matrix will resize the matrix,
but assigning a matrix to a vector will generate an error if the matrix has more than
one column.
• The data in X will be copied to Y.

Specific exceptions to the rules given above are:

• If X is a scalar, Y will keep its original size and will be filled with the value of X.
• If X and Y are both vector or rowvector objects, Y will be changed to the same type as
X.

“Summary of Automatic Resizing of Matrix Objects” on page 278 contains a complete sum-
mary of the conversion rules for matrix objects.

Here are some simple examples illustrating the rules for matrix assignment:
vector(3) x
x(1) = 1
x(2) = 2
x(3) = 3
vector y = x
matrix z = x

Y is now a 3 element vector because it has the same dimension and values as X. EViews
automatically resizes the Z Matrix to conform to the dimensions of X so that Z is now a
3  1 matrix containing the contents of X: Z(1,1)=1, Z(2,1)=2, Z(3,1)=3.
Here are some further examples where automatic resizing is allowed:
 Copying Data Between Objects—263

vector(7) y = 2
scalar value = 4
matrix(10,10) w = value
w = y
matrix(2,3) x = 1
rowvector(10) t = 100
x = t

W is declared as a 10  10 matrix of 4’s, but it is then reset to be a 7  1 matrix of 2’s. X is

a 1  10 matrix of 100’s.

Lastly, consider the commands:

vector(7) y = 2
rowvector(12) z = 3
coef(20) beta
y = z
z = beta

Y will be a rowvector of length 3, containing the original contents of Z, and Z will be a col-
umn vector of length 20 containing the contents of BETA.

There are some cases where EViews will be unable to perform the specified assignment
because the resize operation is ill defined. For example, suppose that X is a 2  2 matrix.
Then the assignment statement:
vector(7) y = x

will result in an error. EViews cannot change Y from a vector to a matrix and there is no way
to assign directly the 4 elements of the matrix X to the vector Y. Other examples of invalid
assignment statements involve assigning matrix objects to scalars or sym objects to vector
objects.

(In may be possible, however, to use the @vec (p. 699) or @vech (p. 699) functions to per-
form some of these operations.)

Copying Data From Parts Of Matrix Objects

In addition to the standard rules for conversion of data between objects, EViews provides
matrix functions for extracting from and assigning to parts of matrix objects. Matrix func-
tions are described in greater detail later in this chapter. For now, note that some functions
take a matrix object and perhaps other arguments and return a matrix object.

A comprehensive list of the EViews commands and functions that may be used for matrix
object conversion appears in “Matrix Command and Function Summary” on page 653. Here,
264—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

we consider a few examples that should provide you with a sense of the types of operations
that may be performed.

Suppose first that you are interested in copying data from a matrix into a vector. The follow-
ing commands will copy data from M1 and SYM1 into the vectors V1, V2, V3, and V4.
matrix(10, 10) m1
sym(10) sym1
vector v1 = @vec(m1)
vector v2 = @columnextract(m1,3)
vector v3 = @rowextract(m1,4)
vector v4 = @columnextract(sym1,5)

The @vec function creates a 100 element vector, V1, from the columns of M1 stacked one on
top of another. V2 will be a 10 element vector containing the contents of the third column of
M1 while V3 will be a 10 element vector containing the fourth row of M1. The @vec
(p. 699), @vech (p. 699), @rowextract (p. 689), and @columnextract (p. 662) functions
also work with sym objects. V4 is a 10 element vector containing the fifth column of SYM1.

In some cases, it may be easier to take a subset of the elements of a matrix object using its
data member functions. A subset of rows or columns of a matrix may be obtained using the
@row, @col, @droprow, or @dropcol object data members. For example,
vector a = x.@row(3)

extracts the third row of X into the vector a. Similarly,

vector b = x.@col(2)

puts the second column of X into B.

You can also copy data from one matrix into a smaller matrix using @subextract (p. 694).
For example:
matrix(20,20) m1=1
matrix m2 = @subextract(m1,5,5,10,7)
matrix m3 = @subextract(m1,5,10)
matrix m4 = m1

M2 is a 6  3 matrix containing a submatrix of M1 defined by taking the part of the matrix

M1 beginning at row 5 and column 5, and ending at row 10 and column 7. M3 is the
16  11 matrix taken from M1 at row 5 and column 10 to the last element of the matrix
(row 20 and column 20). In contrast, M4 is defined to be an exact copy of the full 20  20
matrix.

You may use the data member functions to perform similar operations. For example,
matrix xsub = x.@row(@fill(1, 3, 4))
 Copying Data Between Objects—265

extracts the first, third, and fourth rows of the matrix X into the matrix XSUB.

Data from a matrix may be copied into another matrix object using the commands col-
place (p. 662), rowplace (p. 690), and matplace (p. 681). Consider the commands:
matrix(100,5) m1 = 0
matrix(100,2) m2 = 1
vector(100) v1 = 3
rowvector(100) v2 = 4
matplace(m1,m2,1,3)
colplace(m1,v1,3)
rowplace(m1,v2,80)

The matplace command places M2 in M1 beginning at row 1 and column 3. V1 is placed in

column 3 of M1, while V2 is placed in row 80 of M1.

You may combine matplace with @fill (p. 673) and the @row, @col, @droprow, or
@dropcol data members to perform complex subsetting and filling
matplace(z, x.@row(@fill(1, 3, 4)), 1, 1)

puts rows 1, 3, and 4 of the matrix X into the upper-left hand corner of Z. Note that Z must
be large enough to hold the X subset.

Copying Data Between Matrix And Other Objects

The previous sections described techniques for copying data between matrix objects such as
vectors, matrices and scalars. In this section, we describe techniques for copying data
between matrix objects and workfile-based EViews objects such as series and groups.

Keep in mind that there are two primary differences between the ordinary series or group
objects and the matrix objects. First, operations involving series and groups use information
about the current workfile sample, while matrix objects do not. Second, there are important
differences in the handling of missing values (NAs) between the two types of objects.

Direct Assignment
The easiest method to copy data from series or group objects to a matrix object is to use
direct assignment. Place the destination matrix object on the left side of an equal sign, and
place the series or group to be converted on the right.

If you use a series object on the right-hand side and a vector on the left, EViews will only
use observations from the current sample to make the vector. If you place a group object on
the right and a matrix on the left, EViews will create a rectangular matrix out of the group
using observations from the current sample.
266—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

While direct assignment is straightforward and convenient, there are two principal limita-
tions to the approach. First, EViews uses only the observations in the current sample when
copying the data. Second, observations containing missing data (NAs) for a series, or for
any series in the group, are dropped. Thus, if the current sample contains 20 observations,
but the series or group contains missing data, the dimension of the output vector or matrix
will be less than 20. (Below, we describe methods which allow you to override the current
sample and to retain missing values.)

Examples:
smpl 1963m03 1993m06
fetch hsf gmpyq
group mygrp hsf gmpyq
vector xvec = gmpyq
matrix xmat = mygrp

These statements create the vector XVEC and the two column matrix XMAT containing the
non-missing series and group data from 1963M03 to 1993M06. Note that if GMPYQ has a
missing value in 1970M01, and HSF contains a missing value in 1980M01, both observations
for both series will be excluded from XMAT.

When performing matrix assignment, you may refer to an element of a series, just as you
would refer to an element of a vector, by placing an index value in parentheses after the
name. An index value i refers to the i-th element of the series from the beginning of the
workfile range, not the current sample. For example, if the range of the current annual work-
file is 1961 to 1980, the expression GNP(6) refers to the 1966 value of GNP. These series ele-
ment expressions may be used in assigning specific series values to matrix elements, or to
assign matrix values to a specific series element. For example:
matrix(5,10) x
series yser = nrnd
x(1,1) = yser(4)
yser(5) = x(2,3)
yser(6) = 4000.2

assigns the fourth value of the series YSER to X(1,1), and assigns to the fifth and sixth val-
ues of YSER, the X(2,3) value and the scalar value “4000.2”, respectively.

While matrix assignments allow you to refer to elements of series as though they were ele-
ments of vectors, you cannot generally use series in place of vectors. Most vector and matrix
operations will error if you use a series in place of a vector. For example, you cannot perform
a rowplace command using a series name.

Furthermore, note that when you are not performing matrix assignment, a series name fol-
lowed by a number in parentheses will indicate that the lag/lead operator be applied to the
 Copying Data Between Objects—267

entire series. Thus, when used in generating series or in an equation, system, or model spec-
ification, GNP(6) refers to the sixth lead of the GNP series. To refer to specific elements of
the GNP series in these settings, you should use the @elem function.

Copy using @convert

The @convert (p. 664) function takes a series or group object and, optionally, a sample
object, and returns a vector or rectangular matrix. If no sample is provided, @convert will
use the workfile sample. The sample determines which series elements are included in the
matrix. Example:
smpl 61 90
group groupx inv gdp m1
vector v = @convert(gdp)
matrix x = @convert(groupx)

X is a 30  3 matrix with the first column containing data from INV, the second column
from GDP, and the third column from M1.

As with direct assignment, @convert excludes observations for which the series or any of
the series in the group contain missing data. If, in the example above, INV contains missing
observations in 1970 and 1980, V would be a 29 element vector while X would be a
28  3 matrix. This will cause errors in subsequent operations that require V and X to have
a common row dimension.

There are two primary advantages of using @convert over direct assignment. First, since
@convert is a function, it may be used in the middle of a matrix expression. Second, an
optional second argument allows you to specify a sample to be used in conversion. For
example:
sample s1.set 1950 1990
matrix x = @convert(grp, s1)
sym y = @inverse(@inner(@convert(grp, s1)))

performs the conversion using the sample defined in S1.

Copy using Commands

EViews also provides three useful commands that perform explicit conversions between
series and matrices with control over both the sample and the handling of NAs.

stom (p. 692) (Series TO Matrix) takes a series or group object and copies its data to a vec-
tor or matrix using either the current workfile sample, or the optionally specified sample. As
with direct assignment, the stom command excludes observations for which the series or
any of the series in the group contain missing data.

Example:
268—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

sample smpl_cnvrt.set 1950 1995

smpl 1961 1990
group group1 gnp gdp money
vector(46) vec1
matrix(3,30) mat1
stom(gdp, vec1, smpl_cnvrt)
stom(group1, mat1)

While the operation of stom is similar to @convert, stom is a command and cannot be
included in a matrix expression. Furthermore, unlike @convert, the destination matrix or
vector must already exist and have the proper dimension.

stomna (p. 693) (Series TO Matrix with NAs) works identically to stom, but does not
exclude observations for which there are missing values. The elements of the series for the
relevant sample will map directly into the target vector or matrix. Thus,
smpl 1951 2000
vector(50) gvector
stom(gdp, gvector)

will always create a 50 element vector GVECTOR that contains the values of GDP from 1951
to 2000, including observations with NAs.

mtos (p. 683) (Matrix TO Series) takes a matrix or vector and copies its data into an existing
series or group, using the current workfile sample or a sample that you provide.

Example:
mtos(mat1, group1)
mtos(vec1, resid)
mtos(mat2, group1, smpl1)

As with stom the destination dimension given by the sample must match that of the source
vector or matrix.

Matrix Expressions
A matrix expression is an expression which combines matrix objects with mathematical
operators or relations, functions, and parentheses. While we discuss matrix functions in
great detail below, some examples will demonstrate the relevant concepts.

Examples:
@inner(@convert(grp, s1))
mat1*vec1
@inverse(mat1+mat2)*vec1
 Matrix Expressions—269

mat1 > mat2

EViews uses the following rules to determine the order in which the expression will be eval-
uated:
• You may nest any number of pairs of parentheses to clarify the order of operations in
a matrix expression.
• If you do not use parentheses, the operations are applied in the following order:
1. Unary negation operator and functions.
2. Multiplication and division operators.
3. Addition and subtraction operators.
4. Comparison operators: “>=”, “>”, “<=”, “<”, “<>”.

Examples:
@inverse(mat1+mat2)+@inverse(mat3+mat4)
vec1*@inverse(mat1+mat2)*@transpose(vec1)

In the first example, the matrices MAT1 and MAT2 will be added and then inverted. Simi-
larly the matrices MAT3 and MAT4 are added and then inverted. Finally, the two inverses
will be added together. In the second example, EViews first inverts MAT1+MAT2 and uses
the result to calculate a quadratic form with VEC1.

Matrix Operators
EViews provides standard mathematical operators for matrix objects.

(Note that element multiplication, division, inverse, and powers are not available using
operators, but are instead supported via functions).

Negation (–)
The unary minus changes the sign of every element of a matrix object, yielding a matrix or
vector of the same dimension. Example:
matrix jneg = -jpos

Addition (+)
You can add two matrix objects of the same type and size. The result is a matrix object of
the same type and size. Example:
matrix(3,4) a
matrix(3,4) b
matrix sum = a + b
270—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

You can add a square matrix and a sym of the same dimension. The upper triangle of the
sym is taken to be equal to the lower triangle. Adding a scalar to a matrix object adds the
scalar value to each element of the matrix or vector object.

Subtraction (–)
The rules for subtraction are the same as the rules for addition. Example:
matrix(3,4) a
matrix(3,4) b
matrix dif = a - b

Subtracting a scalar object from a matrix object subtracts the scalar value from every ele-
ment of the matrix object.

Multiplication (*)
You can multiply two matrix objects if the number of columns of the first matrix is equal to
the number of rows of the second matrix.

Example:
matrix(5,9) a
matrix(9,22) b
matrix prod = a * b

In this example, PROD will have 5 rows and 22 columns.

One or both of the matrix objects can be a sym. Note that the product of two sym objects is
a matrix, not a sym. The @inner function will produce a sym by multiplying a matrix by its
own transpose.

You can premultiply a matrix or a sym by a vector if the number of columns of the matrix is
the same as the number of elements of the vector. The result is a vector whose dimension is
equal to the number of rows of the matrix.

Example:
matrix(5,9) mat
vector(9) vec
vector res = mat * vec

In this example, RES will have 5 elements.

You can premultiply a rowvector by a matrix or a sym if the number of elements of the
rowvector is the same as the number of rows of the matrix. The result is a rowvector whose
dimension is equal to the number of columns of the matrix.

Example:
 Matrix Expressions—271

rowvector rres
matrix(5,9) mat
rowvector(5) row
rres = row * mat

In this example, RRES will have 9 elements.

You can multiply a matrix object by a scalar. Each element of the original matrix is multi-
plied by the scalar. The result is a matrix object of the same type and dimensions as the orig-
inal matrix. The scalar can come before or after the matrix object. Examples:
matrix prod = 3.14159*orig
matrix xxx = d_mat*7

To perform element multiplication where you multiply every element of a matrix by very
element of another matrix, you should use the @emult (p. 671) function.

Division (/)
You can divide a matrix object by a scalar. Example:
matrix z = orig/3

Each element of the object ORIG will be divided by 3.

To perform element division where you divide every element of a matrix by very element of
another matrix, you should use the @ediv (p. 667) function.

Relational Operators (=, >, >=, <, <=, <>)

Two matrix objects of the same type and size may be compared using the comparison oper-
ators (=, >, >=, <, <=, <>). The result is a scalar logical value. Every pair of corre-
sponding elements is tested, and if any pair fails the test, the value 0 (FALSE) is returned;
otherwise, the value 1 (TRUE) is returned.

For example,
if result <> value then
run crect
endif

It is possible for a vector to be not greater than, not less than, and not equal to a second vec-
tor. For example:
vector(2) v1
vector(2) v2
v1(1) = 1
v1(2) = 2
v2(1) = 2
272—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

v2(2) = 1

Since the first element of V1 is smaller than the first element of V2, V1 is not greater than
V2. Since the second element of V1 is larger than the second element of V2, V1 is not less
than V2. The two vectors are not equal.

Matrix Commands and Functions

EViews provides a number of commands and functions that allow you to work with the con-
tents of your matrix objects. These commands and functions may be divided into roughly
four distinct types: (1) utility commands and functions, (2) element functions, (3) matrix
algebra functions, and (4) descriptive statistics functions.

Utility Commands and Functions

The utility commands and functions provide support for creating, manipulating, and assign-
ing values to your matrix objects. We have already seen a number of these commands and
functions, including the @convert (p. 664) function and the stom (p. 692) command, both
of which convert data from series and groups into vectors and matrices, as well as @vec
(p. 699), @vech (p. 699), @rowextract (p. 689), @columnextract (p. 662), and mat-
place (p. 681).

A random sampling of other useful commands and functions include:

matrix a = @ones(10, 5)

which creates a 10  5 matrix of ones,

vector f = @getmaindiagonal(x)

which extracts the main diagonal from the square matrix X,

matrix g = @explode(sym01)

which creates a square matrix from the symmetric matrix object SYM01, and
matrix h1 = @resample(y)
matrix h2 = @permute(y)

which create matrices by randomly drawing (with replacement) from, and by permuting, the
rows of Y.

A full listing of the matrix commands and functions is included in the matrix summary
on “Matrix Command and Function Summary” on page 653.

Element Functions
EViews offers two types of functions that work with individual elements of a matrix object.
First, most of the element functions that may be used in series expressions can used with
 Matrix Commands and Functions—273

matrix objects. When used with a matrix object, these functions will return a similar object
whose elements are the values of a function evaluated at each element of the original.

For example, you may specify

matrix f = @log(y)

to compute the logarithm of each element of the matrix Y.

Similarly,
matrix tprob = @ctdist(x, df)

evaluates the cumulative distribution function value for the t-distribution for each element
of the matrix X and places the results in the corresponding cells of the matrix TPROB. Note
that DF may either be a scalar, or a matrix object of the same type and size as X.

(See “Basic Mathematical Functions” on page 549, “Special Functions” on page 566, “Trigo-
nometric Functions” on page 569, and “Statistical Distribution Functions” on page 569 for
summaries of the various element functions.)

Second, EViews provides a set of element functions for performing element-by-element

matrix multiplication, division, inversion, and exponentiation. For example, to obtain a
matrix Z containing the inverse of every element in X, you may use:
matrix z = @einv(x)

Likewise, to compute the elementwise (Hadamard) product of the matrices A and B, you
may use
matrix ab = @emult(a, b)

The (i,j)-th element of the matrix AB will contain the product of the corresponding elements
of A and B: a ij  b ij .

See “Matrix Element Functions” on page 655 for details.

Matrix Algebra Functions

The matrix algebra functions allow you to perform common matrix algebra operations.
Among other things, you can use these routines to compute eigenvalues, eigenvectors and
determinants of matrices, to invert matrices, to solve linear systems of equations, and to per-
form singular value decompositions.

For example, to compute the inner product of two vectors A and B, you may use
scalar ip = @inner(a, b)

To compute the Cholesky factorization of a symmetric matrix G,

matrix cf = @cholesky(g)

The least squares coefficient vector for the data matrix X and vector Y may be computed as
274—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

vector b= @inverse(@inner(x))*@transpose(x)*y

A listing of the matrix algebra functions and commands is provided in “Matrix Algebra
Functions” on page 655.

Descriptive Statistics Functions

The descriptive statistics functions compute summary statistics for the data in the matrix
object. You can compute statistics such as the mean, median, minimum, maximum, and
variance, over all of the elements in your matrix.

For example,
scalar xmean = @mean(xmat)

computes the mean taken over all of the non-missing elements of the matrix XMAT, and
assigns the values to the scalar XMEAN. Similarly, the commands
scalar xquant95 = @quantile(xmat, .95)

computes the .95 quantile of the elements in XMAT.

Functions for computing descriptive statistics are discussed in “Descriptive Statistics” on

page 552.

In addition, there are functions for computing statistics for each column in a matrix.
vector xmeans = @cmean(xmat)

computes the mean for each column of XMAT and assigns the values to the vector XMEANS.
vector xmin = @cmin(xmat)

saves the column minimums in the vector XMIN. If, instead you wish to find the index of
the minimum element for the column, you may use @cimin instead:
vector ximin = @cimin(xmat)

The column statistics are outlined in “Matrix Column Functions” on page 656.

Functions versus Commands

A function generally takes arguments, and always returns a result. Functions are easily iden-
tified by the initial “@” character in the function name.

There are two basic ways that you can use a function. First, you may assign the result to an
EViews object. This object may then be used in other EViews expressions, providing you
with access to the result in subsequent calculations. For example:
matrix y = @transpose(x)

stores the transpose of matrix X in the matrix Y. Since Y is a standard EViews matrix, it may
be used in all of the usual expressions.
 Matrix Commands and Functions—275

Second, you may use a function as part of a matrix expression. Since the function result is
used in-line, it will not be assigned to a named object, and will not be available for further
use. For example, the command:
scalar z = vec1*@inverse(v1+v2)*@transpose(vec1)

uses the results of the @inverse and @transpose functions in forming the scalar expres-
sion assigned to Z. These function results will not be available for subsequent computations.

By contrast, a command takes object names and expressions as arguments, and operates on
the named objects. Commands do not return a value.

Commands, which do not have a leading “@” character, must be issued alone on a line, and
may not be used as part of a matrix expression. For example, to convert a series X to a vector
V1, you would enter:
stom(x, v1)

Because the command does not return any values, it may not be used in a matrix expres-
sion.

NA Handling
As noted above, most of the methods of moving data from series and groups into matrix
objects will automatically drop observations containing missing values. It is still possible,
however, to encounter matrices which contain missing values.

For example, the automatic NA removal may be overridden using the stomna command.
Additionally, some of the element operators may generate missing values as a result of stan-
dard matrix operations. For example, taking element-by-element logarithms of a matrix
using @log will generate NAs for all cells containing nonpositive values.

EViews follows two simple rules for handling matrices that contain NAs. For all operators,
commands, and functions (with the exception of the descriptive statistics functions), EViews
works with the full matrix object, processing NAs as required. For descriptive statistic func-
tions, EViews automatically drops NAs when performing the calculation. These rules imply
the following:
• Matrix operators will generate NAs where appropriate. Adding together two matrices
that contain NAs will yield a matrix containing NAs in the corresponding cells. Multi-
plying two matrices will result in a matrix containing NAs in the appropriate rows and
columns.
• All matrix algebra functions and commands will generate NAs, since these operations
are undefined. For example, the Cholesky factorization of a matrix that contains NAs
will contain NAs.
276—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

• All utility functions and commands will work as before, with NAs treated like any
other value. Copying the contents of a vector into a matrix using colplace (p. 662)
will place the contents, including NAs, into the target matrix.
• All of the matrix element functions will propagate NAs when appropriate. Taking the
absolute value of a matrix will yield a matrix containing absolute values for non-miss-
ing cells and NAs for cells that contain NAs.
• The descriptive statistics functions are based upon the non-missing subset of the ele-
ments in the matrix. You can always find out how many values were used in the com-
putations by using the @obs or the @nas functions.

Matrix Views and Procs

The individual object descriptions in the Object Reference list the various views and procs for
the various matrix objects. Listings are available for matrices (“Matrix,” on page 378), vec-
tors (“Vector,” on page 869), symmetric matrices (“Sym,” on page 699), rowvectors
(“Rowvector,” on page 501), and coefs (“Coef” on page 16).

Matrix Graph and Statistics Views

All of the matrix objects, with the exception of the scalar object, have windows and views.
For example, you may display line and bar graphs for each column of the 10  5 matrix Z:
z.line
z.bar(p)

Each column will be plotted against the row number of the matrix.

Additionally, you can compute descriptive statistics for each column of a matrix, as well as
the correlation and covariance matrix between the columns of the matrix:
z.stats
z.cor
z.cov

By default, EViews performs listwise deletion by column when computing correlations and
covariances, so that each group of column statistics is computed using the largest possible
set of observations.

The full syntax for the commands to display and print these and other views is provided in
the reference for the specific object (e.g., matrix, sym) in the Object Reference.

Matrix Input and Output

EViews provides you with the ability to read and write files directly from matrix objects
using the read and write procedures.
 Matrix Operations versus Loop Operations—277

You must supply the name of the source file. If you do not include the optional path specifi-
cation, EViews will look for the file in the default directory. The input specification follows
the source file name. Path specifications may point to local or network drives. If the path
specification contains a space, you must enclose the entire expression in double quotes “”.

In reading from a file, EViews first fills the matrix with NAs, places the first data element in
the “(1,1)” element of the matrix, then continues to read the data by row or by column,
depending upon the options set.

The following command reads data into MAT1 from an Excel file CPS88 in the network drive
specified in the path directory. The data are read by column, and the upper left data cell is
A2.
mat1.read(a2,s=sheet3) "\\net1\dr 1\cps88.xls"

To read the same file by row, you should use the “t” option:
mat1.read(a2,t,s=sheet3) "\\net1\dr 1\cps88.xls"

To write data from a matrix, use the write keyword, enter the desired options, then the
name of the output file. For example:
mat1.write mydt.txt

writes the data in MAT1 into the ASCII file “Mydt.TXT” located in the default directory.

There are many more options for controlling reading and writing of matrix data; Chapter 5.
“Basic Data Handling,” on page 119 of User’s Guide I offers extensive discussion. See also
the descriptions for the matrix procs Matrix::read and Matrix::write (similar descrip-
tions are available for the other matrix objects.)

Matrix Operations versus Loop Operations

You may perform matrix operations using element operations and loops instead of the built-
in functions and commands. For example, the inner product of two vectors may be com-
puted by evaluating the vectors element-by-element:
scalar inprod1 = 0
for !i = 1 to @rows(vec1)
inprod1 = inprod1 + vec1(!i)*vec2(!i)
next

This approach will, however, generally be much slower than using the built-in function:
scalar inprod2 = @inner(vec1, vec2)

You should use the built-in matrix operators rather than loop operators whenever you can.
The matrix operators are always much faster than the equivalent loop operations.
278—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

Similarly, suppose, for example, that you wish to subtract the column mean from each ele-
ment of a matrix. Such a calculation might be useful in constructing a fixed effects regres-
sion estimator. First, consider a slow method involving only loops and element operations:
matrix x = @convert(mygrp1)
scalar xsum
for !i = 1 to @columns(x)
xsum = 0
for !j = 1 to @rows(x)
xsum = xsum+x(!j,!i)
next
xsum = xsum/@rows(x)
for !j = 1 to @rows(x)
x(!j,!i) = x(!j,!i)-xsum
next
next

The loops are used to compute a mean for each column of data in X, and then to subtract
the value of the mean from each element of the column. A faster method for subtracting col-
umn means uses the built-in operators and functions:
matrix x = @convert(mygrp1)
vector xmean = @cmeans(x)
x = x - @scale(@ones(@rows(x), @columns(x)),@transpose(xmean))

The first line converts the data in MYGRP1 into the matrix X. The second line computes the
column means of X and saves the results in XMEAN. The last line subtracts the matrix of
column means from X. Note that we first create a temporary matrix of ones, then use the
@scale function to scale each column using the element in the corresponding column of the
transpose of XMEAN.

Summary of Automatic Resizing of Matrix Objects

When you perform a matrix object assignment, EViews will resize, where possible, the des-
tination object to accommodate the contents of the source matrix. This resizing will occur if
the destination object type can be modified and sized appropriately and if the values of the
destination may be assigned without ambiguity. You can, for example, assign a matrix to a
vector and vice versa, you can assign a scalar to a matrix, but you cannot assign a matrix to
a scalar since EViews does not permit scalar resizing.

The following table summarizes the rules for resizing of matrix objects as a result of declara-
tions of the form
object_type y = x
 Summary of Automatic Resizing of Matrix Objects—279

where object_type is an EViews object type, or is the result of an assignment statement for Y
after an initial declaration, as in:
object_type y
y = x

Each row of the table corresponds to the specified type of the destination object, Y. Each col-
umn represents the type and size of the source object, X. Each cell of the table shows the
type and size of object that results from the declaration or assignment.

Object type and size for source X

Object type for Y coef(p) matrix(p,q)
coef(k) coef(p) invalid
matrix(n,k) matrix(p,1) matrix(p,q)
rowvector(k) rowvector(p) invalid
scalar invalid invalid
sym(k) invalid sym(p) if p=q
vector(n) vector(p) invalid

Object type and size for source X

Object type for Y rowvector(q) scalar
coef(k) coef(q) coef(k)
matrix(n,k) matrix(1,q) matrix(n,k)
rowvector(k) rowvector(q) rowvector(k)
scalar invalid scalar
sym(k) invalid invalid
vector(n) rowvector(q) vector(n)

Object type and size for source X

Object type for Y sym(p) vector(p)
coef(k) invalid coef(p)
matrix(n,k) matrix(p,p) matrix(p,1)
rowvector(k) invalid vector(p)
scalar invalid invalid
sym(k) sym(p) invalid
vector(n) invalid vector(p)
280—Chapter 11. Matrix Language

For example, consider the command

matrix(500,4) y = x

where X is a coef of size 50. The object type is given by examining the table entry corre-
sponding to row “matrix Y” ( n  500, k  4 ), and column “coef X” ( p  50 ). The
entry reads “matrix( p, 1 )”, so that the result Y is a 50  1 matrix.

Similarly, the command:

vector(30) y = x

where X is a 10 element rowvector, yields the 10 element rowvector Y. In essence, EViews

first creates the 30 element rowvector Y, then resizes it to match the size of X, then finally
assigns the values of X to the corresponding elements of Y.
Chapter 12. Command Reference

Commands
The following list summarizes the EViews basic commands.

Commands for working with matrix objects are listed in Chapter 18. “Matrix Language Ref-
erence,” on page 653, and EViews programming expressions are described in Chapter 19.
“Programming Language Reference,” beginning on page 701.

A list of views and procedures available for each EViews object may be found in Chapter 1.
“Object View and Procedure Reference,” on page 2 of the Object Reference.

Command Actions
do .........................execute action without opening window (p. 349).
freeze....................create view object (p. 362).
print .....................print view (p. 454).
show.....................show object window (p. 473).

Global Commands
cd .........................change default directory (p. 305).
exit .......................exit the EViews program (p. 352).
output...................redirect printer output (p. 428).
param ...................set parameter values (p. 453).
rndseed .................set the seed of the random number generator (p. 463).
smpl .....................set the sample range (p. 476).

Object Creation Commands

alpha ....................alpha series.
coef.......................coefficient vector.
data ......................enter data from keyboard (p. 339).
equation................equation object.
factor ....................factor analysis object.
frml ......................numeric or alpha series object with a formula for auto-updating
(p. 363).
genr ......................numeric or alpha series object (p. 365).
graph ....................graph object—create using a graph command or by merging exist-
ing graphs.
group ....................group object.
link.......................series or alpha link object.
282—Chapter 12. Command Reference

logl ...................... likelihood object.

matrix .................. matrix object.
model................... model object.
pool ..................... pool object.
rowvector ............. rowvector object.
sample ................. sample object.
scalar ................... scalar object.
series ................... numeric series.
spool .................... spool object.
sspace .................. sspace object.
string ................... string object.
svector ................. svector object.
sym...................... sym object.
system.................. system object.
table..................... table object.
text ...................... text object.
userobj ................. user object.
valmap ................. valmap object.
var ....................... var estimation object.
vector................... vector object.

Object Container, Data, and File Commands

ccopy ................... copy series from DRI database (p. 305).
cfetch ................... fetch series from DRI database (p. 308).
clabel ................... display DRI series description (p. 310).
close .................... close object, program, or workfile (p. 310).
copy ..................... copy objects within and between workfiles, workfile pages, and
databases (p. 327).
db ........................ open or create a database (p. 340).
dbcopy ................. make copy of a database (p. 340).
dbcreate ............... create a new database (p. 342).
dbdelete ............... delete a database (p. 344).
dbopen ................. open a database (p. 344).
dbpack ................. pack a database (p. 346).
dbrebuild.............. rebuild a database (p. 347).
dbrename ............. rename a database (p. 347).
delete ................... delete objects from a workfile (p. 348).
driconvert............. convert the entire DRI database to an EViews database (p. 349).
expand ................. expand workfile range (p. 352).
 Commands—283

fetch .....................fetch objects from databases or databank files (p. 355).

hconvert ...............convert an entire Haver Analytics database to an EViews database
(p. 378).
hfetch ...................fetch series from a Haver Analytics database (p. 379).
hlabel ...................obtain label from a Haver Analytics database (p. 380).
import...................imports data from a foreign file or a previously saved workfile into
the current default workfile (p. 382).
importattr .............imports observation values stored inside one or more series in a
second workfile page into the attribute fields of objects within the
current workfile page (p. 390).
importmat .............imports data from a foreign file into a matrix object in the current
workfile (p. 392)
importtbl...............imports data from a foreign file into a table object in the current
workfile (p. 398).
load ......................load a workfile (p. 406).
logclear.................clear the log window corresponding to the program (p. 406).
logmode................set the log settings of specified message types (p. 407).
logmsg ..................add a line of text to the program log (p. 409).
logsave..................save the program log to a text file (p. 409).
open .....................open a program or text (ASCII) file (p. 418).
optsave .................save the current EViews global options settings .INI files into a
directory (p. 424).
optset....................replace the current EViews global options settings .INI files with
ones based in a different directory (p. 425).
pageappend...........append observations to workfile page (p. 430).
pagecontract..........contract workfile page (p. 431).
pagecopy...............copy contents of a workfile page (p. 432).
pagecreate.............create a workfile page (p. 434).
pagedelete.............delete a workfile page (p. 440).
pageload ...............load one or more pages into a workfile from a workfile or a foreign
data source (p. 440).
pagerefresh ...........refresh all links and auto-series in the active workfile page—primar-
ily used to refresh links that use external database data (p. 441).
pagerename...........rename a workfile page (p. 442).
pagesave ...............save page into a workfile or a foreign data source (p. 442).
pageselect .............make specified page active (p. 444).
pagestack ..............reshape the workfile page by stacking observations (p. 445).
pagestruct .............apply a workfile structure to the page (p. 448).
284—Chapter 12. Command Reference

pageunlink ........... break links in all link objects and auto-updating series (formulae) in
the active workfile page (p. 450).
pageunstack ......... reshape the workfile page by unstacking observations into multiple
series (p. 451).
range.................... reset the workfile range (p. 458).
read ..................... import data from a foreign disk file into series (p. 458).
save ..................... save workfile to disk (p. 468).
sort ...................... sort the workfile (p. 479).
store..................... store objects in database and databank files (p. 484).
unlink .................. break links and auto-updating series (formulae) in the specified
series objects (p. 501).
wfclose................. close the active workfile (p. 507).
wfcompare ........... compare the contents of the current workfile or page with the con-
tents of a different workfile, page, or database (p. 510).
wfcreate ............... create a new workfile (p. 510).
wfdetails .............. change the details displayed in the current workfile window
(p. 514).
wfopen................. open workfile or foreign source data as a workfile (p. 515).
wfrefresh.............. refresh all links and auto-series in the active workfile—primarily
used to refresh links that use external database data (p. 528).
wfsave.................. save workfile to disk as a workfile or a foreign data source (p. 529).
wfselect................ change active workfile page (p. 532).
wfstats ................. display the workfile statistics and summary view (p. 533).
wfunlink .............. break links in all link objects and auto-updating series (formulae) in
the active workfile (p. 533).
wfuse ................... activate a workfile (p. 534).
workfile ............... create or change active workfile (p. 535).
write .................... write series to a disk file (p. 535).

Object Utility Commands

close .................... close window of an object, program, or workfile (p. 310).
copy ..................... copy objects (p. 327).
delete ................... delete objects (p. 348).
rename................. rename object (p. 461).

Object Assignment Commands

data...................... enter data from keyboard (p. 339).
frml...................... assign formula for auto-updating to a numeric or alpha series object
(p. 363).
genr ..................... create numeric or alpha series object (p. 365).
 Commands—285

rndint ...................assign random integer values to object (p. 462).

rndseed .................set random number generator seed (p. 463).

Graph Creation Commands

Graph creation is discussed in detail in “Graph Creation Command Summary” on page 895
of the Object Reference. All of the page numbers in this section refer to the Object Reference.
area ......................area graph (p. 897).
band .....................area band graph (p. 900).
bar........................bar graph (p. 902).
boxplot .................boxplot graph (p. 907).
distplot .................distribution graph (p. 909).
dot........................dot plot graph (p. 916).
errbar ...................error bar graph (p. 920).
hilo.......................high-low(-open-close) graph (p. 922).
line .......................line-symbol graph (p. 924).
mixed ...................mixed type graph (p. 927).
pie ........................pie chart (p. 930).
qqplot ...................quantile-quantile graph (p. 932).
scat.......................scatterplot (p. 936).
scatmat .................matrix of all pairwise scatterplots (p. 941).
scatpair .................scatterplot pairs graph (p. 944).
seasplot.................seasonal line graph (p. 948).
spike.....................spike graph (p. 949).
xyarea...................XY area graph (p. 953).
xybar ....................XY bar graph (p. 956).
xyline ...................XY line graph (p. 958).
xypair ...................XY pairs graph (p. 961).

Table Commands
setcell ...................format and fill in a table cell (p. 469).
setcolwidth ...........set width of a table column (p. 471).
setline...................place a horizontal line in table (p. 472).
tabplace ................insert a table into another table (p. 489).

Note that with the exception of tabplace, these commands are supported primarily for
backward compatibility. There is a more extensive set of table procs for working with and
customizing tables. See “Table Procs,” on page 770 of the Object Reference.

Programming Commands
addin ....................register an Add-in (p. 288).
286—Chapter 12. Command Reference

adduo................... register a user object (p. 290).

commandcap ........ send text to the command capture window (p. 327).
exec ..................... execute a program (p. 350).
logclear ................ clears the log window of a program (p. 406).
logmode ............... sets logging of specified messages (p. 407).
logmsg ................. adds a line of text to the program log (p. 409).
logsave ................. saves the program log to a text file (p. 409).
open..................... open a program file (p. 418).
optimize............... find the solution to a user-defined optimization problem (p. 419).
output .................. redirects print output to objects or files (p. 428).
poff ...................... turns off automatic printing in programs (p. 718).
pon ...................... turns on automatic printing in programs (p. 718).
program ............... create a new program (p. 455).
run....................... run a program (p. 467).
spawn .................. spawn a new process (p. 480).
statusline.............. send message to the status line (p. 482).
tic ........................ reset the timer (p. 494).
toc ....................... display elapsed time (since timer reset) in seconds (p. 495).

External Interface Commands

xclose................... close an open connection to an external application (p. 537).
xget...................... retrieve data from an external application into an EViews object
(p. 537).
xlog...................... switch on or off the external application log inside EViews (p. 540).
xopen................... open a connection to an external application (p. 540).
xput ..................... send an EViews object to an external application (p. 542).
xrun..................... run a command in an external application (p. 544).

Interactive Use Commands

The following commands have object command forms (e.g., Equation::arch). These
commands are particularly suited for interactive command line use. In general, we recom-
mend that you use the object forms of the commands.
arch ..................... estimate autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH and
GARCH) models (p. 291).
archtest ................ LM test for the presence of ARCH in the residuals (p. 295).
ardl ...................... least squares with autoregressive distributed lags (p. 296).
auto ..................... Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test
(p. 298).
binary .................. binary dependent variable models (includes probit, logit, gompit)
models (p. 299).
 Commands—287

breakls.................. least squares with breakpoints and breakpoint determination

(p. 370).
cause ....................pairwise Granger causality tests (p. 304).
censored ...............estimate censored and truncated regression (includes tobit) models
(p. 306).
chow.....................Chow breakpoint and forecast tests for structural change (p. 309).
coint .....................cointegration test (p. 311).
cointreg.................estimate cointegrating equation using FMOLS, CCR, or DOLS
(p. 319).
cor ........................correlation matrix (p. 334).
count ....................count data modeling (includes poisson, negative binomial and
quasi-maximum likelihood count models) (p. 335).
cov .......................covariance matrix (p. 337).
cross .....................cross correlogram (p. 338).
data ......................enter data from keyboard (p. 339).
facbreak ................factor breakpoint test for stability (p. 352).
factest ...................estimate a factor analysis model (p. 353).
fit .........................static forecast from an equation (p. 358).
forecast .................dynamic forecast from an equation (p. 360).
glm .......................estimate a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) (p. 365).
gmm .....................estimate an equation using generalized method of moments
(p. 370).
heckit ...................estimate a selection equation using the Heckman ML or 2-step
method (p. 376).
hist .......................histogram and descriptive statistics (p. 380).
hpf........................Hodrick-Prescott filter (p. 381).
liml.......................estimate an equation using Limited Information Maximum Likeli-
hood and K-class Estimation (p. 404).
logit ......................logit (binary) estimation (p. 407).
ls ..........................equation using least squares or nonlinear least squares (p. 410).
midas....................estimate an equation using Mixed Data Sampling (MIDAS) regres-
sion (p. 416).
ordered .................ordinal dependent variable models (includes ordered probit,
ordered logit, and ordered extreme value models) (p. 426).
probit....................probit (binary) estimation (p. 455).
qreg ......................estimate an equation using quantile regression (p. 455).
reset......................Ramsey’s RESET test for functional form (p. 461).
robustls.................robust regression (M-estimation, S-estimation and MM-estimation)
(p. 464).
288—Chapter 12. Command Reference

seas...................... seasonal adjustment for quarterly and monthly time series (p. 469).
smooth................. exponential smoothing (p. 474).
solve .................... solve a model (p. 478).
stats ..................... descriptive statistics (p. 481).
stepls ................... estimate an equation using stepwise regression (p. 483).
switchreg ............. exogenous and Markov switching regression (p. 486).
testadd ................. likelihood ratio test for adding variables to equation (p. 490).
testdrop ................ likelihood ratio test for dropping variables from equation (p. 491).
threshold.............. threshold least squares, including threshold autoregression (p. 491).
tsls ....................... estimate an equation using two-stage least squares regression
(p. 496).
ubreak.................. Andrews-Quandt test for unknown breakpoint (p. 500).
uroot .................... unit root test (p. 502).
varest ................... specify and estimate a VAR or VEC (p. 506).

Command Entries
The following section provides an alphabetical listing of commands. Each entry outlines the
command syntax and associated options, and provides examples and cross references.

addin Programming Commands

Register a program file as an EViews Add-in.

Syntax
addin(options) [path\]prog_name

registers the specified program file as an EViews Add-in. Note that the program file should
have a “.PRG” extension, which you need not specify in the prog_name.

If you do not provide the optional path specification, EViews looks for the program file in
the default EViews Add-ins directory.

Explicit path specifications containing “.\” and “..\” (to indicate the current level and one
directory level up) are evaluated relative the directory of the installer program in which the
addin command is specified, or the EViews default directory if addin is run from the com-
mand line.

You may use the special “<addins>”directory keyword in your path specification.
 addin—289

Options
type=arg Specify the Add-ins type, where arg is the name of a
EViews object type. The default is to create a global Add-
in.
Specifying an object-specific Add-in using a matrix object
as in “type=matrix”, “type=vector”, etc. will register the
Add-in for all matrix object types (including coef, rowvec-
tor, and sym objects).
Sample objects do not support object-specific Add-ins so
that “type=sample” is not allowed.
proc=arg User--defined command/procedure name. If omitted, the
Add-in will not have a command form.
menu=arg Text for the Add-in menu entry. If omitted, the Add-in will
not have an associated menu item.
Note that you may use the “&” symbol in the entry text to
indicate that the following character should be used as a
menu shortcut.
desc=arg Brief description of the Add-in that will be displayed in the
Add-ins management dialog.
docs=arg Path and filename for the Add-in documentation. Determi-
nation of the path follows the rules specified above for the
addin filename.
version=arg Version number of the Add-in. If no version number is sup-
plied, EViews will assume version 1.0.
url=arg Specify the location of an XML file containing information
on the Add-in used for updating the Add-in to the latest
version. If not supplied, EViews will default to an XML file
hosted on the EViews website.
nowarn Removes the prompt warning that an add-in already exists
with the same name (and forces an overwrite of that add-
in).

Examples
addin(proc="myaddin", desc="This is my add-in", version="1.0")
.\myaddin.prg

registers the file “Myaddin.prg” as a global Add-in, with the user-defined global command
myaddin, no menu support, and no assigned documentation file. The description “This is
my add-in” will appear in the main Add-ins management dialog. The version number is
“1.0”. Note that the “.\” indicates the directory from which the program containing the
addin command was run, or the EViews default directory if addin is run interactively.
290—Chapter 12. Command Reference

addin(type="graph", menu="Add US Recession Shading",

proc="recshade", docs=".\recession shade.txt", desc="Applies US
recession shading to a graph object.") .\recshade.prg

registers the file “Recshade.prg” as a graph specific Add-in. The Add-in supports the object-
command recshade, has an object-specific menu item “Add US Recession Shading”, and
has a documentation file “Recession shade.txt”.
addin(type=equation, menu="Simple rolling regression", proc=roll,
docs="<addins>\Roll\Roll.pdf", desc="Rolling Regression -
simple version", url="www.mysite.com/myaddins.xml",
version="1.2") "<addins>\Roll\roll.prg"

registers the Add-in file “Roll.prg” as an equation specific Add-in. Note that the documenta-
tion and program files are located in the “Roll” subdirectory of the default Add-ins directory.
The XML file located at www.mysite.com/myaddins.xml is used when checking for avail-
able updates for the Add-in, and the current version number is set to “1.2”.

Cross-references
See Chapter 8. “Add-ins,” on page 187 for a detailed discussion of Add-ins.

adduo Programming Commands

Register an EViews user object class.

Syntax
adduo(options) [path\]definition_name

registers the specified definition file as an EViews user object. Note that the definition file
should have a “.INI” extension.

If you do not provide the optional path specification, EViews looks for the program file in
the default EViews user objects directory.

Explicit path specifications containing “.\” and “..\” (to indicate the current level and one
directory level up) are evaluated relative the directory of the installer program in which the
adduo command is specified, or the EViews default directory if adduo is run from the com-
mand line.
 arch—291

Options
name=arg Specify the name of the user object class.
desc=arg Brief description of the user object that will be displayed in
the user object management dialog.
docs=arg Path and filename for the user object documentation.
Determination of the path follows the rules specified above
for the adduo filename.
version=arg Version number of the Add-in. If no version number is sup-
plied, EViews will assume version 1.0.
url=arg Specify the location of an XML file containing information
on the Add-in used for updating the Add-in to the latest
version. If not supplied, EViews will default to an XML file
hosted on the EViews website.

Examples
adduo(name="roll", desc="Rolling Regression Object") .\rolldef.ini

registers the roll class of user object, specifying a description of “Rolling Regression Object”,
and using the definition file rolldef.ini, located in the same folder as the installer program.
adduo(name="resstore", version="1.0",
url="www.mysite.com/myuos.xml") .\resstoredef.ini

registers the resstore class of user object, specifying the version number as “1.0”, and using
the XML file located at “www.mysite.com/myuos.xml” to check for updates.

Cross-references
See Chapter 9. “User Objects,” on page 213 for a discussion of user objects.

arch Interactive Use Commands

Estimate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models.

Syntax
arch(p,q,options) y [x1 x2 x3] [@ p1 p2 [@ t1 t2]]
arch(p,q,options) y=expression [@ p1 p2 [@ t1 t2]]

The ARCH command estimates a model with p ARCH terms and q GARCH terms. Note the
order of the arguments in which the ARCH and GARCH terms are entered, which gives prece-
dence to the ARCH term.
292—Chapter 12. Command Reference

The maximum value for p or q is 9; values above will be set to 9. The minimum value for
p is 1. The minimum value for q is 0. If either p or q is not specified, EViews will assume
a corresponding order of 1. Thus, a GARCH(1, 1) is assumed by default.

After the “ARCH” keyword, specify the dependent variable followed by a list of regressors in
the mean equation.

By default, no exogenous variables (except for the intercept) are included in the conditional
variance equation. If you wish to include variance regressors, list them after the mean equa-
tion using an “@”-sign to separate the mean from the variance equation.

When estimating component ARCH models, you may specify exogenous variance regressors
for the permanent and transitory components. After the mean equation regressors, first list
the regressors for the permanent component, followed by an “@”-sign, then the regressors
for the transitory component. A constant term is always included as a permanent compo-
nent regressor.

Options
General Options
egarch Exponential GARCH.
parch[=arg] Power ARCH. If the optional arg is provided, the power
parameter will be set to that value, otherwise the power
parameter will be estimated.
cgarch Component (permanent and transitory) ARCH.
asy=integer Number of asymmetric terms in the Power ARCH or
(default=1) EGARCH model. The maximum number of terms allowed is
9.
thrsh=integer Number of threshold terms for GARCH and Component
(default=0) models. The maximum number of terms allowed is 9. For
Component models, “thrsh” must take a value of 0 or 1.
archm=arg ARCH-M (ARCH in mean) specification with the condi-
tional standard deviation (“archm=sd”), the conditional
variance (“archm=var”), or the log of the conditional vari-
ance (“archm= log”) entered as a regressor in the mean
equation.
tdist [=number] Estimate the model assuming that the residuals follow a
conditional Student’s t-distribution (the default is the con-
ditional normal distribution). Providing the optional num-
ber greater than two will fix the degrees of freedom to that
value. If the argument is not provided, the degrees of free-
dom will be estimated.
 arch—293

ged [=number] Estimate the model assuming that the residuals follow a
conditional GED (the default is the conditional normal dis-
tribution). Providing a positive value for the optional argu-
ment will fix the GED parameter. If the argument is not
provided, the parameter will be estimated.
z Turn of backcasting for both initial MA innovations and ini-
tial variances.
backcast=n Backcast weight to calculate value used as the presample
conditional variance. Weight needs to be greater than 0 and
less than or equal to 1; the default value is 0.7. Note that a
weight of 1 is equivalent to no backcasting, i.e. using the
unconditional residual variance as the presample condi-
tional variance.
optmethod = arg Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “legacy”
(EViews legacy).
“bfgs” is the default for new equations.
optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt - default); “dogleg”
(Dogleg); “linesearch” (Line search).
(Applicable when “optmethod=bfgs”, “optmethod=new-
ton” or “optmethod=opg”.)
b Use Berndt-Hall-Hall-Hausman (BHHH) as maximization
algorithm. The default is Marquardt.
(Applicable when “optmethod=legacy”.)
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich method), “bollerslev”
(Bollerslev-Wooldridge method).
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian), “
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=” with
“cov=ordinary”.)
h Bollerslev-Wooldridge robust quasi-maximum likelihood
(QML) covariance/standard errors.
(Applicable for “optmethod=legacy” when estimating
assuming normal errors.)
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients.
294—Chapter 12. Command Reference

s Use the current coefficient values in “C” as starting values

(see also param (p. 453)).
s=number Specify a number between zero and one to determine start-
ing values as a fraction of preliminary LS estimates (out of
range values are set to “s=1”).
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
-fastderiv EViews will follow the global default.
Available only for legacy estimation (“optmeth=legacy”).
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print estimation results.

GARCH options
vt Variance target of the constant term. (Can’t be used with
integrated specifications).
integrated Restrict GARCH model to be integrated, i.e. IGARCH. (Can’t
be used with variance targeting).

Saved results
Most of the results saved for the ls command are also available after ARCH estimation; see
ls (p. 410) for details.

Examples
arch(4, 0, m=1000, cov=bollerslev) sp500 c

estimates an ARCH(4) model with a mean equation consisting of the series SP500 regressed
on a constant. The procedure will perform up to 1000 iterations, and will report Bollerslev-
Wooldridge robust QML standard errors upon completion.

The commands:
c = 0.1
arch(thrsh=1, s, mean=var) @pch(nys) c ar(1)
 archtest—295

estimate a TARCH(1, 1)-in-mean specification with the mean equation relating the percent
change of NYS to a constant, an AR term of order 1, and a conditional variance (GARCH)
term. The first line sets the default coefficient vector to 0.1, and the “s” option uses these
values as coefficient starting values.

The command:
arch(1, 2, asy=0, parch=1.5, ged=1.2) dlog(ibm)=c(1)+c(2)*
dlog(sp500) @ r

estimates a symmetric Power ARCH(2, 1) (autoregressive GARCH of order 2, and moving

average ARCH of order 1) model with GED errors. The power of model is fixed at 1.5 and the
GED parameter is fixed at 1.2. The mean equation consists of the first log difference of IBM
regressed on a constant and the first log difference of SP500. The conditional variance equa-
tion includes an exogenous regressor R.

Cross-references
See Chapter 25. “ARCH and GARCH Estimation,” on page 231 of User’s Guide II for a discus-
sion of ARCH models.

See Equation::garch (p. 92) in the Object Reference for the equivalent object command.
See also Equation::garch (p. 92) and Equation::makegarch (p. 123) in the Object Ref-
erence.

archtest Interactive Use Commands

Test for autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH).

Carries out Lagrange Multiplier (LM) tests for ARCH in the residuals.

Note that a more general version of the ARCH test is available using Equation::archtest
(p. 44) as described in the Object Reference.

Syntax
archtest(options)

Options
You must specify the order of ARCH for which you wish to test. The number of lags to be
included in the test equation should be provided in parentheses after the arch keyword.
Other Options:
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print output from the test.
296—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
ls output c labor capital
archtest(4)

Regresses OUTPUT on a constant, LABOR, and CAPITAL, and tests for ARCH up to order 4.
equation eq1.arch sp500 c
archtest(4)

Estimates a GARCH(1,1) model with mean equation of SP500 on a constant and tests for
additional ARCH up to order 4. Note that when performing an archtest after an arch esti-
mation, EViews uses the standardized residuals (the residual of the mean equation divided
by the estimated conditional standard deviation) to form the test.

Cross-references
See “ARCH LM Test” on page 186 of User’s Guide II for further discussion of testing ARCH
and Chapter 25. “ARCH and GARCH Estimation,” on page 231 of User’s Guide II for a discus-
sion of working with ARCH models in EViews.

See Equation::archtest (p. 44) in the Object Reference for the equivalent object com-
mand. See Equation::hettest (p. 106) in the Object Reference for a more general version
of the ARCH test.

ardl Interactive Use Commands

Estimate an equation with autoregressive distributed lags using least squares.

Syntax
ardl(options) dynamic_eqn @ static_regs

The dynamic equation should be the dependent variable followed by a list of dynamic
regressors (regressors with lags). The static regressors should be a list of static regressors,
not including a constant or trend term.
 ardl—297

Options
fixed Do not use automatic selection for lag lengths. This option
must be used with the deplags= and reglags= options.
deplags=int Set the number of lags for the dependent variable to int. If
automatic selection is used, this sets the maximum number
of possible lags. If fixed lags are used (the fixed option is
set), this fixes the number of lags.
reglags=int Set the number of lags for the explanatory variables
(dynamic regressors) to int. If automatic selection is used,
this sets the maximum number of possible lags. If fixed
lags are used (the fixed option is set), this fixes the number
of lags for each regressor.
trend=key Set the trend specification. key may take values of “const”
(include a constant, default), “none” (do not include a
trend or constant), or “linear” (include both a constant and
a linear trend).
ic=key Set the method of automatic model selection. key may take
values of “aic” (Akaike information criterion, default),
“bic” (Schwarz criterion), “hq” (Hannan-Quinn criterion)
or “rbar2” (Adjusted R-squared, not applicable in panel
workfiles).
nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing
coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

Examples
wfopen http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~wgreene/Text/Edition7/TableF5-
2.txt
ardl(deplags=8, reglags=8) log(realcons) log(realgdp) @
@expand(@quarter, @droplast)

This example uses data from Greene (2008, page 685), containing quarterly US macroeco-
nomic variables between 1950 and 2000. The first line of this example downloads the data
set, the second line creates an equation object and estimates an ARDL model with the log of
real consumption as the dependent variable, and the log of real GDP as a dynamic regressor.
298—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Quarterly dummy variables are included as static regressors. Automatic model selection is
used to determine the number of lags of log(realcons) and log(realgdp).
ardl(deplags=3, reglags=3, fixed) log(realcons) log(realgdp) @
@expand(@quarter, @droplast)

This command estimates a second model, replicating Example 20.4 from Greene, estimating
a model fixed at 3 lags of the dependent variable and 3 lags of the regressor.
wfopen oecd.wf1
ardl(fixed, deplags=1, reglags=1) log(cons) log(inf) log(inc)

This example estimates a panel ARDL model using the workfile OECD.wf1. This model rep-
licates that given in the original Pesaran, Shin and Smith 1999 paper. Model selection is not
used to choose the optimal lag lengths, rather a fixed single lag of both the dependent vari-
able and the regressor are used.

Cross-references
See “Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Models,” beginning on page 283 of User’s Guide
II for further discussion.

auto Interactive Use Commands

Compute serial correlation LM (Lagrange multiplier) test.

Carries out Breusch-Godfrey Lagrange Multiplier (LM) tests for serial correlation in the esti-
mation residuals from the default equation.

Syntax
auto(order, options)

You must specify the order of serial correlation for which you wish to test. You should spec-
ify the number of lags in parentheses after the auto keyword, followed by any additional
options.

Options
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print output from the test.

Examples
To regress OUTPUT on a constant, LABOR, and CAPITAL, and test for serial correlation of
up to order four you may use the commands:
ls output c labor capital
 binary—299

auto(4)

The commands:
output(t) c:\result\artest.txt
equation eq1.ls cons c y y(-1)
auto(12, p)

perform a regression of CONS on a constant, Y and lagged Y, and test for serial correlation of
up to order twelve. The first line redirects printed tables/text to the “Artest.TXT” file.

Cross-references
See “Serial Correlation LM Test” on page 96 of User’s Guide II for further discussion of the
Breusch-Godfrey test.

See Equation::auto (p. 48) in the Object Reference for the corresponding equation view.

binary Interactive Use Commands

Estimate binary dependent variable models.

Estimates models where the binary dependent variable Y is either zero or one (probit, logit,
gompit).

Syntax
binary(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...]
binary(options) specification

Options
d=arg Specify likelihood: normal likelihood function, probit
(default=“n”) (“n”), logistic likelihood function, logit (“l”), Type I
extreme value likelihood function, Gompit (“x”).
optmethod = arg Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “legacy”
(EViews legacy).
Newton-Raphson is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dog-
leg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich method), “glm” (GLM
method).
300—Chapter 12. Command Reference

covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”

(observed Hessian - default).
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=”.)
h Huber-White quasi-maximum likelihood (QML) standard
errors and covariances.
(Legacy option applicable when “optmethod=legacy”).
g GLM standard errors and covariances.
(Legacy option applicable when “optmethod=legacy”).
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in “C” as starting values
(see also param (p. 453)).
s=number Specify a number between zero and one to determine start-
ing values as a fraction of EViews default values (out of
range values are set to “s=1”).
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

Examples
To estimate a logit model of Y using a constant, WAGE, EDU, and KIDS, and computing
Huber-White standard errors, you may use the command:
binary(d=l,cov=huber) y c wage edu kids

Note that this estimation uses the default global optimization options. The commands:
param c(1) .1 c(2) .1 c(3) .1
binary(s) y c x2 x3

estimate a probit model of Y on a constant, X2, and X3, using the specified starting values.
The commands:
coef beta_probit = @coefs
matrix cov_probit = @coefcov
 breakls—301

store the estimated coefficients and coefficient covariances in the coefficient vector
BETA_PROBIT and matrix COV_PROBIT.

Cross-references
See “Binary Dependent Variable Models” on page 315 of User’s Guide II for additional dis-
cussion.

See Equation::binary (p. 49) in the Object Reference for the corresponding equation
method.

breakls Interactive Use Commands

Estimation by linear least squares regression with breakpoints.

Syntax
breakls(options) y z1 [z2 z3 ...] [@nv x1 x2 x3 ...]

List the dependent variable first, followed by a list of the independent variables that have
coefficients which are allowed to vary across breaks, followed optionally by the keyword
@nv and a list of non-varying coefficient variables.

Options
Breakpoint Options
method=arg Breakpoint selection method: “seqplus1” (sequential
(default=“seqplus1”) tests of single l  1 versus l breaks), “seqall”
(sequential test of all possible l  1 versus l breaks),
“glob” (tests of global l vs. no breaks), “globplus1”
(tests of l  1 versus l globally determined breaks),
“globinfo” (information criteria evaluation), “user”
(user-specified break dates).
select=arg Sub-method setting (options depend on “method=”).
(1) if “method=glob”: Sequential (“seq”) (default),
Highest significant (“high”), UDmax (“udmax”),
WDmax (“wdmax”).
(2) if “method=globinfo”: Schwarz criterion (“bic” or
“sic”) (default), Liu-Wu-Zidek criterion (“lwz”).
trim=arg (default=5) Trimming percentage for determining minimum segment
size (5, 10, 15, 20, 25).
maxbreaks=integer Maximum number of breakpoints to allow (not applica-
(default=5) ble if “method=seqall”).
maxlevels=integer Maximum number of break levels to consider in sequen-
(default=5) tial testing (applicable when “method=sequall”).
302—Chapter 12. Command Reference

breaks="arg" User-specified break dates entered in double quotes. For

use when “method=user”.
size=arg (default=5) Test sizes for use in sequential determination and final
test evaluation (10, 5, 2.5, 1) corresponding to 0.10,
0.05, 0.025, 0.01, respectively
heterr Assume regimes specific error distributions in variance
computation.
commondata Assume a common distribution for the data across seg-
ments (only applicable if original equation is estimated
with a robust covariance method, “heterr” is not speci-
fied).

General Options
w=arg Weight series or expression.
wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-
(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
cov=keyword Covariance type (optional): “white” (White diagonal
matrix), “hac” (Newey-West HAC).
nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing
coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
covlag=arg Whitening lag specification: integer (user-specified lag
(default=1) value), “a” (automatic selection).
covinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
covmaxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum
13
of T .
 breakls—303

covkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),

(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
covbw=arg Kernel Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed),
(default=“fixednw” “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-
) West automatic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
covnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric kernel bandwidth selection (if “covbw=newey-
west”).
covbwoffset=inte- Apply integer offset to bandwidth chosen by automatic
ger (default=0) selection method (“bw=andrews” or “bw=neweywest”).
covbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth chosen by automatic
selection method (“bw=andrews” or “bw=neweywest”).
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector; the default
behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vector.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print basic estimation results.

Examples
breakls m1 c unemp

uses the Bai-Perron sequential L  1 versus L tests to determine the optimal breaks in a
model regressing M1 on the breaking variables C and UNEMP.
breakls(method=glob, select=high) m1 c unemp

uses the global Bai-Perron L versus none tests to determine the breaks. The selected break
will be the highest significant number of breaks.
breakls(size=5, trim=10) m1 c unemp

lowers the sequential test size from 0.10 to 0.05, and raises the trimming to 10 percent.
breakls(method=user, break=”1990q1 2010q4”) m1 c @nv unemp

estimates the model with two user-specified break dates. In addition, the variable UNEMP is
restricted to have common coefficients across the regimes.

Cross-reference
See Chapter 5. “Least Squares with Breakpoints,” beginning on page 425 of User’s Guide II
for discussion. See also “Multiple Breakpoint Tests” on page 198 of User’s Guide II.
304—Chapter 12. Command Reference

See Equation::multibreak (p. 133) of Object Reference for estimation of regression equa-
tions with breaks.

cause Interactive Use Commands

Granger causality test.

Performs pairwise Granger causality tests between (all possible) pairs of the listed series or
group of series.

Syntax
cause(n, options) ser1 ser2 ser3

Following the keyword, list the series or group of series for which you wish to test for
Granger causality.

Options
You must specify the number of lags n to use for the test by providing an integer in paren-
theses after the keyword. Note that the regressors of the test equation are a constant and the
specified lags of the pair of series under test.
Other options:
prompt Force tcointehe dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print output of the test.

Examples
To compute Granger causality tests of whether GDP Granger causes M1 and whether M1
Granger causes GDP, you may enter the command:
cause(4) gdp m1

The regressors of each test are a constant and four lags of GDP and M1.
cause(12,p) m1 gdp r

prints the result of six pairwise Granger causality tests for the three series. The regressors of
each test are a constant and twelve lags of the two series under test (and do not include
lagged values of the third series).

Cross-references
See “Granger Causality” on page 566 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of Granger’s
approach to testing hypotheses about causality.

See also Group::cause (p. 288) in the Object Reference for the corresponding group view.
 cd—305

ccopy Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Copy one or more series from the DRI Basic Economics database to EViews data bank
(.DB) files.

You must have the DRI database installed on your computer to use this feature.

Syntax
ccopy series_name

Type the name of the series or wildcard expression for series you want to copy after the
ccopy keyword. The data bank files will be stored in the default directory with the same
name as the series names in the DRI database. You can supply path information to indicate
the directory for the data bank files.

Examples
The command:
ccopy lhur

copies the DRI series LHUR to “Lhur.DB” file in the default path directory.
ccopy b:gdp c:\nipadata\gnet

copies the GDP series to the “Gdp.DB” file in the “B:” drive and the GNET series to the
“Gnet.DB” file in “c:\nipadata”.

Cross-references
See also cfetch (p. 308), clabel (p. 310), store (p. 484), fetch (p. 355).

cd Global Commands

Change default directory.

The cd command changes the current default working directory. The current working direc-
tory is displayed in the “Path=...” message in the bottom right of the EViews window.

Note that the default directory is not used for processing of include files (see include
(p. 713)).

Syntax
cd path_name
306—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
To change the default directory to “sample data” in the “a:” drive, you may issue the com-
mand:
cd "a:\sample data"

Notice that the directory name is surrounded by double quotes. If your name does not con-
tain spaces, you may omit the quotes. The command:
cd a:\test

changes the default directory to “a:\test”.

cd “<myonedrive>:\test

changes the default directory to the cloud location, MYONEDRIVE.

Subsequent save operations will save into the default directory, unless you specify a differ-
ent directory at the time of the operation.

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of User’s Guide I for further discussion of basic
operations in EViews.

See also “include” on page 713, wfsave (p. 529), pagesave (p. 442), and save (p. 468).

censored Interactive Use Commands

Estimation of censored and truncated models.

Estimates models where the dependent variable is either censored or truncated. The allow-
able specifications include the standard Tobit model.

Syntax
censored(options) y x1 [x2 x3]
censored(options) specification

Options
l=number Set value for the left censoring limit.
(default=0)
r=number Set value for the right censoring limit.
(default=none)
l=series_name, i Set series name of the indicator variable for the left censor-
ing limit.
 censored—307

r=series_name, i Set series name of the indicator variable for the right cen-
soring limit.
t Estimate truncated model.
d=arg Specify error distribution: normal (“n”), logistic (“l”), Type
(default=“n”) I extreme value (“x”).
optmethod = arg Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “legacy”
(EViews legacy).
Newton-Raphson is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dog-
leg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich method).
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian - default).
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=”).
h Huber-White quasi-maximum likelihood (QML) standard
errors and covariances.
(Legacy option Applicable when “optmethod=legacy”).
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in “C” as starting values
(see also param (p. 453)).
s=number Specify a number between zero and one to determine start-
ing values as a fraction of EViews default values (out of
range values are set to “s=1”).
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.
308—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
The command:
censored(cov=huber) hours c wage edu kids

estimates a censored regression model of HOURS on a constant, WAGE, EDU, and KIDS with
QML standard errors. This command uses the default normal likelihood, with left-censoring
at HOURS=0, no right censoring, and the quadratic hill climbing algorithm.

Cross-references
See Chapter 2. “Discrete and Limited Dependent Variable Models,” on page 315 of User’s
Guide II for discussion of censored and truncated regression models.

See Equation::censored (p. 59) in the Object Reference for the corresponding equation
method.

cfetch Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Fetch a series from the DRI Basic Economics database into a workfile.

cfetch reads one or more series from the DRI Basic Economics Database into the active
workfile. You must have the DRI database installed on your computer to use this feature.

Syntax
cfetch series_name

Examples
cfetch lhur gdp gnet

reads the DRI series LHUR, GDP, and GNET into the current active workfile, performing fre-
quency conversions if necessary.

Cross-references
EViews’ automatic frequency conversion is described in “Frequency Conversion,” beginning
on page 160 of User’s Guide I.

See also ccopy (p. 305), clabel (p. 310), store (p. 484), fetch (p. 355).

chdir Global Commands

Change default directory.

See cd (p. 305).

 chow—309

chow Interactive Use Commands

Chow test for stability.

Carries out Chow breakpoint or Chow forecast tests for parameter constancy.

Syntax
chow(options) obs1 [obs2 obs3 ...] @ x1 x2 x3

You must provide the breakpoint observations (using dates or observation numbers) to be
tested. To specify more than one breakpoint, separate the breakpoints by a space. For the
Chow breakpoint test, if the equation is specified by list and contains no linear terms, you
may specify a subset of the regressors to be tested for a breakpoint after an “@” sign.

Options
f Chow forecast test. For this option, you must specify a sin-
gle breakpoint to test (default performs breakpoint test).
p Print the result of test.

Examples
The commands:
ls m1 c gdp cpi ar(1)
chow 1970Q1 1980Q1

perform a regression of M1 on a constant, GDP, and CPI with first order autoregressive
errors, and employ a Chow breakpoint test to determine whether the parameters before the
1970’s, during the 1970’s, and after the 1970’s are “stable”.

To regress the log of SPOT on a constant, the log of P_US, and the log of P_UK, and to carry
out the Chow forecast test starting from 1973, enter the commands:
ls log(spot) c log(p_us) log(p_uk)
chow(f) 1973

To test whether only the constant term and the coefficient on the log of P_US prior to and
after 1970 are “stable” enter the commands:
chow 1970 @ c log(p_us)

Cross-references
See “Chow's Breakpoint Test” on page 194 of User’s Guide II for further discussion.
310—Chapter 12. Command Reference

See also ubreak (p. 500). See Equation::facbreak (p. 86), Equation::breaktest
(p. 56), Equation::ubreak (p. 173), and Equation::rls (p. 153) in the Object Reference
for related equation object views.

clabel Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Display a DRI Basic Economics database series description.

clabel reads the description of a series from the DRI Basic Economics Database and dis-
plays it in the status line at the bottom of the EViews window.

Use this command to verify the contents of a given DRI database series name. You must
have the DRI database installed on your computer to use this feature.

Syntax
clabel series_name

Examples
clabel lhur

displays the description of the DRI series LHUR on the status line.

Cross-references
See also ccopy (p. 305), cfetch (p. 308), read (p. 458), fetch (p. 355).

close Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Close object, program, or workfile.

Closing an object eliminates its window. If the object is named, it is still displayed in the
workfile as an icon, otherwise it is deleted. Closing a program or workfile eliminates its win-
dow and removes it from memory. If a workfile has changed since you activated it, you will
see a dialog box asking if you want to save it to disk.

Syntax
close option_or_name

Options
option_or_name may be either an object name or one of the following options:
 coint—311

@all Close down everything. This is the same as clicking on

Close All from the EViews main menu.
@objects Close down all objects. This is the same as clicking on
Close All Objects from the EViews main menu.
@wf Close down all open workfiles.
@db Close down all open databases.
@prg Close down all open program files.

Examples
close gdp graph1 table2

closes the three objects GDP, GRAPH1, and TABLE2.

lwage.hist
close lwage

opens the LWAGE window and displays the histogram view of LWAGE, then closes the win-
dow.
close @all

closes all windows within EViews.

close @objects

closes all objects in EViews, leaving workfiles, programs, and database windows open.

Cross-references
See Chapter 1. “Introduction,” on page 5 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of basic control of
EViews.

See also exit (p. 352) and save (p. 468).

coint Interactive Use Commands

Perform either (1) Johansen’s system cointegration test, (2) Engle-Granger or Phillips-
Ouliaris single equation cointegration testing, or (3) Pedroni, Kao, or Fisher panel cointe-
gration testing for the specified series.

Syntax
There are three forms for the coint command which depend on the form of the test you
wish to perform:
312—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Johansen Cointegration Test Syntax

coint(test_option, n, option) ser1 ser2 [...ser3 ser4 ...] [@ x1 x2 x3 ...]

uses the coint keyword followed by the test_option and the number of lags n, and if
desired, an “@”-sign followed by a list of exogenous variables. The first option must be one
of the following six test options:

a No deterministic trend in the data, and no intercept or

trend in the cointegrating equation.
b No deterministic trend in the data, and an intercept but no
trend in the cointegrating equation.
c Linear trend in the data, and an intercept but no trend in
the cointegrating equation.
d Linear trend in the data, and both an intercept and a trend
in the cointegrating equation.
e Quadratic trend in the data, and both an intercept and a
trend in the cointegrating equation.
s Summarize the results of all 5 options (a-e).

Options for the Johansen Test

restrict Impose restrictions as specified by the append (coint)
proc.
m = integer Maximum number of iterations for restricted estimation
(only valid if you choose the restrict option).
c = scalar Convergence criterion for restricted estimation. (only valid
if you choose the restrict option).
save = mat_name Stores test statistics as a named matrix object. The save=
option stores a  k  1   4 matrix, where k is the num-
ber of endogenous variables in the VAR. The first column
contains the eigenvalues, the second column contains the
maximum eigenvalue statistics, the third column contains
the trace statistics, and the fourth column contains the log
likelihood values. The i-th row of columns 2 and 3 are the
test statistics for rank i – 1 . The last row is filled with
NAs, except the last column which contains the log likeli-
hood value of the unrestricted (full rank) model.
 coint—313

cvtype=ol Display 0.05 and 0.01 critical values from Osterwald-

Lenum (1992).
This option reproduces the output from version 4. The
default is to display critical values based on the response
surface coefficients from MacKinnon-Haug-Michelis
(1999). Note that the argument on the right side of the
equals sign are letters, not numbers 0-1).
cvsize=arg Specify the size of MacKinnon-Haug-Michelis (1999) criti-
(default=0.05) cal values to be displayed. The size must be between
0.0001 and 0.9999; values outside this range will be reset to
the default value of 0.05. This option is ignored if you set
“cvtype=ol”.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

This type of cointegration testing may be used in a non-panel workfile. For Fisher combined
testing using the Johansen framework, see below. The remaining options for the Johansen
cointegration test are outlined below (“Options for the Johansen Test” on page 312).

Note that the output for cointegration tests displays p-values for the rank test statistics.
These p-values are computed using the response surface coefficients as estimated in MacK-
innon, Haug, and Michelis (1999). The 0.05 critical values are also based on the response
surface coefficients from MacKinnon-Haug-Michelis. Note: the reported critical values
assume no exogenous variables other than an intercept and trend.

Single Equation Test Syntax

coint(method=arg, options) ser1 ser2 [...ser3 ser4 ...] [@determ determ_spec] [@reg-
determ regdeterm_spec]

where
method=arg Test method: Engle-Granger residual test (“eg”), Phillips-
Ouliaris residual test (“po”).

Cointegrating equation specifications that include a constant, linear, or quadratic trends,

should use the “trend=” option to specify those terms. If any of those terms are in the sto-
chastic regressors equations but not in the cointegrating equation, they should be specified
using the “regtrend=” option.

Deterministic trend regressors that are not covered by the list above may be specified using
the keywords @determ and @regdeterm. To specify deterministic trend regressors that enter
into the regressor and cointegrating equations, you should add the keyword @determ fol-
lowed by the list of trend regressors. To specify deterministic trends that enter in the regres-
314—Chapter 12. Command Reference

sor equations but not the cointegrating equation, you should include the keyword
@regdeterm followed by the list of trend regressors.

Note that the p-values for the test statistics are based on simulations, and do not account for
any user-specified deterministic regressors.

This type of cointegration testing may be used in a non-panel workfile. The remaining
options for the single equation cointegration tests are outlined below.

Options for Single Equation Tests

Options for the Engle-Granger Test
The following options determine the specification of the Engle-Granger test (Augmented
Dickey-Fuller) equation and the calculation of the variances used in the test statistic.

trend=arg Specification for the powers of trend to include in the

(default=“const”) cointegrating equation: None (“none”), Constant (“const”),
Linear trend (“linear”), Quadratic trend (“quadratic”).
Note that the specification implies all trends up to the
specified order so that choosing a quadratic trend
instructs EViews to include a constant and a linear trend
term along with the quadratic.
regtrend=arg Additional trends to include in the regressor equations (but
(default=“none”) not the cointegrating equation): None (“none”), Constant
(“const”), Linear trend (“linear”), Quadratic trend (“qua-
dratic”). Only trend orders higher than those specified by
“trend=” will be considered.
Note that the specification implies all trends up to the
specified order so that choosing a quadratic trend
instructs EViews to include a constant and a linear trend
term along with the quadratic.
lag=arg Method of selecting the lag length (number of first differ-
(default=“a”) ence terms) to be included in the regression: “a” (auto-
matic information criterion based selection), or integer
(user-specified lag length).
lagtype=arg Information criterion or method to use when computing
(default=“sic”) automatic lag length selection: “aic” (Akaike), “sic”
(Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn), “msaic” (Modified
Akaike), “msic” (Modified Schwarz), “mhqc” (Modified
Hannan-Quinn), “tstat” (t-statistic).
 coint—315

maxlag=integer Maximum lag length to consider when performing auto-

matic lag-length selection
14
default= int(min( T – k   3, 12)   T  100  )
where k is the number of coefficients in the cointegrat-
ing equation. Applicable when “lag=a”.
lagpval=number Probability threshold to use when performing automatic
(default=0.10) lag-length selection using a t-test criterion. Applicable
when both “lag=a” and “lagtype=tstat”.
nodf Do not degree-of-freedom correct estimates of the vari-
ances.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

Options for the Phillips-Ouliaris Test

The following options control the computation of the symmetric and one-sided long-run
variances in the Phillips-Ouliaris test.

Basic Options:

trend=arg Specification for the powers of trend to include in the

(default=“const”) cointegrating equation: None (“none”), Constant (“const”),
Linear trend (“linear”), Quadratic trend (“quadratic”).
Note that the specification implies all trends up to the
specified order so that choosing a quadratic trend
instructs EViews to include a constant and a linear trend
term along with the quadratic.
regtrend=arg Additional trends to include in the regressor equations (but
(default=“none”) not the cointegrating equation): None (“none”), Constant
(“const”), Linear trend (“linear”), Quadratic trend (“qua-
dratic”). Only trend orders higher than those specified by
“trend=” will be considered.
Note that the specification implies all trends up to the
specified order so that choosing a quadratic trend
instructs EViews to include a constant and a linear trend
term along with the quadratic.
nodf Do not degree-of-freedom correct the coefficient covariance
estimate.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

HAC Whitening Options:

316—Chapter 12. Command Reference

lag=arg (default=0) Lag specification: integer (user-specified lag value), “a”

(automatic selection).
infosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
maxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum.

HAC Kernel Options:

kern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),

(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
bw=arg Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed), “andrews”
(default=“nwfixed”) (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-West auto-
matic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
nwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric bandwidth selection (if “bw=neweywest”).
bwint Use integer portion of bandwidth.

Panel Syntax
coint(option) ser1 ser2 [...ser3 ser4 ...]

The coint command tests for cointegration among the series in the group. The second form
of the command should be used with panel structured workfiles.

Options for the Panel Tests

For panel cointegration tests, you may specify the type using one of the following keywords:
Pedroni (default) Pedroni (1994 and 2004).
Kao Kao (1999)
Fisher Fisher - pooled Johansen

Depending on the type selected above, the following may be used to indicate deterministic
trends:
 coint—317

const (default) Include a constant in the test equation.

Applicable to Pedroni and Kao tests.
trend Include a constant and a linear time trend in the test equa-
tion.
Applicable to Pedroni tests.
none Do not include a constant or time trend.
Applicable to Pedroni tests.
a, b, c, d, or e Indicate deterministic trends using the “a”, “b”, “c”, “d”,
and “e” keywords, as detailed above in “Options for the
Johansen Test” on page 312.
Applicable to Fisher tests.

Additional Options:

ac=arg Method of estimating the frequency zero spectrum: “bt”

(default=“bt”) (Bartlett kernel), “pr” (Parzen kernel), “qs” (Quadratic
Spectral kernel).
Applicable to Pedroni and Kao tests.
band=arg Method of selecting the bandwidth, where arg may be
(default=“nw”) “nw” (Newey-West automatic variable bandwidth selec-
tion), or a number indicating a user-specified common
bandwidth.
Applicable to Pedroni and Kao tests.
lag=arg For Pedroni and Kao tests, the method of selecting lag
length (number of first difference terms) to be included in
the residual regression. For Fisher tests, a pair of numbers
indicating lag.
infosel=arg Information criterion to use when computing automatic lag
(default=“sic”) length selection: “aic” (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc”
(Hannan-Quinn).
Applicable to Pedroni and Kao tests.
maxlag=int Maximum lag length to consider when performing auto-
matic lag length selection, where int is an integer. The
default is
14
int(min  T i  3, 12    T i  100  )
where T i is the length of the cross-section.
Applicable to Pedroni and Kao tests.
disp=arg Maximum number of individual results to be displayed.
(default=500)
318—Chapter 12. Command Reference

prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

p Print results.

Examples
Johansen test
coint(s,4) x y z

summarizes the results of the Johansen cointegration test for the series X, Y, and Z for all
five specifications of trend. The test equation uses lags of up to order four.
Engle-Granger Test
coint(method=eg) x y z

performs the default Engle-Granger test on the residuals from a cointegrating equation
which includes a constant. The number of lags is determined using the SIC criterion and an
observation-based maximum number of lags.
coint(method=eg, trend=linear, lag=a, lagtype=tstat, lagpval=.15,
maxlag=10) x y z

employs a cointegrating equation that includes a constant and linear trend, and uses a
sequential t-test starting at lag 10 with threshold probability 0.15 to determine the number
of lags.
coint(method=eg, lag=5) x y z

conducts an Engle-Granger cointegration test on the residuals from a cointegrating equation

with a constant, using a fixed lag of 5.
Phillips-Ouliaris Test
coint(method=po) x y z

performs the default Phillips-Ouliaris test on the residuals from a cointegrating equation
with a constant, using a Bartlett kernel and Newey-West fixed bandwidth.
coint(method=po, bw=andrews, kernel=quadspec, nodf) x y z

estimates the long-run covariances using a Quadratic Spectral kernel, Andrews automatic
bandwidth, and no degrees-of-freedom correction.
coint(method=po, trend=linear, lag=1, bw=4) x y z

estimates a cointegrating equation with a constant and linear trend, and performs the Phil-
lips-Ouliaris test on the residuals by computing the long-run covariances using AR(1) pre-
whitening, a fixed bandwidth of 4, and the Bartlett kernel.
Panel Tests
For a panel structured workfile,
coint(pedroni,maxlag=3,infosel=sic) x y z
 cointreg—319

performs Pedroni’s residual-based panel cointegration test with automatic lag selection with
a maximum lag limit of 3. Automatic selection based on Schwarz criterion.

Cross-references
See Chapter 20. “Cointegration Testing,” on page 961 of User’s Guide II for details on the var-
ious cointegration tests.

See Equation::coint (p. 64) and Group::coint (p. 290) in the Object Reference for the
related object routines.

cointreg Interactive Use Commands

Estimate a cointegrating equation using Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS), Canonical Cointe-
grating Regression (CCR), or Dynamic OLS (DOLS) in single time series settings, and Panel
FMOLS and DOLS in panel workfiles.

Syntax
cointreg(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...] [@determ determ_spec] [@regdeterm regdeter-
m_spec]

List the coint keyword, followed by the dependent variable and a list of the cointegrating
variables.

Cointegrating equation specifications that include a constant, linear, or quadratic trends,

should use the “trend=” option to specify those terms. If any of those terms are in the sto-
chastic regressors equations but not in the cointegrating equation, they should be specified
using the “regtrend=” option.

Deterministic trend regressors that are not covered by the list above may be specified using
the keywords @determ and @regdeterm. To specify deterministic trend regressors that enter
into the regressor and cointegrating equations, you should add the keyword @determ fol-
lowed by the list of trend regressors. To specify deterministic trends that enter in the regres-
sor equations but not the cointegrating equation, you should include the keyword
@regdeterm followed by the list of trend regressors.
320—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Basic Options
method=arg Estimation method: Fully Modified OLS (“fmols”), Canoni-
(default=“fmols”) cal Cointegrating Regression (“ccr”), Dynamic OLS (“dols”)
Note that CCR estimation is not available in panel set-
tings.
trend=arg Specification for the powers of trend to include in the
(default=“const”) cointegrating and regressor equations: None (“none”),
Constant (“const”), Linear trend (“linear”), Quadratic trend
(“quadratic”).
Note that the specification implies all trends up to the
specified order so that choosing a quadratic trend
instructs EViews to include a constant and a linear trend
term along with the quadratic.
regtrend=arg Additional trends to include in the regressor equations (but
(default=“none”) not the cointegrating equation): None (“none”), Constant
(“const”), Linear trend (“linear”), Quadratic trend (“qua-
dratic”). Only trend orders higher than those specified by
“trend=” will be considered.
Note that the specification implies all trends up to the
specified order so that choosing a quadratic trend
instructs EViews to include a constant and a linear trend
term along with the quadratic.
regdiff Estimate the regressor equation innovations directly using
the difference specifications.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector; the default
behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vector.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

In addition to these options, there are specialized options for each estimation method.

Panel Options
panmethod=arg Panel estimation method: pooled (“pooled”), pooled
(default=“pooled”) weighted (“weighted”), grouped (“grouped”)
pancov=sandwich Estimate the coefficient covariance using a sandwich
method that allows for cross-section heterogeneity.
 cointreg—321

Options for FMOLS and CCR

To estimate FMOLS or CCR use the “method=fmols” or “method=ccr” options. The follow-
ing options control the computation of the symmetric and one-sided long-run covariance
matrices and the estimate of the coefficient covariance.
HAC Whitening Options

lag=arg (default=0) Lag specification: integer (user-specified lag value), “a”

(automatic selection).
infosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
maxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum.

HAC Kernel Options

kern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),

(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniell), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
bw=arg Bandwidth:: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed), “andrews”
(default=“nwfixed”) (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-West auto-
matic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
nwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric bandwidth selection (if “bw=neweywest”).
bwoffset=integer Apply integer offset to bandwidth chosen by automatic
(default=0) selection method (“bw=andrews” or “bw=neweywest”).
bwint Use integer portion of bandwidth chosen by automatic
selection method (“bw=andrews” or “bw=neweywest”).

Coefficient Covariance

nodf Do not degree-of-freedom correct the coefficient covariance

estimate.
322—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Panel Options

hetfirst Estimate the first-stage regression assuming heterogeneous

coefficients. For FMOLS specifications estimated using
pooled or pooled weighted methods
(“panmethod =pooled”, “panmethod=weighted”)

Options for DOLS

To estimate using DOLS use the “method=dols” option. The following options control the
specification of the lags and leads and the estimate of the coefficient covariance.

lltype=arg Lag-lead method: fixed values (“fixed”), automatic selec-

(default=“fixed”) tion - Akaike (“aic”), automatic - Schwarz (“sic”), auto-
matic - Hannan-Quinn (“hqc”), None (“none”).
lag=arg Lag specification: integer (required user-specified number
of lags if “lltype=fixed”).
lead=arg Lead specification: integer (required user-specified number
of lags if “lltype=fixed”).
maxll=integer Maximum lag and lead-length for automatic selection
(optional user-specified integer if “lltype=” is used to
specify automatic selection). The default is an observation-
based maximum.
cov=arg Coefficient covariance method: (default) long-run variance
scaled OLS, unscaled OLS (“ols”), White (“white”),
Newey-West (“hac”).
nodf Do not degree-of-freedom correct the coefficient covariance
estimate.

For the default covariance calculation or “cov=hac”, the following options control the com-
putation of the long-run variance or robust covariance:
HAC Covariance Whitening Options (if default covariance or “cov=hac”)

covlag=arg Lag specification: integer (user-specified lag value), “a”

(default=0) (automatic selection).
covinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
covmaxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum.
 cointreg—323

HAC Covariance Kernel Options (if default covariance or “cov=hac”)

covkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),

(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
covbw=arg Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed), “andrews”
(default=“nwfixed”) (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-West auto-
matic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
covnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric bandwidth selection (if “covbw=neweywest”).
covbwoffset=integer Apply integer offset to bandwidth chosen by automatic
(default=0) selection method (“bw=andrews” or “bw=neweywest”).
covbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth chosen by automatic
selection method (“bw=andrews” or “bw=neweywest”).

Panel Options
Weighted coefficient or coefficient covariance estimation in panel DOLS requires individual
estimates of the long-run variances of the residuals. You may compute these estimates using
the standard default long-run variance options, or you may choose to estimate it using the
ordinary variance.

For weighted estimation we have:

panwgtlag=arg Lag specification: integer (user-specified lag value), “a”

(default=0) (automatic selection).
panwgtinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lrvarlag=a”).
panwgtmaxlag=inte- Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
ger “lrvarlag=a”). The default is an observation-based maxi-
mum.
panwgtkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),
(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniell), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
324—Chapter 12. Command Reference

panwgtbw=arg Bandwidth:: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed), “andrews”

(default=“nwfixed”) (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-West auto-
matic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
panwgtnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric bandwidth selection (if “bw=neweywest”).
panwgtbwoff- Apply offset to automatically selected bandwidth.
set=integer For settings where “cov=hac”, “covkern=” is specified,
(default=0) and “covbw=” is not user-specified.
panwgtbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth chosen by automatic
selection method (“bw=andrews” or “bw=neweywest”).

For the coefficient covariance estimation we have:

lrvar=ordinary Compute DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance

used in covariance calculation using the ordinary variance.
lrvarlag=arg For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used
(default=0) in covariance calculation, lag specification: integer (user-
specified lag value), “a” (automatic selection).
lrvarinfosel=arg For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used
(default=“aic”) in covariance calculation, information criterion for auto-
matic selection: “aic” (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc”
(Hannan-Quinn) (if “lrvarlag=a”).
lrvarmaxlag=integer For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used
in covariance calculation, maximum lag-length for auto-
matic selection (optional) (if “lrvarlag=a”). The default is
an observation-based maximum.
lrvarkern=arg For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used
(default=“bart”) in covariance calculation, Kernel shape: “none” (no ker-
nel), “bart” (Bartlett, default), “bohman” (Bohman), “dan-
iell” (Daniell), “parzen” (Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-
Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-Geometric), “parzcauchy”
(Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec” (Quadratic Spectral), “trunc”
(Truncated), “thamm” (Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-
Hanning), “tparz” (Tukey-Parzen).
lrvarbw=arg For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used
(default=“nwfixed”) in covariance calculation, bandwidth:: “fixednw” (Newey-
West fixed), “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest”
(Newey-West automatic), number (User-specified band-
width).
 cointreg—325

lrvarnwlag=integer For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used

in covariance calculation, Newey-West lag-selection param-
eter for use in nonparametric bandwidth selection (if
“bw=neweywest”).
lrvarbwoffset=inte- For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used
ger (default=0) in covariance calculation, apply offset to automatically
selected bandwidth.
For settings where “cov=hac”, “covkern=” is specified,
and “covbw=” is not user-specified.
lrvarbwint For DOLS estimates of the long-run residual variance used
in covariance calculation, use integer portion of band-
width.

Examples
FMOLS and CCR
To estimate, by FMOLS, the cointegrating equation for LC and LY including a constant, you
may use:
cointreg(nodf, bw=andrews) lc ly

The long-run covariances are estimated nonparametrically using a Bartlett kernel and a
bandwidth determined by the Andrews automatic selection method. The coefficient covari-
ances are estimated with no degree-of-freedom correction.

To include a linear trend term in a model where the long-run covariances computed using
the Quadratic Spectral kernel and a fixed bandwidth of 10, enter:
cointreg(trend=linear, nodf, bw=10, kern=quadspec) lc ly

A model with a cubic trend may be estimated using:

cointreg(trend=linear, lags=2, bw=neweywest, nwlag=10,
kernel=parzen) lc ly @determ @trend^3

Here, the long-run covariances are estimated using a VAR(2) prewhitened Parzen kernel
with Newey-West nonparametric bandwidth determined using 10 lags in the autocovariance
calculations.
cointreg(trend=quadratic, bw=andrews, lags=a, infosel=aic,
kernel=none, regdiff) lc ly @regdeterm @trend^3

estimates a restricted model with a cubic trend term that does not appear in the cointegrat-
ing equation using a parametric VARHAC with automatic lag length selection based on the
AIC. The residuals for the regressors equations are obtained by estimating the difference
specification.

To estimate by CCR, we provide the “method=ccr” option. The command

326—Chapter 12. Command Reference

cointreg(method=ccr, lag=2, bw=andrews, kern=quadspec) lc ly

estimates, by CCR, the constant only model using a VAR(2) prewhitened Quadratic Spectral
and Andrews automatic bandwidth selection.
cointreg(method=ccr, trend=linear, lag=a, maxlag=5, bw=andrews,
kern=quadspec) lc ly

modifies the previous estimates by adding a linear trend term to the cointegrating and
regressors equations, and changing the VAR prewhitening to automatic selection using the
default SIC with a maximum lag length of 5.
cointreg(method=ccr, trend=linear, regtrend=quadratic, lag=a,
maxlag=5, bw=andrews) lc ly

adds a quadratic trend term to the regressors equations only, and changes the kernel to the
default Bartlett.
DOLS
cointreg(method=dols, trend=linear, nodf, lag=4, lead=4) lc ly

estimates the linear specification using DOLS with four lags and leads. The coefficient cova-
riance is obtained by rescaling the no d.f.-correction OLS covariance using the long-run vari-
ance of the residuals computed using the default Bartlett kernel and default fixed Newey-
West bandwidth.
cointreg(method=dols, trend=quadratic, nodf, lag=4, lead=2,
covkern=bohman, covbw=10) lc ly @determ @trend^3

estimates a cubic specification using 4 lags and 2 leads, where the coefficient covariance
uses a Bohman kernel and fixed bandwidth of 10.
cointreg(method=dols, trend=quadratic, nodf, lag=4, lead=2,
cov=hac, covkern=bohman, covbw=10) lc ly @determ @trend^3

estimates the same specification using a HAC covariance in place of the scaled OLS covari-
ance.
cointreg(method=dols, trend=quadratic, lltype=none, cov=ols) lc ly
@determ @trend^3

computes the Static OLS estimates with the usual OLS d.f. corrected coefficient covariance.

Cross-references
See Chapter 26. “Cointegrating Regression,” beginning on page 255 of User’s Guide II for a
discussion of single equation cointegrating regression. See Chapter 18. “Panel Cointegration
Estimation,” beginning on page 911 of User’s Guide II for discussion of estimation in panel
settings.

See “Vector Error Correction (VEC) Models” on page 663 of User’s Guide II for a discussion
of VEC estimation.
 copy—327

See also coint (p. 311).

commandcap Programming Commands

Add comment to command capture window.

Syntax
commandcap arg

sends arg to the command capture window. Of particular use to add-in writers for sending
notifications to users.

Cross-references
See “Command Capture” on page 817 of the User’s Guide I for further details.

See also statusline (p. 482).

copy Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Copy an object, or a set of objects matching a name pattern, within and between workfiles,
workfile pages, and databases. Data in series objects may be frequency converted or match
merged.

Syntax
copy(options) src_spec dest_spec [src_id dest_id]
copy(options) src_spec dest_spec [@src src_ids @dest dest_id]

where src_spec and dest_spec are of the form:

[ctype][container::][page\]object_name

There are three parts to the copy command: (1) a specification of the location and names of
the source objects; (2) a specification of the location and names of the destination objects;
(3) optional source and destination IDs if the copy operation involves match merging.

The source and destination objects are specified in multiple (optional) parts: (1) the con-
tainer specification is the name of a workfile or database; (2) the page specification is the
name of a page within a workfile or a subdirectory within a database; and (3) the
object_name specification is the name of an object or a wildcard pattern corresponding to
multiple objects.

The ctype specification is rarely required, but permits you to specify precisely your source or
destination in cases where a database and workfile share the same name. In this case, ctype
may be used to indicate the container to which you are referring by prefixing the container
328—Chapter 12. Command Reference

name with “:” to indicate the workfile, or “::” to indicate the database with the common
name.

When parts of the source or destination specification are not provided, EViews will fill in
default values where possible. The default container is the active workfile, unless the “::”
prefix is used in which case the default container is the default database. The default page
within a workfile is always the active page. The default name for the destination object is
the name of the object within the source container.

If ID series are not provided in the command, then EViews will perform frequency conver-
sion when copying data whenever the source and destination containers have different fre-
quencies. If ID series are provided, then EViews will perform a general match merge
between the source and destination using the specified ID series. In the case where you wish
to copy your data using match merging with special treatment for date matching, you must
use the special keyword “@DATE” as an ID series for the source or destination. If “@DATE”
is not specified as an identifier in either the source or destination IDs, EViews will perform
an exact match merge using the given identifiers.

If ID series are not specified, but a conversion option requiring a general match merge is
used (e.g., “c=med”), “@DATE @DATE” will be appended to the list of IDs and a general
date match merge will be employed.

See Link::linkto (p. 353) in the Object Reference for additional discussion of the differ-
ences embodied in these choices.

The general syntax described above covers all possible uses of the copy command. The fol-
lowing paragraphs provide examples of the specific syntax used for some common cases of
the command.

Copying Within a Workfile

Copy an object within the default workfile page as a new object with a different name:
• copy(options) src_name dest_name

Copy an object from the src_page page into the default workfile page using the specified
name:
• copy(options) src_page\src_name dest_name

Copy an object from the src_page page into the dest_page page, keeping the same name:
• copy(options) src_page\src_names dest_page\

Copy an object from the src_page page to the default workfile page, match merging any
series data using a single src_id and a single dest_id identifier series:
• copy(options) src_page\src_name dest_name src_id dest_id
 copy—329

Copy an object from the src_page page to the dest_page match merging any series data using
multiple source and destination identifier series:
• copy(options) src_page\src_name dest_page\dest_name @src src_id1 src_id2 ...
src_id_n @dest dest_id1 dest_id2 ... dest_id_n

Copying Between Containers (Workfiles and Databases)

Copy one or more objects from the src_page of the workfile src_workfile to the dest_page of
the workfile dest_workfile, using the name or name pattern given in src_names:
• copy(options) src_workfile::src_page\src_names dest_workfile::dest_page\

Copy an object from database src_database to the default page in the container dest_con-
tainer:
• copy(options) src_database::src_name dest_container::dest_name

Note that if both a workfile and database exist matching the name provided in dest_con-
tainer, EViews will favor the workfile unless the “::” prefix is used to specify explicitly that
the database should be used.

Options
Basic Options

overwrite / o Overwrite any existing object with the destination name in

the destination container. Error only if a non-editable series
is encountered in the destination location.
merge / m If the source object is a series, merge the data from the
source series into any existing destination series, preserv-
ing any values in the destination series that are not present
in the source. For all other object types, overwrite any
existing object with the source object. Error if a non-edit-
able series is encountered in the destination location.
protect / p Protect objects in the destination location from overwriting
or merging. If there is an existing object in the destination
container, cancel the copy operation for that object, but do
not generate an error.
noerr Suppress errors that are generated during the copy. For
example, if the overwrite option is used, suppress any error
caused by attempting to overwrite a non-editable series
such as an index series used in the workfile structure.
link Link the object to the source data so that the values can be
refreshed at a later time.
330—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Group Copy Options

When copying a group object from workfile to database:

g=arg Method for copying group objects from a workfile to data-

base: “s” (copy group definition and series as separate
objects), “t” (copy group definition and series as one
object), “d” (copy series only as separate objects), “l”
(copy group definition only).

When copying a group object from a database to a workfile:

g=arg Method for copying group objects from a database or work-

file to a workfile: “b” (copy both group definition and
series), “d” (copy only the series), “l” (copy only the group
definition).

Note that copying a group object containing expressions or auto-updating series between
workfiles only copies the expressions, and not the underlying series.
Frequency Conversion Options
If the copy command does not specify identifier series, EViews will perform frequency con-
version of the data contained in series objects whenever the source and destination contain-
ers are dated, but do not have the same frequency.

If either of the pages are undated, EViews will, unless match merge options are provided (as
described below), perform a raw copy, in which the first observation in the source workfile
page is copied into the first observation in the destination page, the second observation in
the source into the second observation in the destination, and so forth.

The following options control the frequency conversion method when copying series and
group objects into a workfile page and converting from low to high frequency:

c=arg Low to high conversion methods: “r” (constant match aver-

age), “d” (constant match sum), “q” (quadratic match
average), “t” (quadratic match sum), “i” (linear match
last), “c” (cubic match last), “pointf” (point first), “pointl”
(point last), “dentonf” (Denton first), “dentonl” (Denton
last), “dentona” (Denton average), “dentons” (Denton
sum), “chowlinf” (Chow-Lin first), “chowlinl” (Chow-Lin
last), “chowlina” (Chow-Lin average),“chowlins” (Chow-
Lin sum), “litmanf” (Litterman first), “litmanl” (Litterman
last), “litmana” (Litterman average), “litmans” (Litterman
sum).
rho=arg Autocorrelation coefficient (for Chow-Lin and Litterman
conversions). Must be between 0 and 1, inclusive.
 copy—331

In addition, for Denton, Chow-Lin, and Litterman conversions, you must specify the indica-
tor series by appending the keyword “@indicator” followed by the series name or names at
the end of the copy command.

The following options control the frequency conversion method when copying series and
group objects into a workfile page and converting from high to low frequency:
c=arg High to low conversion methods removing NAs: “a” (aver-
age of the nonmissing observations), “s” (sum of the non-
missing observations), “f” (first nonmissing observation),
“l” (last nonmissing observation), “x” (maximum nonmiss-
ing observation), “m” (minimum nonmissing observation).
High to low conversion methods propagating NAs: “an” or
“na” (average, propagating missings), “sn” or “ns” (sum,
propagating missings), “fn” or “nf” (first, propagating
missings), “ln” or “nl” (last, propagating missings), “xn”
or “nx” (maximum, propagating missings), “mn” or “nm”
(minimum, propagating missings).

Note that if no conversion method is given in the command, the conversion method specified
within the series object will be used as the default. If the series does not contain an explicit
conversion method, the global option settings will used to determine the method.

Frequency conversion involving panel structured pages involves special handling:

• If both pages are dated panel pages that are structured with a single identifier, EViews
will perform frequency conversion cross-section by cross-section.
• Conversion from a dated panel page to a dated, non-panel page will first perform a
mean contraction across cross-sections to obtain a single time series (by computing
the means for each period), and then a frequency conversion of the resulting time
series to the new frequency.
• Conversion from a dated, non-panel page to a dated panel page will first involve a fre-
quency conversion of the single time series to the new frequency. The converted time
series will be used for each cross-section in the panel page.

In all three of these cases, all of the high-to-low conversion methods are supported, but low-
to-high frequency conversion only offers Constant-match average (repeating of the low fre-
quency observations).

Lastly, conversion involving a panel page with more than one dimension or an undated page
will default to raw data copy unless general match merge options are provided.
Match Merge Options
These options are available when ID series are specified in the copy commmand.
332—Chapter 12. Command Reference

smpl= Sample to be used when computing contractions during

smpl_spec copying using match merge. Either provide the sample
range in double quotes or specify a named sample object.
By default, EViews will use the entire workfile sample
“@ALL”.
c=arg Set the match merge contraction method.
If you are copying a numeric source series by general
match merge, the argument can be one of: “mean”, “med”
(median), “max”, “min”, “sum”, “sumsq” (sum-of-
squares), “var” (variance), “sd” (standard deviation),
“skew” (skewness), “kurt” (kurtosis), “quant” (quantile,
used with “quant=” option), “obs” (number of observa-
tions), “nas” (number of NA values), “first” (first observa-
tion in group), “last” (last observation in group), “unique”
(single unique group value, if present), “none” (disallow
contractions).
If copying an alpha series, only the non-summary methods
“max”, “min”, “obs”, “nas”, first”, “last”, “unique” and
“none” are supported.
For copying of numeric series, the default contraction
method is “c=mean”; for copying of alpha series, the
default is “c=unique”.
quant=number Quantile value to be used when contracting using the
“c=quant” option (e.g, “quant=.3”).
nacat Treat “NA” values as a category when copying using gen-
eral match merge operations.

Most of the conversion options should be self-explanatory. As for the others: “first” and
“last” give the first and last non-missing observed for a given group ID; “obs” provides the
number of non-missing values for a given group; “nas” reports the number of NAs in the
group; “unique” will provide the value in the source series if it is the identical for all obser-
vations in the group, and will return NA otherwise; “none” will cause the copy to fail if
there are multiple observations in any group—this setting may be used if you wish to pro-
hibit all contractions.

On a match merge expansion, copying with match merging will repeat the value of the
source for every observation with matching identifier values in the destination. If both the
source and destination have multiple values for a given ID, EViews will first perform a con-
traction across IDs in the source (if not ruled out by “c=none”), and then perform the
expansion by replicating the contracted value in the destination. For example, converting
from a quarterly panel to an annual panel using match merge, EViews will first contract the
data across IDs down to a single quarterly time series, will convert the series to an annual
 copy—333

frequency, then will assign the annual data to each of the cross-sections in the destination
page.

Examples
copy good_equation best_equation

makes an exact copy of GOOD_EQUATION and names it BEST_EQUATION.

copy graph_1 wf2::wkly\graph1

copies GRAPH_1 from the default page of the current workfile to GRAPH1 in the page WKLY
of the workfile WF2.
copy gdp usdat::

copies GDP from the current workfile to GDP in the USDAT database or workfile.
copy ::gdp macro1::gdp_us

copies GDP from the default database to either the open workfile MACRO1, or the database
named MACRO1 if there is no open workfile with that name. If there is an open workfile
MACRO1 you may use
copy ::gdp ::macro1::gdp_us

to specify explicitly that you wish to write to the MACRO1 database.

copy(smpl="1990 2000") page1\pop page2\ @src county @date @dest
county @date

copies POP data for 1990 through 2005 from PAGE1 to PAGE2, match merge using the ids
COUNTY and the date structure of the two pages.
copy(smpl="1990 2000", c=mean) panelpage\inc countypage\ county
county

copies the INC data from the PANELPAGE to the COUNTYPAGE, match merging using the
values of the COUNTY series, and contracting the panel data by computing means for each
county using the specified sample.
copy countypage\pop panelpage\ county county

match merges the POP data from the COUNTYPAGE to the PANELPAGE using the values of
the COUNTY series.
copy(c=x, merge) quarterly::page1\ser* annual::page6\*

copies all objects with names beginning with “SER” on page PAGE1 of workfile QUARTERLY
into page PAGE6 of workfile ANNUAL using the existing names. Series objects with data that
can be (high-to-low) frequency converted will take the maximum value within a low-fre-
quency period as the conversion method. If destination series already exist with the same
name as the source series, the data will be merged. If destination objects (non-series) exist
with the same name as source series, they will be overwritten.
334—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Note that since databases are read from disk, you may provide a path for the database in the
container specification, as in:
copy "c:\my data\dba.edb::ser01" ser02

which copies the object SER01 from the database DBA.EDB located in the path “C:\MY
DATA\” to SER02 in the default workfile page.
copy gd* "c:\my data\findat::"

makes a duplicate of all objects in the default page of the current workfile with names start-
ing with “GD” to the database FINDAT in the root of “C:\MY DATA\”.

Cross-references
See “Copying Objects” on page 315 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of copying and moving
objects.

See also fetch (p. 355), store (p. 484), and Link::linkto (p. 353) in the Object Refer-
ence.

cor Interactive Use Commands

Compute Pearson product-moment (ordinary) correlations for the specified series or

groups.

Syntax
cor(options) arg1 [arg2 arg3...]

where arg1, arg2, etc. are the names of series or groups.

Note that this command is a limited feature version of the group view Group::cor (p. 298)
in the Object Reference.

Options
wgt=name Name of series containing weights.
(optional)
wgtmethod=arg Weighting method (when weights are specified using
(default = “weight=”): frequency (“freq”), inverse of variances
“sstdev”) (“var”), inverse of standard deviation (“stdev”), scaled
inverse of variances (“svar”), scaled inverse of standard
deviations (“sstdev”).
pairwise Compute using pairwise deletion of observations with
missing cases (pairwise samples).
 count—335

out=name Basename for saving output. All results will be saved in

Sym matrices named using the string “CORR”, appended to
the basename (e.g., the correlation specified by “out=my”
is saved in the Sym matrix “MYCORR”).
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print the result.

Examples
cor height weight age

displays a 3  3 Pearson correlation matrix for the three series HEIGHT, WEIGHT, and AGE.

Cross-references
See Group::cor (p. 298) in the Object Reference for more general routines for computing
correlations.

See also cov (p. 337). For simple functions to perform the calculations, see @cor (p. 664),
and @cov (p. 665).

count Interactive Use Commands

Estimates models where the dependent variable is a nonnegative integer count.

Syntax
count(options) y x1 [x2 x3...]
count(options) specification

Follow the count keyword by the name of the dependent variable and a list of regressors.

Options
d=arg Likelihood specification: Poisson likelihood (“p”), normal
(default=“p”) quasi-likelihood (“n”), exponential likelihood (“e”), nega-
tive binomial likelihood or quasi-likelihood (“b”).
v=positive_num Specify fixed value for QML parameter in normal and nega-
(default=1) tive binomial quasi-likelihoods.
optmethod = arg Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “legacy”
(EViews legacy).
Newton-Raphson is the default method.
336—Chapter 12. Command Reference

optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dog-

leg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich methods)., “glm” (GLM
method)..
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian).
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=”.)
h Huber-White quasi-maximum likelihood (QML) standard
errors and covariances.
(Legacy option Applicable when “optmethod=legacy”).
g GLM standard errors and covariances.
(Legacy option Applicable when “optmethod=legacy”).
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in “C” as starting values
(see also param (p. 453)).
s=number Specify a number between zero and one to determine start-
ing values as a fraction of the EViews default values (out of
range values are set to “s=1”).
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print the result.

Examples
The command:
count(d=n,v=2,cov=glm) y c x1 x2

estimates a normal QML count model of Y on a constant, X1, and X2, with fixed variance
parameter 2, and GLM standard errors.
count arrest c job police
makeresid(g) res_g

estimates a Poisson count model of ARREST on a constant, JOB, and POLICE, and stores the
generalized residuals in the series RES_G.
 cov—337

count(d=p) y c x1
fit yhat

estimates a Poisson count model of Y on a constant and X1, and saves the fitted values (con-
ditional mean) in the series YHAT.
count(d=p, h) y c x1

estimates the same model with QML standard errors and covariances.

Cross-references
See “Count Models” on page 361 of User’s Guide II for additional discussion.

See Equation::count (p. 79) of the Object Reference for the equivalent equation object
command.

cov Interactive Use Commands

Compute Pearson product-moment (ordinary) covariances for the specified series or

groups.

Syntax
cor arg1 [arg2 arg3...]

where arg1, arg2, etc. are the names of series or groups.

Note that this command is a limited feature version of the group view Group::cov (p. 302)
in the Object Reference.

Options
wgt=name Name of series containing weights.
(optional)
wgtmethod=arg Weighting method (when weights are specified using
(default = “weight=”): frequency (“freq”), inverse of variances
“sstdev”) (“var”), inverse of standard deviation (“stdev”), scaled
inverse of variances (“svar”), scaled inverse of standard
deviations (“sstdev”).
pairwise Compute using pairwise deletion of observations with
missing cases (pairwise samples).
338—Chapter 12. Command Reference

out=name Basename for saving output. All results will be saved in

Sym matrices named using the string “CORR”, appended to
the basename (e.g., the correlation specified by “out=my”
is saved in the sym matrix “MYCORR”).
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print the result.

Examples
cov height weight age

displays a 3  3 Pearson covariance matrix for the three series HEIGHT, WEIGHT, and AGE.

Cross-references
See Group::cov (p. 302) in the Object Reference for more general routines for computing
covariances.

See also cor (p. 334) .For simple functions to perform the calculations, see @cor (p. 664),
and @cov (p. 665).

create Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Create workfile.

This command has been replaced by wfcreate (p. 510) and pagecreate (p. 434).

cross Interactive Use Commands

Displays cross correlations (correlograms) for a pair of series.

Syntax
cross(n,options) ser1 ser2 [ser3 ...]

You must specify the number of lags n to use in computing the cross correlations as the first
option. EViews will create an untitled group from the specified series and groups, and will
display the cross correlation view for the group.

Options
The following options may be specified inside the parentheses after the number of lags:

prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

p Print the cross correlogram.
 data—339

Examples
cross(36) log(m1) dlog(cpi)

displays the cross correlogram between the log of M1 and the first difference of the log of
CPI, using up to 36 leads and lags.
equation eq1.arch sp500 c
eq1.makeresid(s) res_std
cross(24) res_std^2 res_std

The first line estimates a GARCH(1,1) model and the second line retrieves the standardized
residuals. The third line plots the cross correlogram squared standardized residual and the
standardized residual, up to 24 leads and lags. This correlogram provides a rough check of
asymmetry in the ARCH effect.

Cross-references
See “Cross Correlations and Correlograms” on page 559 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

See Group::cross (p. 305) of the Object Reference for the equivalent group view command.

Object Creation Commands || Object Assignment Commands || Interac-

data tive Use Commands

Enter data from keyboard.

Opens an unnamed group window to edit one or more series.

Syntax
data arg1 [arg2 arg3 ...]

Follow the data keyword by a list of series and group names. You can list existing names or
new names. Unrecognized names will cause new series to be added to the workfile. These
series will be initialized with the value “NA”.

Examples
data group1 newx newy

opens a group window containing the series in group GROUP1, and the series NEWX and
NEWY.

Cross-references
See “Entering Data” on page 139 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of the process of entering
data from the keyboard.
340—Chapter 12. Command Reference

db Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Open or create a database.

If the specified database does not exist, a new (empty) database will be created and opened.
The opened database will become the default database.

Syntax
db(options) [path\]db_name [as shorthand_name]

Follow the db command by the name of the database to be opened or to be created (if it
does not already exist). You may include a path name to work with a database not in the
default path.

You may use the “as” keyword to provide an optional shorthand_name or short text label
which may be used to refer to the database in commands and programs. If you leave this
field blank, a default shorthand_name will be assigned automatically.

See “Database Shorthands” on page 311 of User’s Guide I for additional discussion.

Options
See dbopen (p. 344) for a list of available options for working with foreign format data-
bases.

Examples
db findat

opens the database FINDAT in the default path and makes it the default database from
which to store and fetch objects. If the database FINDAT does not already exist, an empty
database named FINDAT will be created and opened.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

See also dbcreate (p. 342) and dbopen (p. 344).

dbcopy Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Make a copy of an existing database.

Syntax
dbcopy [path\]source_name [path\]copy_name
 dbcopy—341

Follow the dbcopy command by the name of the existing database and a name for the copy.
You should include a path name to copy from or to a database that is not in the default
directory. All files associated with the database will be copied.

Options
type=arg Specify the source database type: (see table below). The
default is to read an EViews 7 database.
desttype=arg, Specify the destination database type: (see table below).
t=arg The default is to create an EViews 7 database.

The following table summaries the various database formats, along with the corresponding
allowable “type=” and “desttype=” keywords:

Option Keywords
Aremos-TSD x “a”, “aremos”, “tsd”
DRIBase x “b” “dribase”
DRIPro Link x “dripro”
DRI DDS “dds”
EViews “e”, “evdb”
EViews 6 compatible “eviews6”
FAME “f”, “fame”
GiveWin/PcGive “g”, “give”
RATS 4.x “r”, “rats”
RATS Portable / TROLL “l”, “trl”
TSP Portable “t”, “tsp”

For the source specification, the following options may be required when connecting to a
remote server:

s=server_id, Server name

server=server_id
u=user, Username
username=user
p=pwd, Password
password=pwd

For the destination specification, the following options may be required when connecting to
a remote server:
342—Chapter 12. Command Reference

dests=server_id, Server name

destserver
=server_id
destu=user, Username
destusername=us
er
destp=pwd, Password
destpassword
=pwd

Examples
dbcopy usdat c:\backup\usdat

makes a copy of all files associated with the database USDAT in the default path and stores
it in the “c:\backup” directory under the basename “Usdat”.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

See also dbrename (p. 347) and dbdelete (p. 344).

dbcreate Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Create a new database.

Syntax
dbcreate(options) [path\]db_name [as shorthand_name]

Follow the dbcreate keyword by a name for the new database. You may include a path
name to create a database not in the default directory. The new database will become the
default database.

You may use the “as” keyword to provide an optional shorthand_name or a short text label
which may be used to refer to the open database in commands and programs. If you leave
this field blank, a default shorthand_name will be assigned automatically. See “Database
Shorthands” on page 311 of the User’s Guide I for additional discussion.

Options
type=arg, t=arg Specify the database type: (see table below). The default is
to create an EViews 7 database.
 dbcreate—343

The following table summaries the various database formats, along with the corresponding
“type=” keywords:

Option Keywords
Aremos-TSD x “a”, “aremos”, “tsd”
DRIBase x “b” “dribase”
DRIPro Link x “dripro”
DRI DDS “dds”
EViews “e”, “evdb”
EViews 6 compatible “eviews6”
FAME “f”, “fame”
GiveWin/PcGive “g”, “give”
RATS 4.x “r”, “rats”
RATS Portable / TROLL “l”, “trl”
TSP Portable “t”, “tsp”

You must have EViews Enterprise Edition to create DRIBase and FAME databases.

The following options may be required when connecting to a remote server:

s=server_id, Server name

server=server_id
u=user, Username
username=user
p=pwd, Password
password=pwd

Examples
dbcreate macrodat

creates a new database named MACRODAT in the default path, and makes it the default
database from which to store and fetch objects. This command will issue an error message if
a database named MACRODAT already exists. To open an existing database, use dbopen
(p. 344) or db (p. 340).

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

See also dbopen (p. 344) or db (p. 340).

344—Chapter 12. Command Reference

dbdelete Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Delete an existing database (all files associated with the specified database).

Syntax
dbdelete [path\]db_name

Follow the dbdelete keyword by the name of the database to be deleted. You may include
a path name to delete a database not in the default path.

Examples
dbdelete c:\temp\testdat

deletes all files associated with the TESTDAT database in the specified directory.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

See also dbcopy (p. 340) and dbdelete (p. 344).

dbopen Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Open an existing database.

Syntax
dbopen(options) [path\]db_name [as shorthand_name]

Follow the dbopen keyword with the name of a database. You should include a path name
to open a database not in the default path. The opened database will become the default
database.

You do not need to specify a database name when opening a Datastream or FRED connection
(“type=datastream” or “type=fred”) as EViews will automatically connect to the proper loca-
tion.

You may use the “as” keyword to provide an optional shorthand_name or a short text label
which is used to refer to the open database in commands and programs. If you leave this
field blank, a default shorthand_name will be assigned automatically.

See “Database Shorthands” on page 311 of User’s Guide I for additional discussion.

By default, EViews will use the extension of the database file to determine type. For exam-
ple, files with the extension “.EDB” will be opened as an EViews database, while files with
 dbopen—345

the extension “.IN7” will be opened as a GiveWin database. You may use the “type=”
option to specify an explicit type.

Options
type=arg, t=arg Specify the database type: (see table below).

The following table summaries the various database formats, along with the corresponding
“type=” keywords:

Option Keywords
AREMOS Bank “aremos
AREMOS TSD “a”, “tsd”
Bloomberg “bloom”
CEIC “ceic”
Datastream “datastream”
DRIBase “b” “dribase”
DRIPro Link “dripro”
DRI DDS “dds”
EIA Bulk File “eiabulk”
EIA Online “eia”
EcoWin “ecowin”
EViews “e”, “eviews”
FactSet “factset”
FAME “f”, “fame”
FRED “fred”
GiveWin/PcGive “g”, “give”
Haver “h”, “haver”
IHS Global Insight “ihs global insight”
IHS Magellan “magellan”
Moody’s Economy.com “economy”
RATS 4.x “r”, “rats”
RATS Portable / TROLL “l”, “trl”
TSP Portable “t”, “tsp”

You must have EViews Enterprise Edition to access Bloomberg, CEIC, Datastream, DRIBase,
EcoWin, EIA, FactSet, FAME, Haver, IHS Global Insight, IHS Magellan, and Moody’s Econ-
omy.com databases.
346—Chapter 12. Command Reference

The use of Bloomberg, CEIC, Datastream, DRIPro Link, EcoWin, EIA, FactSet, FRED, IHS
IHS Global Insight, Magellan, and Economy.com databases requires an active connection to
the internet.

In addition, specific types may require installation of additional software. For details see,
“Notes on Particular Formats” on page 337 in User’s Guide I.

The following options may be required when connecting to a remote server:

s=server_id, Server name
server=server_id
u=user, Username
username=user
p=pwd, Password
password=pwd

Examples
dbopen c:\data\us1

opens a database named US1 in the C:\DATA directory. The command:

dbopen us1

opens a database in the default path. If the specified database does not exist, EViews will
issue an error message. You should use db (p. 340) or dbcreate (p. 342) to create a new
database.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

See also db (p. 340) and dbcreate (p. 342).

dbpack Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Pack an existing database.

Syntax
dbpack [path\]db_name

Follow the dbpack keyword by a database name. You may include a path name to pack a
database not in the default path.

Examples
dbpack findat
 dbrename—347

packs the database named FINDAT in the default path.

Cross-references
See “Packing the Database” on page 334 of User’s Guide I for additional discussion.

See also dbrebuild (p. 347).

dbrebuild Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Rebuild an existing database.

Rebuild a seriously damaged database into a new database file.

Syntax
dbrebuild [path\]source_name [path\]dest_name

Follow the dbrebuild keyword by the name of the database to be rebuilt, and then a new
database name.

Examples
If you issue the command:
dbrebuild testdat fixed_testdat

EViews will attempt to rebuild the database TESTDAT into the database FIXED_TESTDAT in
the default directory.

Cross-references
See “Maintaining the Database” on page 333 of User’s Guide I for a discussion.

See also dbpack (p. 346).

dbrename Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Rename an existing database.

dbrename renames all files associated with the specified database.

Syntax
dbrename [path\]old_name [path\]new_name

Follow the dbrename keyword with the current name of an existing database and the new
name for the database.
348—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
dbrename testdat mydat

Renames all files associated with the TESTDAT database in the specified directory to MYDAT
in the default directory.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

See db (p. 340) and dbcreate (p. 342). See also dbcopy (p. 340) and dbdelete (p. 344).

delete Object Utility Commands

Deletes objects from a workfile or a database.

Syntax
delete(options) arg1 [arg2 arg3 ...]

Follow the keyword by a list of the names of any objects you wish to remove from the cur-
rent workfile. Deleting does not remove objects that have been stored on disk in EViews
database files.

Options
noerr Do not error if the object doesn’t exist.

You can delete an object from a database by prefixing the name with the database name and
a double colon. You can use a pattern to delete all objects from a workfile or database with
names that match the pattern. Use the “?” to match any one character and the “*” to match
zero or more characters.

If you use delete in a program file, EViews will delete the listed objects without prompting
you to confirm each deletion.

Examples
To delete all objects in the workfile with names beginning with “TEMP”, you may use the
command:
delete temp*

To delete the objects CONS and INVEST from the database MACRO1, use:
delete macro1::cons macro1::invest
 driconvert—349

Cross-references
See “Object Commands” on page 17 for a discussion of working with objects.

See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

do Command Actions

Execute without opening window.

Syntax
do procedure

do is most useful in EViews programs where you wish to run a series of commands without
opening windows in the workfile area.

Examples
output(t) c:\result\junk1
do gdp.adf(c, 4, p)

The first line redirects table output to a file on disk. The second line carries out a unit root
test of GDP without opening a window, and prints the results to the disk file.

Cross-references
See “Object Commands” on page 17 for a discussion of working with objects.

Chapter 1. “Object View and Procedure Reference,” on page 2 in the Object Reference pro-
vides a complete listing of the views of the various objects.

See also show (p. 473).

driconvert Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Convert the entire DRI Basic Economics database into an EViews database.

You must create an EViews database to store the converted DRI data before you use this
command. This command may be very time-consuming.

Syntax
driconvert db_name

Follow the command by listing the name of an existing EViews database into which you
would like to copy the DRI data. You may include a path name to specify a database not in
the default path.
350—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
dbcreate dribasic
driconvert dribasic
driconvert c:\mydata\dridbase

The first line creates a new (empty) database named DRIBASIC in the default directory. The
second line copies all the data in the DRI Basic Economics database into in the DRIBASIC
database. The last example copies the DRI data into the database DRIDBASE that is located
in the C:\MYDATA directory.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews databases.

See also dbcreate (p. 342) and db (p. 340).

exec Programming Commands

Execute a program.

The exec command executes a program. The program may be located in memory or stored
in a program file on disk.

Syntax
exec(options) [path\]prog_name(prog_options) [%0 %1 …]

If you wish to pass one or more options to the program, you should enclose them in paren-
theses immediately after the filename. If the program has arguments, you should list them
after the filename.

EViews first checks to see if the specified program is in memory. If the program is not
located, EViews then looks for the program on disk in the EViews Add-ins directory, or in the
specified path. The program file should have a “.PRG” extension, which you need not spec-
ify in the prog_name.
 exec—351

Options
integer Set maximum errors allowed before halting the program in
(default=1) interactive mode.
Note that the integer option does not apply when using
exec in a program, it only applies when using exec from the
command line. When using exec in a parent program to
execute a child program, the child program inherits the
maximum error count from the parent.
c Run program file without opening a window for display of
the program file.
verbose / quiet Verbose mode in which messages will be sent to the status
line at the bottom of the EViews window (slower execu-
tion), or quiet mode which suppresses workfile display
updates (faster execution).
v/q Same as [verbose / quiet].
ver4 / ver5 Execute program in [version 4 / version 5] compatibility
mode.
this=object_name Set the _this object for the executed program. If omitted,
the executed program will inherit the _this object from
the parent program, or from the current active workfile
object when the exec command is issued from the com-
mand window.

Examples
exec rollreg

will run the program “Rollreg.prg” in the EViews add-in directory.

exec(this=graph01) recshade

will run the program “Recshade” in the EViews add-in directory, setting the _this object to
GRAPH01.
exec(4) c:\myfiles\simul.prg(h=3) xhat

will run the program “Simul.prg” in the path “c:\myfiles\”, with program option string
“h=3”, the %0 argument set to “XHAT”, and with the maximum error count set to 4.

Note that in contrast to the run command, exec will not stop executing a running program
after returning from the executed program. For example if you have a program containing:
exec simul
print x
352—Chapter 12. Command Reference

the print statement will be executed after running the “Simul.prg” program. If you replace
exec with run, the program will stop after executing the commands in “Simul.prg”.

Cross-references
See “Executing a Program” on page 120 of the User’s Guide I and “The Active Object Key-
word” on page 209 in the Command and Programming Reference for further details.

See also run (p. 467) and include (p. 713).

exit Global Commands

Exit from EViews (close the EViews application).

You will be prompted to save objects and workfiles which have changed since the last time
they were saved to disk. Be sure to save your workfiles, if desired, since all changes that you
do not save to a disk file will be lost.

Syntax
exit

Cross-references
See also close (p. 310) and save (p. 468).

expand Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Expand a workfile.

No longer supported. See the replacement command pagestruct (p. 448).

facbreak Interactive Use Commands

Factor breakpoint test for stability.

Carries out a factor breakpoint test for parameter constancy.

Syntax
facbreak(options) ser1 [ser2 ser3 ...] @ x1 x2 x3

You must provide one or more series to be used as the factors with which to split the sample
into categories. To specify more than one factor, separate the factors by a space. If the equa-
tion is specified by list and contains no linear terms, you may specify a subset of the regres-
sors to be tested for a breakpoint after an “@” sign.
 factest—353

Options
p Print the result of the test.

Examples
The commands
ls log(spot) c log(p_us) log(p_uk)
facbreak season

perform a regression of the log of SPOT on a constant, the log of P_US, and the log of P_UK,
and employ a factor breakpoint test to determine whether the parameters are stable through
the different values of SEASON.

To test whether only the constant term and the coefficient on the log of P_US are “stable”
enter the commands:
facbreak season @ c log(p_us)

Cross-references
See “Factor Breakpoint Test” on page 179 of User’s Guide II for further discussion.

See also Equation::facbreak (p. 86) and Equation::rls (p. 153) in the Object Refer-
ence.

factest Interactive Use Commands

Specify and estimate a factor analysis model.

Syntax
factest(method=arg, options) x1 [x2 x3...] [@partial z1 z2 z3...]
factest(method=arg, options) matrix_name [[obs] [conditioning]] [@ name1 name2
name3...]

where:
method=arg Factor estimation method: “ml” (maximum likelihood),
(default= “ml”) “gls” (generalized least squares), “ipf” (iterated principal
factors), “pace” (non-iterative partitioned covariance
matrix estimation), “pf” (principal factors), “uls”
(unweighted least squares)

and the available options are specific to the factor estimation method (see “Factor Methods”
on page 179 of the Object Reference).
354—Chapter 12. Command Reference

The factest command allows you to estimated a factor analysis model without first declar-
ing a factor object and then applying an estimation method. It provides a convenient
method of interactively estimating transitory specifications that are not to be named and
saved with the workfile.

Estimation of a factor analysis specification using factest only differs from estimation
using a named factor and a factor estimation procedure (e.g., Factor::ipf (p. 193) in the
Object Reference) in the use of the “method=” option and in the fact that the command
results in an unnamed factor object.

Examples
The command:
factest(method=gls) g1

estimates a factor analysis model for the series in G1 using GLS. The result is an unnamed
factor object. (Almost) equivalently, we may declaring and estimate the factor analysis
object using the Factor::gls estimation method procedure
factor f1.gls g1

which differs only in the fact that the former yields an unnamed factor object and the latter
saves the object F1 in the workfile.

The command:
factest(method=ml) group01 @partial ser1 ser2

estimates the factor model using the partial correlation for the series in GROUP01, condi-
tional on the series SER1 and SER2. The command is equivalent to:
factor f2.ml group01 @partial ser1 ser2

except the latter names the factor object F2.

Cross-references
See Chapter 21. “Factor Analysis,” on page 981 of User’s Guide II for a general discussion of
factor analysis. The various estimation methods are described in “Estimation Methods” on
page 1014 of User’s Guide II.

See Factor::gls (p. 189), Factor::ipf (p. 193), Factor::ml (p. 202), Factor::pf
(p. 211), and Factor::uls (p. 225) all in the Object Reference.
 fetch—355

fetch Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Fetch objects from databases or databank files into the workfile.

fetch reads one or more objects from EViews databases or databank files into the active
workfile. The objects are loaded into the workfile using the object in the database or using
the databank file name.

If you fetch a series into a workfile with a different frequency, EViews will automatically
apply the frequency conversion method attached to the series by setconvert. If the series
does not have an attached conversion method, EViews will use the method set by
Options/Date-Frequency in the main menu. You can override the conversion method by
specifying an explicit conversion method option.

Syntax
fetch(options) object_list

The fetch command keyword is followed by a list of object names separated by spaces. The
default behavior is to fetch the objects from the default database (this is a change from ver-
sions of EViews prior to EViews 3.x where the default was to fetch from individual databank
files).

You can precede the object name with a database name and the double colon “::” to indicate
a specific database source. If you specify the database name as an option in parentheses (see
below), all objects without an explicit database prefix will be fetched from the specified
database. You may optionally fetch from individual databank files or search among regis-
tered databases.

You may use wild card characters, “?” (to match a single character) or “*” (to match zero or
more characters), in the object name list. All objects with names matching the pattern will
be fetched.

To fetch from individual databank files that are not in the default path, you should include
an explicit path. If you have more than one object with the same file name (for example, an
equation and a series named CONS), then you should supply the full object file name
including identifying extensions.

Options
d=db_name Fetch from specified database.
d Fetch all registered databases in registry order.
i Fetch from individual databank files.
356—Chapter 12. Command Reference

link Fetch as a database link.

notifyillegal When in a program, report illegal EViews object names. By
default, objects with illegal names are automatically
renamed. (Has no effect in the command window.)
p=prefix Specify a naming prefix that will be prepended to the listed
names to be fetched.
s=suffix Specify a naming suffix that will be appended to the listed
names to be fetched.
pi=prefix Specify a naming prefix that will be removed from the
name of the source objects once fetched into the workfile.
si=suffix Specify a naming suffix that will be removed from the
name of the source objects once fetched into the workfile.

The following options are available for fetch of group objects:

g=arg Group fetch options: “b” (fetch both group definition and
series), “d” (fetch only the series in the group), “l” (fetch
only the group definition).

The database specified by the double colon “::” takes precedence over the database specified
by the “d=” option.

The following options control the frequency conversion method when copying series and
group objects into a workfile page and converting from low to high frequency:

c=arg Low to high conversion methods: “r” (constant match aver-

age), “d” (constant match sum), “q” (quadratic match
average), “t” (quadratic match sum), “i” (linear match
last), “c” (cubic match last), “pointf” (point first), “pointl”
(point last), “dentonf” (Denton first), “dentonl” (Denton
last), “dentona” (Denton average), “dentons” (Denton
sum), “chowlinf” (Chow-Lin first), “chowlinl” (Chow-Lin
last), “chowlina” (Chow-Lin average),“chowlins” (Chow-
Lin sum), “litmanf” (Litterman first), “litmanl” (Litterman
last), “litmana” (Litterman average), “litmans” (Litterman
sum)..
rho=arg Autocorrelation coefficient (for Chow-Lin and Litterman
conversions). Must be between 0 and 1, inclusive.

In addition, for Denton, Chow-Lin, and Litterman conversions, you must specify the indica-
tor series by appending the keyword “@indicator” followed by the series name or names at
the end of the fetch command.
 fetch—357

The following options control the frequency conversion method when copying series and
group objects to a workfile, converting from high to low frequency:

c=arg High to low conversion methods removing NAs: “a” (aver-

age of the nonmissing observations), “s” (sum of the non-
missing observations), “f” (first nonmissing observation),
“l” (last nonmissing observation), “x” (maximum nonmiss-
ing observation), “m” (minimum nonmissing observation).
High to low conversion methods propagating NAs: “an” or
“na” (average, propagating missings), “sn” or “ns” (sum,
propagating missings), “fn” or “nf” (first, propagating
missings), “ln” or “nl” (last, propagating missings), “xn”
or “nx” (maximum, propagating missings), “mn” or “nm”
(minimum, propagating missings).

If no conversion method is specified, the series-specific or global default conversion method

will be employed.

Examples
To fetch M1, GDP, and UNEMP from the default database, use:
fetch m1 gdp unemp

To fetch M1 and GDP from the US1 database and UNEMP from the MACRO database, use
the command:
fetch(d=us1) m1 gdp macro::unemp

You can fetch all objects with names starting with “SP” by searching all registered databases
in the search order. The “c=f” option uses the first (nonmissing) observation to convert the
frequency of any matching series with a higher frequency than the destination workfile fre-
quency:
fetch(d,c=f) sp*

You can fetch M1 and UNEMP from individual databank files using:
fetch(i) m1 c:\data\unemp

To fetch all objects with names starting with “CONS” from the two databases USDAT and
UKDAT, use the command:
fetch usdat::cons* ukdat::cons*

The command:
fetch a?income

will fetch all series beginning with the letter “A”, followed by any single character, and end-
ing with the string “income”.
358—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Use the “notifyillegal” option to display a dialog when fetching the series MYIL-
LEG@LNAME that will suggest a valid name and give you to opportunity to name the object
before it is inserted into a workfile:
fetch(notifyillegal) myilleg@lname

The command:
fetch(p=us_) gdp inv cons

Fetches the series US_GDP, US_INV and US_CONS into workfile series with the same names.
fetch(si=” us equity”) ibm msft

Fetches the database series IBM US EQUITY, and MSFT US EQUITY into workfile series with
names IBM and MSFT.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of data-
bases, databank files, and frequency conversion. Appendix A. “Wildcards,” on page 739
describes the use of wildcard characters.

See also store (p. 484), and copy (p. 327).

See Series::setconvert (p. 589) in the Object Reference for information on default con-
version settings.

fit Interactive Use Commands

Computes static forecasts or fitted values from an estimated equation.

When the regressor contains lagged dependent values or ARMA terms, fit uses the actual
values of the dependent variable instead of the lagged fitted values. You may instruct fit to
compare the forecasted data to actual data, and to compute forecast summary statistics.

(Note that we recommend that you instead use the equation proc Equation::fit since it
explicitly specifies the equation of interest.)

Not available for equations estimated using ordered methods; use Equation::makemodel
to create a model using the ordered equation results.

Syntax
fit(options) yhat [y_se]

Following the fit keyword, you should type a name for the forecast series and, optionally, a
name for the series containing the standard errors and, for ARCH specifications, a name for
the conditional variance series.
 fit—359

Forecast standard errors are currently not available for binary, censored, and count models.

Options
d In models with implicit dependent variables, forecast the
entire expression rather than the normalized variable.
u Substitute expressions for all auto-updating series in the
equation.
g Graph the fitted values together with the ±2 standard error
bands.
e Produce the forecast evaluation table.
i Compute the fitted values of the index. Only for binary,
censored and count models.
s Ignore ARMA terms and use only the structural part of the
equation to compute the fitted values.
f = arg Out-of-fit-sample fill behavior: “actual” (fill observations
(default= outside the fit sample with actual values for the fitted vari-
“actual”) able), “na” (fill observations outside the fit sample with
missing values).
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print view.

Examples
equation eq1.ls cons c cons(-1) inc inc(-1)
fit c_hat c_se
genr c_up=c_hat+2*c_se
genr c_low=c_hat-2*c_se
line cons c_up c_low

The first line estimates a linear regression of CONS on a constant, CONS lagged once, INC,
and INC lagged once. The second line stores the static forecasts and their standard errors as
C_HAT and C_SE. The third and fourth lines compute the +/- 2 standard error bounds. The
fifth line plots the actual series together with the error bounds.
equation eq2.binary(d=l) y c wage edu
fit yf
fit(i) xbeta
genr yhat = 1-@clogit(-xbeta)

The first line estimates a logit specification for Y with a conditional mean that depends on a
constant, WAGE, and EDU. The second line computes the fitted probabilities, and the third
line computes the fitted values of the index. The fourth line computes the probabilities from
360—Chapter 12. Command Reference

the fitted index using the cumulative distribution function of the logistic distribution. Note
that YF and YHAT should be identical.

Note that you cannot fit values from an ordered model. You must instead solve the values
from a model. The following lines generate fitted probabilities from an ordered model:
equation eq3.ordered y c x z
eq3.makemodel(oprob1)
solve oprob1

The first line estimates an ordered probit of Y on a constant, X, and Z. The second line
makes a model from the estimated equation with a name OPROB1. The third line solves the
model and computes the fitted probabilities that each observation falls in each category.

Cross-references
To perform dynamic forecasting, use forecast (p. 360).

See Chapter 23. “Forecasting from an Equation,” on page 135 of User’s Guide II for a discus-
sion of forecasting in EViews and Chapter 2. “Discrete and Limited Dependent Variable
Models,” on page 315 of User’s Guide II for forecasting from binary, censored, truncated, and
count models.

See “Forecasting” on page 696 of User’s Guide II for a discussion of forecasting from sspace
models.

See Equation::forecast (p. 90) and Equation::fit (p. 87) in the Object Reference for
the equivalent object commands.

See Equation::makemodel (p. 126) and Model::solve (p. 445) in the Object Reference
for forecasting from systems of equations or ordered equations.

forecast Interactive Use Commands

Computes (n-period ahead) dynamic forecasts of the default equation.

forecast computes the forecast using the default equation for all observations in a speci-
fied sample. In some settings, you may instruct forecast to compare the forecasted data to
actual data, and to compute summary statistics.

(Note that we recommend that you instead use the equation proc Equation::forecast
since it explicitly specifies the equation of interest.)

Syntax
forecast(options) yhat [y_se]
 forecast—361

You should enter a name for the forecast series and, optionally, a name for the series con-
taining the standard errors. Forecast standard errors are currently not available for binary or
censored models. forecast is not available for models estimated using ordered methods.

Options
d In models with implicit dependent variables, forecast the
entire expression rather than the normalized variable.
u Substitute expressions for all auto-updating series in the
equation.
g Graph the forecasts together with the ±2 standard error
bands.
e Produce the forecast evaluation table.
i Compute the forecasts of the index. Only for binary, cen-
sored and count models.
s Ignore ARMA terms and use only the structural part of the
equation to compute the forecasts.
b =arg MA backcast method: “fa” (forecast available). Only for
equations estimated with MA terms. This option is ignored
if you specify the “s” (structural forecast) option.
The default method uses the estimation sample.
f = arg Out-of-forecast-sample fill behavior: “actual” (fill observa-
(default= tions outside the forecast sample with actual values for the
“actual”) fitted variable), “na” (fill observations outside the forecast
sample with missing values).
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print view.

Examples
The following lines:
smpl 1970q1 1990q4
equation eq1.ls con c con(-1) inc
smpl 1991q1 1995q4
forecast con_d
plot con_d

estimate a linear regression over the period 1970Q1–1990Q4, computes dynamic forecasts
for the period 1991Q1–1995Q4, and plots the forecast as a line graph.
equation eq1.ls m1 gdp ar(1) ma(1)
forecast m1_bj bj_se
362—Chapter 12. Command Reference

forecast(s) m1_s s_se

plot bj_se s_se

estimates an ARMA(1,1) model, computes the forecasts and standard errors with and with-
out the ARMA terms, and plots the two forecast standard errors.

Cross-references
To perform static forecasting, see fit (p. 358).

See Chapter 23. “Forecasting from an Equation,” on page 135 of User’s Guide II for a discus-
sion of forecasting in EViews and Chapter 2. “Discrete and Limited Dependent Variable
Models,” on page 315 of User’s Guide II for forecasting from binary, censored, truncated, and
count models.

See “Forecasting” on page 696 of User’s Guide II for a discussion of forecasting from sspace
models.

See Equation::forecast (p. 90) and Equation::fit (p. 87) in the Object Reference, for
the equivalent object commands.

See Equation::makemodel (p. 126) and Model::solve (p. 445) in the Object Reference
for forecasting from systems of equations or ordered equations.

freeze Command Actions

Creates graph, table, or text objects from a view.

Syntax
freeze(options, name) object_name.view_command

If you follow the keyword freeze with an object name but no view of the object, freeze
will use the default view for the object. You may provide a destination name for the object
containing the frozen view in parentheses.

Options
mode = overwrite Overwrites the object name if it already exists.

Examples
freeze gdp.uroot(4,t)

creates an untitled table that contains the results of the unit root test of the series GDP.
group rates tb1 tb3 tb6
freeze(gra1) rates.line(m)
show gra1.align(2,1,1)
 frml—363

freezes a graph named GRA1 that contains multiple line graphs of the series in the group
RATES, realigns the individual graphs, and displays the resulting graph.
freeze(mygra) gra1 gra3 gra4
show mygra.align(2,1,1)

creates a graph object named MYGRA that combines three graph objects GRA1, GRA2, and
GRA3, and displays MYGRA in two columns.
freeze(mode=overwrite, mygra) gra1 gra2 gra3
show mygra.align(2,1,1)

creates a graph object MYGRA that combines the three graph objects GRA1, GRA2 and
GRA3, and displays MYGRA in two columns. If the object MYGRA already exists, it would
be replaced by the new object.

Cross-references
See “Object Commands” on page 17 for discussion. See also Chapter 4. “Object Basics,” on
page 97 of User’s Guide I for further discussion of objects and views of objects.

Freezing graph views is described in “Creating Graph Objects” on page 705 of User’s Guide I.

frml Object Creation Commands || Object Assignment Commands

Declare a series object with a formula for auto-updating, or specify a formula for an exist-
ing series.

Syntax
frml series_name = series_expression
frml series_name = @clear

Follow the frml keyword with a name for the object, and an assignment statement. The
special keyword “@CLEAR” is used to return the auto-updating series to an ordinary
numeric or alpha series.

Examples
To define an auto-updating numeric or alpha series, you must use the frml keyword prior to
entering an assignment statement. The following example creates a series named LOW that
uses a formula to compute its values.:
frml low = inc<=5000 or edu<13

The auto-updating series takes the value 1 if either INC is less than or equal to 5000 or EDU
is less than 13, and 0 otherwise, and will be re-evaluated whenever INC or EDU change.

If FIRST_NAME and LAST_NAME are alpha series, then the formula declaration:
364—Chapter 12. Command Reference

frml full_name = first_name + " " + last_name

creates an auto-updating alpha series FULL_NAME.

You may apply a frml to an existing series. The commands:

series z = 3
frml z =(x+y)/2

makes the previously created series Z an auto-updating series containing the average of
series X and Y. Note that once a series is defined to be auto-updating, it may not be modified
directly. Here, you may not edit Z, nor may you generate values into the series.

Note that the commands:

series z = 3
z = (x+y)/2

while similar, produce quite different results, since the absence of the frml keyword in the
second example means that EViews will generate fixed values in the series instead of defin-
ing a formula to compute the series values. In this latter case, the values in the series Z are
fixed, and may be modified.

One particularly useful feature of auto-updating series is the ability to reference series in
databases. The command:
frml gdp = usdata::gdp

creates a series called GDP that obtains its values from the series GDP in the database
USDATA. Similarly:
frml lgdp = log(usdata::gdp)

creates an auto-updating series that is the log of the values of GDP in the database USDATA.

To turn off auto-updating for a series or alpha, you should use the special expression
“@CLEAR” in your frml assignment. The command:
frml z = @clear

sets the series to numeric or alpha value format, freezing the contents of the series at the
current values.

Cross-references
See “Auto-Updating Series” on page 193 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of updating series.

See also Link::link (p. 352) in the Object Reference.

 glm—365

genr Object Creation Commands || Object Assignment Commands

Generate series.

Generate series or alphas.

Syntax
genr ser_name = expression

Examples
genr y = 3 + x

generates a numeric series that takes the values from the series X and adds 3.
genr full_name = first_name + last_name

creates an alpha series formed by concatenating the alpha series FIRST_NAME and
LAST_NAME.

Cross-references
See Chapter 6. “Working with Data,” on page 169 of User’s Guide I for discussion of generat-
ing series data.

See Series::series (p. 586) and Alpha::alpha (p. 6) in the Object Reference for a dis-
cussion of the expressions allowed in genr.

glm Interactive Use Commands

Estimate a Generalized Linear Model (GLM).

Syntax
glm(options) spec

List the glm keyword, followed by the dependent variable and a list of the explanatory vari-
ables, or an explicit linear expression.

If you enter an explicit linear specification such as “Y=C(1)+C(2)*X”, the response vari-
able will be taken to be the variable on the left-hand side of the equality (“Y”) and the linear
predictor will be taken from the right-hand side of the expression (“C(1)+C(2)*X”).

Offsets may be entered directly in an explicit linear expression or they may be entered as
using the “offset=” option.
366—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Specification Options
family=arg Distribution family: Normal (“normal”), Poisson (“pois-
(default=“normal”) son”), Binomial Count (“binomial”), Binomial Proportion
(“binprop”), Negative Binomial (“negbin”), Gamma
(“gamma”), Inverse Gaussian (“igauss”), Exponential
Mean (“emean)”, Power Mean (“pmean”), Binomial
Squared (“binsq”).
The Binomial Count, Binomial Proportion, Negative Bino-
mial, and Power Mean families all require specification of a
distribution parameter:
n=arg (default=1) Number of trials for Binomial Count (“family=binomial”)
or Binomial Proportions (“family=binprop”) families.
fparam=arg Family parameter value for Negative Binomial (“fam-
ily=negbin”) and Power Mean (“family=pmean”) fami-
lies.
link=arg Link function: Identity (“identity”), Log (“log”), Log Com-
(default=“identity”) pliment (“logc”), Logit (“logit”), Probit (“probit”), Log-log
(“loglog”), Complementary Log-log (“cloglog”), Reciprocal
(“recip”), Power (“power”), Box-Cox (“boxcox”), Power
Odds Ratio (“opow”), Box-Cox Odds Ratio (“obox”).
The Power, Box-Cox, Power Odds Ratio, and Box-Cox Odds
Ratio links all require specification of a link parameter
specified using “lparam=”.
lparam=arg Link parameter for Power (“link=power”), Box-Cox
(“link=boxcox”), Power Odds Ratio (“link=opow”) and
Box-Cox Odds Ratio (“link=obox”) link functions.
offset=arg Offset terms.
2
disp=arg Dispersion estimator: Pearson x statistic (“pearson”),
deviance statistic (“deviance”), unit (“unit”), user-speci-
fied (“user”).
The default is family specific: “unit” for Binomial Count,
Binomial Proportion, Negative Binomial, and Poison, and
“pearson” for all others.
The “deviance” option is only offered for families in the
exponential family of distributions (Normal, Poisson, Bino-
mial Count, Binomial Proportion, Negative Binomial,
Gamma, Inverse Gaussian).
dispval=arg User-dispersion value (if “disp=user”).
fwgts=arg Frequency weights.
w=arg Weight series or expression.
 glm—367

wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-

(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.

In addition to the specification options, there are options for estimation and covariance cal-
culation.

Additional Options
optmethod = arg Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “fisher” (IRLS
– Fisher Scoring), “legacy” (EViews legacy).
Newton-Raphson is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dog-
leg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
estmeth=arg Legacy estimation algorithm: Quadratic Hill Climbing
(default=”mar- (“marquardt”), Newton-Raphson (“newton”), IRLS - Fisher
quardt”) Scoring (“irls”), BHHH (“bhhh”).
(Applicable when “optmethod=legacy”.)
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values (see also param (p. 453) in the
Command and Programming Reference).
s=number Specify a number between zero and one to determine start-
ing values as a fraction of EViews default values (out of
range values are set to “s=1”).
showopts / -showopts [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
estimation options in the estimation output.
preiter=arg Number of IRLS pre-iterations to refine starting values
(default=0) (only available for non-IRLS estimation).
368—Chapter 12. Command Reference

cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on

inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich method), “glm” (GLM
method).
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian), “fisher” (expected Hessian).
(Applicable when “optmethod=” not equal to “legacy”.
nodf Do not degree-of-freedom correct the coefficient covariance
estimate.
covlag=arg Whitening lag specification: integer (user-specified lag
(default=1) value), “a” (automatic selection).
Applicable where “cov=hac”.
covinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=”aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
For settings where “cov=hac, covlag=a”.
covmaxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum
13
of T .
For settings where “cov=hac, covlag=a”.
covkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),
(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
For settings where “cov=hac”.
covbw=arg Kernel Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed),
(default=“fixednw”) “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-
West automatic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
For settings where “cov=hac” and “covkern=” is speci-
fied.
covnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric kernel bandwidth selection (if “covbw=newey-
west”).
For settings where “cov=hac” and “covkern=” is speci-
fied.
covbwoffset=number Apply offset to automatically selected bandwidth.
For settings where “cov=hac”, “covkern=” is specified,
and “covbw=” is not user-specified.
 glm—369

covbwint Use integer portion of kernel bandwidth.

For settings where “cov=hac” and “covkern=” is speci-
fied.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

Examples
glm(link=log) numb c ip feb

estimates a normal regression model with exponential mean.

glm(family=binomial, n=total) disease c snore

estimates a binomial count model with default logit link where TOTAL contains the number
of binomial trials and DISEASE is the number of binomial successes. The specification
glm(family=binprop, n=total, cov=huber, nodf) disease/total c
snore

estimates the same specification in proportion form, and computes the coefficient covari-
ance using the Huber-White sandwich with no d.f. correction.
glm(family=binprop, disp=pearson) prate mprate log(totemp)
log(totemp)^2 age age^2 sole

estimates a binomial proportions model with default logit link, but computes the coefficient
covariance using the GLM scaled covariance with dispersion computed using the Pearson
Chi-square statistic.
glm(family=binprop, link=probit, cov=huber) prate mprate
log(totemp) log(totemp)^2 age age^2 sole

estimates the same basic specification, but with a probit link and Huber-White standard
errors.
glm(family=poisson, offset=log(pyears)) los hmo white type2 type3 c

estimates a Poisson specification with an offset term LOG(PYEARS).

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Generalized Linear Models,” beginning on page 375 of User’s Guide II for
discussion.

See Equation::glm (p. 92) in the Object Reference for the equivalent equation object com-
mand.
370—Chapter 12. Command Reference

gmm Interactive Use Commands

Estimation by generalized method of moments (GMM).

Syntax
gmm(options) y x1 [x2 x3...] @ z1 [z2 z3...]
gmm(options) specification @ z1 [z2 z3...]

Follow the name of the dependent variable by a list of regressors, followed by the “@” sym-
bol, and a list of instrumental variables which are orthogonal to the residuals. Alternatively,
you can specify an expression using coefficients, an “@” symbol, and a list of instrumental
variables. There must be at least as many instrumental variables as there are coefficients to
be estimated.

In panel settings, you may specify dynamic instruments corresponding to predetermined

variables. To specify a dynamic instrument, you should tag the instrument using “@DYN”,
as in “@DYN(X)”. By default, EViews will use a set of period-specific instruments corre-
sponding to lags from -2 to “-infinity”. You may also specify a restricted lag range using argu-
ments in the “@DYN” tag. For example, to use lags from-5 to “-infinity” you may enter
“@DYN(X, -5)”; to specify lags from -2 to -6, use “@DYN(X, -2, -6)” or “@DYN(X, -6, -2)”.

Note that dynamic instrument specifications may easily generate excessively large numbers
of instruments.

Options
Non-Panel GMM Options
Basic GMM Options
nocinst Do not include automatically a constant as an instrument.
method=keyword Set the weight updating method. keyword should be one of
the following: “nstep” (N-Step Iterative, or Sequential N-
Step Iterative, default), “converge” (Iterate to Convergence
or Sequential Iterate to Convergence), “simul” (Simultane-
ous Iterate to Convergence), “oneplusone” (One-Step
Weights Plus One Iteration), or “cue” (Continuously Updat-
ing”.
gmmiter=integer Number of weight iterations. Only applicable if the
“method=nstep” option is set.
w=arg Weight series or expression.
 gmm—371

wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-

(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values for equations specified by list with
AR or MA terms (see also param (p. 453) of the Com-
mand and Programming Reference).
s=number Determine starting values for equations specified by list
with AR or MA terms. Specify a number between zero and
one representing the fraction of TSLS estimates computed
without AR or MA terms to be used. Note that out of range
values are set to “s=1”. Specifying “s=0” initializes coeffi-
cients to zero. By default EViews uses “s=1”.
Does not apply to coefficients for AR and MA terms which
are instead set to EViews determined default values.
m=integer Maximum number of iterations.
c=number Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
l=number Set maximum number of iterations on the first-stage itera-
tion to get the one-step weighting matrix.
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / -fastderiv [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
EViews will follow the global default.
showopts / -showopts [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.
372—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Estimation Weighting Matrix Options

instwgt=keyword Set the estimation weighting matrix type. Keyword should
be one of the following: “tsls” (two-stage least squares),
“white” (White diagonal matrix), “hac” (Newey-West HAC,
default) or “user” (user defined).
instwgtmat=name Set the name of the user-defined estimation weighting
matrix. Only applicable if the “instwgt=user” option is set.
instlag=arg Whitening Lag specification: integer (user-specified lag
(default=1) value), “a” (automatic selection).
instinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic whitening lag selection:
(default=“aic”) “aic” (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“instlag=a”).
instmaxlag= integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“instlag=a”). The default is an observation-based maxi-
13
mum of T .
instkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),
(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniell), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
instbw=arg Kernel Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed),
(default=“fixednw”) “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-
West automatic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
instnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric bandwidth selection (if “instbw=neweywest”).
instbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth.

Covariance Options
cov=keyword Covariance weighting matrix type (optional): “updated”
(estimation updated), “tsls” (two-stage least squares),
“white” (White diagonal matrix), “hac” (Newey-West
HAC), “wind” (Windmeijer) or “user” (user defined).
The default is to use the estimation weighting matrix.
nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing
coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
covwgtmat=name Set the name of the user-definied covariance weighting
matrix. Only applicable if the “covwgt=user” option is set.
 gmm—373

covlag=arg Whitening lag specification: integer (user-specified lag

(default=1) value), “a” (automatic selection).
covinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=”aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
covmaxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum
13
of T .
covkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),
(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
covbw=arg Kernel Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed),
(default=“fixednw”) “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-
West automatic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
covnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric kernel bandwidth selection (if “covbw=newey-
west”).
covbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth.

Panel GMM Options

cx=arg Cross-section effects method: (default) none, fixed effects
estimation (“cx=f”), first-difference estimation (“cx=fd”),
orthogonal deviation estimation (“cx=od”)
per=arg Period effects method: (default) none, fixed effects estima-
tion (“per=f”).
levelper Period dummies always specified in levels (even if one of
the transformation methods is used, “cx=fd” or “cx=od”).
wgt=arg GLS weighting: (default) none, cross-section system
weights (“wgt=cxsur”), period system weights
(“wgt=persur”), cross-section diagonal weighs
(“wgt=cxdiag”), period diagonal weights (“wgt=per-
diag”).
374—Chapter 12. Command Reference

gmm=arg GMM weighting: 2SLS (“gmm=2sls”), White period sys-

tem covariances (Arellano-Bond 2-step/n-step)
(“gmm=perwhite”), White cross-section system
(“gmm=cxwhite”), White diagonal
(“gmm=stackedwhite”), Period system (“gmm=persur”),
Cross-section system (“gmm=cxsur”), Period heteroske-
dastic (“cov=perdiag”), Cross-section heteroskedastic
(“gmm=cxdiag”).
By default, uses the identity matrix unless estimated with
first difference transformation (“cx=fd”), in which case,
uses (Arellano-Bond 1-step) difference weighting matrix. In
this latter case, you should specify 2SLS weights
(“gmm=2sls”) for Anderson-Hsiao estimation.
cov=arg Coefficient covariance method: (default) ordinary, White
cross-section system robust (“cov=cxwhite”), White
period system robust (“cov=perwhite”), White heteroske-
dasticity robust (“cov=stackedwhite”), Cross-section sys-
tem robust/PCSE (“cov=cxsur”), Period system
robust/PCSE (“cov=persur”), Cross-section heteroskedas-
ticity robust/PCSE (“cov=cxdiag”), Period heteroskedastic-
ity robust (“cov=perdiag”).
keepwgts Keep full set of GLS/GMM weights used in estimation with
object, if applicable (by default, only weights which take
up little memory are saved).
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
iter=arg Iteration control for GLS and GMM weighting specifica-
(default=“onec”) tions: perform one weight iteration, then iterate coefficients
to convergence (“iter=onec”), iterate weights and coeffi-
cients simultaneously to convergence (“iter=sim”), iterate
weights and coefficients sequentially to convergence
(“iter=seq”), perform one weight iteration, then one coef-
ficient step (“iter=oneb”).
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values for equations specified by list with
AR or MA terms (see also param (p. 453) of the Com-
mand and Programming Reference).
 gmm—375

s=number Determine starting values for equations specified by list

with AR terms. Specify a number between zero and one
representing the fraction of TSLS estimates computed with-
out AR terms to be used. Note that out of range values are
set to “s=1”. Specifying “s=0” initializes coefficients to
zero. By default EViews uses “s=1”.
Does not apply to coefficients for AR terms which are
instead set to EViews determined default values.
m=integer Maximum number of iterations.
c=number Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
l=number Set maximum number of iterations on the first-stage itera-
tion to get the one-step weighting matrix.
unbalsur Compute SUR factorization in unbalanced data using the
subset of available observations for a cluster.
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / -fastderiv [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
EViews will follow the global default.
showopts / -showopts [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
estimation options in the estimation output.
p Print results.

Note that some options are only available for a subset of specifications.

Examples
In a non-panel workfile, we may estimate equations using the standard GMM options. The
specification:
gmm(instwgt=white,gmmiter=2,nodf) cons c y y(-1) w @ c p(-1) k(-1)
x(-1) tm wg g t

estimates the Klein equation for consumption using GMM with a White diagonal weighting
matrix (two steps and no degree of freedom correction). The command:
gmm(method=cue,instwgt=hac,instlag=1,instkern=thann,
instbw=andrews,nodf) i c y y(-1) k(-1) @ c p(-1) k(-1) x(-1) tm
wg g t
376—Chapter 12. Command Reference

estimates the Klein equation for investment using a Newey-West HAC weighting matrix,
with pre-whitening with 1 lag, a Tukey-Hanning kernel and the Andrews automatic band-
width routine. The estimation is performed using continuously updating weight iterations.

When working with a workfile that has a panel structure, you may use the panel equation
estimation options. The command
gmm(cx=fd, per=f) dj dj(-1) @ @dyn(dj)

estimates an Arellano-Bond “1-step” estimator with differencing of the dependent variable

DJ, period fixed effects, and dynamic instruments constructed using DJ with observation
specific lags from period t – 2 to 1.

To perform the “2-step” version of this estimator, you may use:

gmm(cx=fd, per=f, gmm=perwhite, iter=oneb) dj dj(-1) @ @dyn(dj)

where the combination of the options “gmm=perwhite” and (the default) “iter=oneb”
instructs EViews to estimate the model with the difference weights, to use the estimates to
form period covariance GMM weights, and then re-estimate the model.

You may iterate the GMM weights to convergence using:

gmm(cx=fd, per=f, gmm=perwhite, iter=seq) dj dj(-1) @ @dyn(dj)

Alternately:
gmm(cx=od, gmm=perwhite, iter=oneb) dj dj(-1) x y @ @dyn(dj,-2,-6)
x(-1) y(-1)

estimates an Arellano-Bond “2-step” equation using orthogonal deviations of the dependent

variable, dynamic instruments constructed from DJ from period t – 6 to t – 2 , and ordi-
nary instruments X(-1) and Y(-1).

Cross-references
See “Generalized Method of Moments” on page 69 and Chapter 17. “Panel Estimation,” on
page 855 of User’s Guide II for discussion of the various GMM estimation techniques.

See also tsls (p. 496).

See Equation::gmm (p. 97) in the Object Reference for the equivalent equation object com-
mand.

heckit Interactive Use Commands

Estimate a selection equation using the Heckman ML or 2-step method.

Syntax
heckit(options) response_eqn @ selection_eqn
 heckit—377

The response equation should be the dependent variable followed by a list of regressors. The
selection equation should be a binary dependent variable followed by a list of regressors.

Options
General Options

2step Use the Heckman 2-step estimation method. Note that this
option is incompatible with the maximum likelihood
options below.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print the estimation results.

ML Options
Note these options are not available if the "2step" option, above, is used.
optmethod = Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
arg Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “legacy”
(EViews legacy).
Newton-Raphson is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dog-
leg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich methods).,
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian).
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=”.)
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=number Set convergence criteria.
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
378—Chapter 12. Command Reference

s=number Scale EViews’ starting values by number.

r Use Newton-Raphson optimizer.
b Use BHHH optimizer.

Examples
wfopen http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~wgreene/Text/Edition7/TableF5-
1.txt
heckit ww c ax ax^2 we cit @ lfp c wa wa^2 faminc we (k618+kl6)>0
heckit(2step) ww c ax ax^2 we cit @ lfp c wa wa^2 faminc we
(k618+kl6)>0

This example replicates the Heckman Selection example given in Greene (2008, page 888),
which uses data from the Mroz (1987) study to estimate a selection model. The first line of
this example downloads the data set, the second line creates an equation object and esti-
mates it using the default maximum likelihood estimation method of Heckman Selection,
which replicates the first pane of Table 24.3 in Greene. The third line estimates the same
model, using the two-step approach, which replicates the second pane of Table 24.3.

Cross-references

hconvert Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Convert an entire Haver Analytics Database into an EViews database.

Syntax
hconvert haver_path db_name

You must have a Haver Analytics database installed on your computer to use this feature. You
must also create an EViews database to store the converted Haver data before you use this
command.

Be aware that this command may be very time-consuming.

Follow the command by a full path name to the Haver database and the name of an existing
EViews database to store the Haver database. You can include a path name to the EViews
database not in the default path.

Examples
dbcreate hdata
hconvert d:\haver\haver hdata

The first line creates a new (empty) database named HDATA in the default directory. The
second line converts all the data in the Haver database and stores it in the HDATA database.
 hfetch—379

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews and Haver databases.

See also dbcreate (p. 342), db (p. 340), hfetch (p. 379) and hlabel (p. 380).

hfetch Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Fetch a series from a Haver Analytics database into a workfile.

hfetch reads one or more series from a Haver Analytics Database into the active workfile.
You must have a Haver Analytics database installed on your computer to use this feature.

Syntax
hfetch(database_name) series_name

hfetch, if issued alone on a command line, will bring up a Haver dialog box which has
fields for entering both the database name and the series names to be fetched. If you provide
the database name (including the full path) in parentheses after the hfetch command,
EViews will read the database and copy the series requested into the current workfile. It will
also display information about the series on the status line. The database name is optional if
a default database has been specified.

hfetch can read multiple series with a single command. List the series names, each sepa-
rated by a space.

Examples
hfetch(c:\data\us1) pop gdp xyz

reads the series POP, GDP, and XYZ from the US1 database into the current active workfile,
performing frequency conversions if necessary.

Cross-references
See also Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews and Haver databases. Additional information on EViews frequency conversion is
provided in “Frequency Conversion” on page 160 of User’s Guide I.

See also dbcreate (p. 342), db (p. 340), hconvert (p. 378) and hlabel (p. 380).
380—Chapter 12. Command Reference

hist Interactive Use Commands

Histogram and descriptive statistics of a series.

The hist command computes descriptive statistics and displays a histogram for the series.

Syntax
hist(options) series_name

Options
p Print the histogram.

Examples
hist lwage

Displays the histogram and descriptive statistics of LWAGE.

Cross-references
See “Histogram and Stats” on page 376 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of the descriptive
statistics reported in the histogram view.

See distplot (p. 909) in the Object Reference for a more full-featured and customizable
method of constructing histograms, and Series::hist (p. 568) in the Object Reference for
the equivalent series object view command.

hlabel Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Display a Haver Analytics database series description.

hlabel reads the description of a series from a Haver Analytics Database and displays it on
the status line at the bottom of the EViews window. Use this command to verify the contents
of a Haver database series name.

You must have a Haver Analytics database installed on your computer to use this feature.

Syntax
hlabel(database_name) series_name

hlabel, if issued alone on a command line, will bring up a Haver dialog box which has
fields for entering both the database name and the series names to be examined. If you pro-
vide the database name in parentheses after the hlabel command, EViews will read the data-
base and find the key information about the series in question, such as the start date, end
 hpf—381

date, frequency, and description. This information is displayed in the status line at the bot-
tom of the EViews window. Note that the database_name should refer to the full path to the
Haver database but need not be specified if a default database has been specified in
HAVERDIR.INI.

If several series names are placed on the line, hlabel will gather the information about
each of them, but the information display may scroll by so fast that only the last will be vis-
ible.

Examples
hlabel(c:\data\us1) pop

displays the description of the series POP in the US1 database.

Cross-references
See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of
EViews and Haver databases.

See also hfetch (p. 379) and hconvert (p. 378).

hpf Interactive Use Commands

Smooth a series using the Hodrick-Prescott filter.

Syntax
hpf(options) series_name filtered_name [@ cycle_name]

Smoothing Options
The degree of smoothing may be specified as an option. You may specify the smoothing as a
value, or using a power rule:

lambda=arg Set smoothing parameter value to arg; a larger number

results in greater smoothing.
power=arg Set smoothing parameter value using the frequency power
(default=2) rule of Ravn and Uhlig (2002) (the number of periods per
year divided by 4, raised to the power arg, and multiplied
by 1600).
Hodrick and Prescott recommend the value 2; Ravn and
Uhlig recommend the value 4.

If no smoothing option is specified, EViews will use the power rule with a value of 2.
382—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Other Options
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print the graph of the smoothed series and the original
series.

Examples
hpf(lambda=1000) gdp gdp_hp

smooths the GDP series with a smoothing parameter “1000” and saves the smoothed series
as GDP_HP.

Cross-references
See “Hodrick-Prescott Filter” on page 493 of User’s Guide I for details.

See Series::hpf (p. 569) of the Object Reference for the equivalent series object command.

import Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Imports data from a foreign file or a previously saved workfile into the current default
workfile. The import command lets you perform four different types of data importing:
dated reads, match-merge reads, sequential reads, and appends.

Dated imports can only be performed if the destination workfile is a dated workfile. You
must specify the date structure of the source data as part of the import command. EViews
will then match the date structure of the source with that of the destination, and perform
frequency conversion if necessary.

Match-merge imports require both a source ID series and a destination ID series. EViews will
read the source data into the destination workfile based upon matched values of the two ID
series.

Sequential imports will read the source data into the destination workfile by matching the
first observation of the source file to the first observation in the destination workfile's cur-
rent sample, then the second observation of the source with the second observation in the
destination's current sample, and so on.

Appended imports simply append the source data to the end of the destination workfile.

Syntax
The general form of the import command is:
import([type=], options) source_description import_specification [@smpl
smpl_string] [@genr genr_string] [@rename rename_string]
 import—383

where the syntax for import_specification depends on whether the read is a dated (“Dated
Imports” on page 384), match-merge (“Match-Merge Import” on page 386), sequential
(“Sequential Read” on page 388), or appended import (“Appended Read” on page 389).
• Source_description should contain a description of the file from which the data is to be
imported. The specification of the description is usually just the path and file name of
the file, however you can also specify more precise information. See wfopen (p. 515)
for more details on the specification of source_description.
• The optional “type=” option may be used to specify a source type. For the most part,
you should not need to specify a “type=” option as EViews will automatically deter-
mine the type from the filename. The following table summaries the various source
formats and along with the corresponding “type=” keywords:

Option Keywords
Access “access”
Aremos-TSD “a”, “aremos”, “tsd”
Binary “binary”
dBASE “dbase”
Excel (through 2003) “excel”
Excel 2007 (xml) “excelxml”
EViews Workfile ---
Gauss Dataset “gauss”
GiveWin/PcGive “g”, “give”
HTML “html”
Lotus 1-2-3 “lotus”
ODBC Dsn File “dsn”
ODBC Query File “msquery”
ODBC Data Source “odbc”
MicroTSP Workfile “dos”, “microtsp”
MicroTSP Mac Workfile “mac”
RATS 4.x “r”, “rats”
RATS Portable / TROLL “l”, “trl”
SAS Program “sasprog”
SAS Transport “sasxport”
SPSS “spss”
SPSS Portable “spssport”
Stata “stata”
384—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Text / ASCII “text”

TSP Portable “t”, “tsp”

• The optional @smpl keyword may be used to specify that data is only imported for
the observations specified by smpl_string. By default, the import will use all of the
observations in the workfile. If @smpl is included, but no smpl_string is included,
then the current default workfile sample is used.
• The optional @genr keyword may be used to generate a new series in the workfile as
part of the import procedure. genr_string may be any valid series creation expression,
and can be an expression based upon one of the imported series. See genr (p. 365)
for information on valid expressions.
• The optional @rename keyword may be used to rename some of the imported series
where rename_string contains pairs of old object names followed by the new names.
See rename (p. 461) for additional discussion.

In the remainder of this discussion, we examine each of the different import types in greater
depth.

Dated Imports
The syntax for a dated import command is:
import([type=], options) source_description @freq frequency start_date [@smpl
smpl_string] [@genr genr_string] [@rename rename_string]

The import_specification consists of the @freq keyword followed by a frequency argument

specifying the frequency of the source data and a start_date to specify the starting date of
the source data. See wfcreate (p. 510) for details on the forms that frequency may take.
 import—385

Basic Options
resize Extend the destination workfile (if necessary) to include
the entire range of the source data.
link Link the object to the source data so that the values can be
refreshed at a later time.
mode=arg Set the behavior for handling name conflicts when an
(default=“o”) imported series already exists in the destination workfile.
arg can be “o” (Completely replace existing series with
source series. Note that values outside of the range of the
source data will be overwritten with NAs), “u” (Overwrite
existing series only for values within the range of the
source data. Destination values outside of the source range
will be unchanged), “ms” (Overwrite existing series, unless
source value is an NA, in which case keep destination val-
ues), “md” (Only overwrite NA values in destination
series), “r” (rename any conflicts), or “p” (do not import
any series which have a name conflict).
page=page_name Optional name for the page into which the data should be
imported.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

Frequency Conversion Options

The following options control the frequency conversion method when copying series and
group objects into a workfile page and converting from low to high frequency:

c=arg Low to high conversion methods: “r” (constant match aver-

age), “d” (constant match sum), “q” (quadratic match
average), “t” (quadratic match sum), “i” (linear match
last), “c” (cubic match last), “pointf” (point first), “pointl”
(point last), “dentonf” (Denton first), “dentonl” (Denton
last), “dentona” (Denton average), “dentons” (Denton
sum), “chowlinf” (Chow-Lin first), “chowlinl” (Chow-Lin
last), “chowlina” (Chow-Lin average),“chowlins” (Chow-
Lin sum), “litmanf” (Litterman first), “litmanl” (Litterman
last), “litmana” (Litterman average), “litmans” (Litterman
sum)..
rho=arg Autocorrelation coefficient (for Chow-Lin and Litterman
conversions). Must be between 0 and 1, inclusive.

In addition, for Denton, Chow-Lin, and Litterman conversions, you must specify the indica-
tor series by appending the keyword “@indicator” followed by the series name or names at
the end of the import command.
386—Chapter 12. Command Reference

When importing data from a higher frequency source into a lower frequency destination:
c=arg High to low conversion methods removing NAs: “a” (aver-
age of the nonmissing observations), “s” (sum of the non-
missing observations), “f” (first nonmissing observation),
“l” (last nonmissing observation), “x” (maximum nonmiss-
ing observation), “m” (minimum nonmissing observation).
High to low conversion methods propagating NAs: “an” or
“na” (average, propagating missings), “sn” or “ns” (sum,
propagating missings), “fn” or “nf” (first, propagating
missings), “ln” or “nl” (last, propagating missings), “xn”
or “nx” (maximum, propagating missings), “mn” or “nm”
(minimum, propagating missings).

Examples
import c:\temp\quarterly.xls @freq q 1990

will import the file QUARTERLY.XLS into the current default workfile. The source file has a
quarterly frequency, starting at 1990.
import(c=s) c:\temp\quarterly.xls range="GDP_SHEET" @freq q 1990
@rename gdp_per_capita gdp

will import from same file, but instead will use the data on the Excel sheet called
“GDP_SHEET”, and will rename the series GDP_PER_CAPITA to GDP. A frequency conver-
sion method using the sum of the nonmissing observations is used rather than the default
average.
import(mode=p) c:\temp\annual.txt @freq a 1990 @smpl 1994 1996

will import data from a text file called annual.txt, into the current default workfile. Any data
in the text file that already exists in the destination workfile will be ignored, and for the
remaining series, only the dates between 1994 and 1996 will be imported.

Match-Merge Import
Syntax
import(options) source_description @id id @destid destid [@smpl smpl_string]
[@genr genr_string] [@rename rename_string]

The import_specification consists of the @id keyword and at least one ID series in the
source file, followed by the @destid keyword and at least one ID series in the destination
workfile. The two sets of ID series should be compatible, in that they should contain a sub-
set of identical values that provide information on how observations from the two files
should be matched. If one of the ID series is a date series, you should surround it with the
@date( ) keyword.
 import—387

Options
resize Extend the destination workfile (if necessary) to include
the entire range of the source data.
link Link the object to the source data so that the values can be
refreshed at a later time.
mode=arg Set the behavior for handling name conflicts when an
(default=“o”) imported series already exists in the destination workfile.
arg can be “o” (Completely replace existing series with
source series. Note that values outside of the range of the
source data will be overwritten with NAs), “u” (Overwrite
existing series only for values within the range of the
source data. Destination values outside of the source range
will be unchanged), “ms” (Overwrite existing series, unless
source value is an NA, in which case keep destination val-
ues), “md” (Only overwrite NA values in destination
series), “r” (rename any conflicts), or “p” (do not import
any series which have a name conflict).
nacat Treat “NA” values as a category when copying using gen-
eral match merge operations.
propnas Propogate NAs / partial periods evaluate to NAs when con-
verting.
c=arg Set the match merge contraction method.
If you are importing a numeric source series by general
match merge, the argument can be one of: “mean”, “med”
(median), “max”, “min”, “sum”, “sumsq” (sum-of
squares), “var” (variance), “sd” (standard deviation),
“skew” (skewness), “kurt” (kurtosis), “quant” (quantile,
used with “quant=” option), “obs” (number of observa-
tions), “nas” (number of NA values), “first” (first observa-
tion in group), “last” (last observation in group), unique”
(single unique group value, if present), “none” (disallow
contractions).
If importing an alpha series, only the non-summary meth-
ods “max”, “min”, “obs”, “nas”, first”, “last”, “unique”
and “none” are supported.
For importing of numeric series, the default contraction
method is “c=mean”; for copying of alpha series, the
default is “c=unique”.
page=page_name Optional name for the page into which the data should be
imported.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
388—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Most of the conversion options should be self-explanatory. As for the others: “first” and
“last” give the first and last non-missing observed for a given group ID; “obs” provides the
number of non-missing values for a given group; “nas” reports the number of NAs in the
group; “unique” will provide the value in the source series if it is the identical for all obser-
vations in the group, and will return NA otherwise; “none” will cause the import to fail if
there are multiple observations in any group—this setting may be used if you wish to pro-
hibit all contractions.
Examples
import(c=max, type=excel) c:\data\stateunemp.xls @id states
@destid states

will import the file STATEUNEMP.XLS using the ID series STATES in both files as the match
merge criteria. The maximum value is used as a contraction method. Note that although the
“type=excel” option was used, it was not necessary since EViews will automatically detect
the file type based on the file's extension (.xls).
import c:\data\stategdp.txt colhead=3 delim=comma @id states
@date(year) @destid states @date

will import the file STATEGDP.TXT, specifying that there are three lines of column headers,
and the delimiter for the text file is a comma. The series STATES is used as an ID series in
both files, along with a date series (YEAR for the source file, and the default EViews date
series, @DATE, for the destination workfile). Note that this type of import, with both a
cross-section ID and a date ID is most commonly employed for importing data into panel
workfiles.
import c:\data\cagdp.xls @id states @date(year) @destid states
@date @genr states="CA"

will import the file CAGDP.XLS into the current workfile. In this particular case the source
file is a time series file for a single state, California. Since the importing is being done into a
panel workfile, the @genr keyword is used to generate a series containing the state identi-
fier, CA, which is then used as the source ID.

Sequential Read
Syntax
import(options) source_description [@smpl smpl_string] [@genr genr_string]
[@rename rename_string]

No import_specification is required for a sequential read.

 import—389

Options
resize Extend the destination workfile (if necessary) to include the
entire range of the source data.
link Link the object to the source data so that the values can be
refreshed at a later time.
mode=arg Set the behavior for handling name conflicts when an
(default=“o”) imported series already exists in the destination workfile.
arg can be “o” (Completely replace existing series with
source series. Note that values outside of the range of the
source data will be overwritten with NAs), “u” (Overwrite
existing series only for values within the range of the
source data. Destination values outside of the source range
will be unchanged), “ms” (Overwrite existing series, unless
source value is an NA, in which case keep destination val-
ues), “md” (Only overwrite NA values in destination
series), “r” (rename any conflicts), or “p” (do not import
any series which have a name conflict).
page=page_name Optional name for the page into which the data should be
imported.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

Examples
import(resize) sales.dta @smpl @all

will import the Stata file SALES.DTA into the current workfile, using the entire workfile
range. If the sales.dta file contains more observations that the current workfile, the current
workfile is resized to accommodate the extra rows of data.

Appended Read
Syntax
import(options) source_description @append [@genr genr_string] [@rename
rename_string]

The import_specification consists of the @append keyword. Note that the @smpl keyword
is not supported for appended import.
390—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Options
link Link the object to the source data so that the values can be
refreshed at a later time.
mode=arg Set the behavior for handling name conflicts when an
(default=“o”) imported series already exists in the destination workfile.
arg can be “o” (Completely replace existing series with
source series. Note that values outside of the range of the
source data will be overwritten with NAs), “r” (rename any
conflicts), or “p” (do not import any series which have a
name conflict).
page=page_name Optional name for the page into which the data should be
imported.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

Examples
import(page=demand) demand.txt @append

will append the text file, DEMAND.TXT, to the bottom of the page “demand” in the current
workfile.

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of workfiles.

See also wfopen (p. 515), copy (p. 327), pageload (p. 440), read (p. 458), fetch (p. 355),
wfsave (p. 529), and pagesave (p. 442).

importattr Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Imports observation values stored inside one or more series in a second workfile page into
the attribute fields of objects within the current workfile page.

Syntax
importattr(options) source_page [@keep keeplist @drop droplist]

The source page should contain one series whose values are the names of the objects into
which the attributes should be imported, and one or more additional series containing the
values of each attribute to be imported. By default, the procedure will assume there is an
alpha series called NAME in the source page that contains the object names. The “name=”
option can be used to specify that a different series in the source page contains the object
names.
 importattr—391

Values in the name column will always be converted into legal EViews names before match-
ing to object names in the current workfile. (For example, any spaces will be replaced by
underscores.)

Typically, the name of the series in the source workfile will be used as the attribute name
inside the current workfile. However, if an object in the source workfile has a display name
set, this value will be used for the attribute name instead. Display names must be used to
specify attribute names if your attribute names contain spaces since spaces are not allowed
within EViews object names.

For numeric series, attribute values will be imported using the formatting currently set for
the series spreadsheet view of the source series.

By default, all series in the source page will be used as attribute values (except the series
containing object names). To import only a subset of series as attributes, name patterns can
be provided in the @keep and @drop arguments to restrict which series will be used.

importattr is most often useful when importing custom attributes from an external file. It
is common for foreign data files, such as Excel files, to have one file (or sheet in Excel) con-
taining the data, and a separate file (or sheet) containing the attributes, or meta-data, of
each series. In such cases the pageload command can be used to read in the attribute file
as a separate page in your workfile, and then importattr can be used to assign them to the
data page.

Options
mode=arg Specify how the procedure treats existing attribute val-
ues in the current workfile page. arg may be "o" or
"overwrite" (clears all existing attribute values in the
object before applying the imported attribute value), “u”
or “update” (clears existing attribute values only for the
attributes that are being imported), “m” or “merge”
(keeps existing values if the imported value of the attri-
bute is empty), “md” (keeps all existing non-empty val-
ues. only empty values will be replaced with the
imported values).
trim=string Remove string from the start and end of the attribute
name.
name=arg Specify the name of the alpha series in the source page
containing the names of objects in the target page.

Examples
importattr(name=objnames) attributes @keep attr1 attr2
392—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Imports values from series ATTR1 and ATTR2 in the page “Attributes” into attributes “attr1”
and “attr2” of objects in the current workfile. The series OBJNAMES in the page “Attributes”
specifies which objects in the current workfile should have their attribute values updated.
importattr(name=objnames, trim=":") attributes @keep attr1 attr2

removes the “:” from the start and end of the attribute name, if present, since EViews adds
that character in the label view.

Cross-references
See “Workfile Details Display” on page 62 and “Label” on page 405 of User’s Guide I for a
discussion of the workfile details display and, for example, the series object label view.

importmat Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Imports data from a foreign file into a matrix object in the current workfile.

Syntax
The general form of the importmat command is:
importmat([type=], options) source_description import_specification
• Source_description should contain a description of the file from which the data is to be
imported. The specification of the description is usually just the path and file name of
the file, however you can also specify more precise information. See wfopen (p. 515)
for more details on the specification of source_description.
• The optional “type=” option may be used to specify a source type. For the most part,
you should not need to specify a “type=” option as EViews will automatically deter-
mine the type from the filename. The following table summaries the various source
formats and along with the corresponding “type=” keywords:

Option Keywords
Excel (through 2003) “excel”
Excel 2007 (xml) “excelxml”
HTML “html”
Text / ASCII “text”
 importmat—393

Options
name=arg Specify a name for the created matrix object.
display=arg Specify a display name for the created matrix object.
page=page_name Optional name for the page into which the matrix should
be created.
mode=o Overwrite an existing object with the same name (only
applicable if the name option is used).

• import_specification can be used to provide additional information about the file to be

read. The details of import_specification will depend upon the type of file being
imported.

Excel Files
The syntax for reading Excel files is:
importmat(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

The following table_description elements may be used when reading Excel data:
• “range = arg”, where arg is a range of cells to read from the Excel workbook, follow-
ing the standard Excel format [worksheet!][topleft_cell[:bottomright_cell]].
If the worksheet name contains spaces, it should be placed in single quotes. If the
worksheet name is omitted, the cell range is assumed to refer to the currently active
sheet. If only a top left cell is provided, a bottom right cell will be chosen automati-
cally to cover the range of non-empty cells adjacent to the specified top left cell. If
only a sheet name is provided, the first set of non-empty cells in the top left corner of
the chosen worksheet will be selected automatically. As an alternative to specifying
an explicit range, a name which has been defined inside the excel workbook to refer
to a range or cell may be used to specify the cells to read.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to read files where the
series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection). This option is rarely required.
• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
394—Chapter 12. Command Reference

• “scan=[int| all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the data (default is 1). This
option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the data (default is last observation
of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which may be useful
for testing.

Excel Examples
importmat "c:\data files\data.xls"

loads the active sheet of DATA.XLSX into a new untitled matrix object.
importmat(name=mymat) "c:\data files\data.xls" range="GDP data"

reads the data contained in the “GDP data” sheet of “Data.XLS” into the MYMAT object.

HTML Files
The syntax for reading HTML pages is:
importmat(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

The following table_description elements may be used when reading an HTML file or page:
• “table = arg”, where arg specifies which HTML table to read in an HTML file/page
containing multiple tables.
When specifying arg, you should remember that tables are named automatically fol-
lowing the pattern “Table01”, “Table02”, “Table03”, etc. If no table name is specified,
the largest table found in the file will be chosen by default. Note that the table num-
bering may include trivial tables that are part of the HTML content of the file, but
would not normally be considered as data tables by a person viewing the page.
• “skip = int”, where int is the number of rows to discard from the top of the HTML
table.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to import files where
the series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection). This option is rarely used.
 importmat—395

• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int|all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the table of data (default is 1).
This option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the table of data (default is last
observation of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which
may be useful for testing.

HTML Examples
importmat "c:\data.html"

loads into a new untitled matrix object the data located in the HTML file “Data.HTML”
located on the C:\ drive
importmat(type=html, name=forexmat)
"http://www.tradingroom.com.au/apps/mkt/forex.ac" colhead=3

loads into a matrix object called FOREXMAT the data with the given URL located on the
website site “http://www.tradingroom.com.au”. The column header is set to three rows.

Text and Binary Files

The syntax for reading text or binary files is:
importmat(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

If a table_description is not provided, EViews will attempt to read the file as a free-format
text file. The following table_description elements may be used when reading a text or
binary file:
• “ftype = [ascii|binary]” specifies whether numbers and dates in the file are stored in
a human readable text (ASCII), or machine readable (Binary) form.
• “rectype = [crlf|fixed|streamed]” describes the record structure of the file:
“crlf”, each row in the output table is formed using a fixed number of lines from
the file (where lines are separated by carriage return/line feed sequences). This is
the default setting.
“fixed”, each row in the output table is formed using a fixed number of charac-
ters from the file (specified in “reclen= arg”). This setting is typically used for
files that contain no line breaks.
“streamed”, each row in the output table is formed by reading a fixed number of
fields, skipping across lines if necessary. This option is typically used for files that
contain line breaks, but where the line breaks are not relevant to how rows from
the data should be formed.
396—Chapter 12. Command Reference

• “reclines =int”, number of lines to use in forming each row when “rectype=crlf”
(default is 1).
• “reclen=int”, number of bytes to use in forming each row when “rectype=fixed”.
• “recfields=int”, number of fields to use in forming each row when “rec-
type=streamed”.
• “skip=int”, number of lines (if rectype is “crlf”) or bytes (if rectype is not “crlf”) to
discard from the top of the file.
• “comment=string“, where string is a double-quoted string, specifies one or more
characters to treat as a comment indicator. When a comment indicator is found,
everything on the line to the right of where the comment indicator starts is ignored.
• “emptylines=[keep|drop]”, specifies whether empty lines should be ignored
(“drop”), or treated as valid lines (“keep”) containing missing values. The default is
to ignore empty lines.
• “tabwidth=int”, specifies the number of characters between tab stops when tabs are
being replaced by spaces (default=8). Note that tabs are automatically replaced by
spaces whenever they are not being treated as a field delimiter.
• “fieldtype=[delim|fixed|streamed|undivided]”, specifies the structure of fields within
a record:
“Delim”, fields are separated by one or more delimiter characters
“Fixed”, each field is a fixed number of characters
“Streamed”, fields are read from left to right, with each field starting immediately
after the previous field ends.
“Undivided”, read entire record as a single series.
• “quotes=[single|double|both|none]”, specifies the character used for quoting fields,
where “single” is the apostrophe, “double” is the double quote character, and “both”
means that either single or double quotes are allowed (default is “both”). Characters
contained within quotes are never treated as delimiters.
• “singlequote“, same as “quotes = single”.
• “delim=[comma|tab|space|dblspace|white|dblwhite]”, specifies the character(s) to
treat as a delimiter. “White” means that either a tab or a space is a valid delimiter. You
may also use the abbreviation “d=” in place of “delim=”.
• “custom="arg1"”, specifies custom delimiter characters in the double quoted string.
Use the character “t” for tab, “s” for space and “a” for any character.
• “mult=[on|off]”, to treat multiple delimiters as one. Default value is “on” if “delim”
is “space”, “dblspace”, “white”, or “dblwhite”, and “off” otherwise.
 importmat—397

• “endian = [big|little]”, selects the endianness of numeric fields contained in binary

files.
• “string = [nullterm|nullpad|spacepad]”, specifies how strings are stored in binary
files. If “nullterm”, strings shorter than the field width are terminated with a single
zero character. If “nullpad”, strings shorter than the field width are followed by extra
zero characters up to the field width. If “spacepad”, strings shorter than the field
width are followed by extra space characters up to the field width.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to import files where
the series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

A central component of the table_description element is the format statement. You may
specify the data format using the following table descriptors:
• Fortran Format:
fformat=([n1]Type[Width][.Precision], [n2]Type[Width][.Precision], ...)
where Type specifies the underlying data type, and may be one of the following,
I - integer
F - fixed precision
E - scientific
A - alphanumeric
X - skip
and n1, n2, ... are the number of times to read using the descriptor (default=1). More
complicated Fortran compatible variations on this format are possible.
• Column Range Format:
rformat="[n1]Type[Width][.Precision], [n2]Type[Width][.Precision], ...)"
where optional type is “$” for string or “#” for number, and n1, n2, n3, n4, etc. are the
range of columns containing the data.
• C printf/scanf Format:
cformat="fmt"
where fmt follows standard C language (printf/scanf) format rules.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection). This option is rarely used.
398—Chapter 12. Command Reference

• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int|all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the table of data (default is 1).
This option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the table of data (default is last
observation of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which
may be useful for testing.

Text and Binary File Examples (.txt, .csv, etc.)

importmat c:\data.csv skip=5

reads “Data.CSV” into a new unnamed matrix object, skipping the first 5 rows.
importtbl(type=text, name=matrix01) c:\date.txt delim=comma

loads the comma delimited data DATE.TXT into the MATRIX01 matrix object.

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of workfiles.

See also wfopen (p. 515), copy (p. 327), pageload (p. 440), read (p. 458), fetch (p. 355),
wfsave (p. 529), and pagesave (p. 442).

importtbl Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Imports data from a foreign file into a table object in the current workfile.

Syntax
The general form of the importtbl command is:
importtbl([type=], options) source_description import_specification
• Source_description should contain a description of the file from which the data is to be
imported. The specification of the description is usually just the path and file name of
the file, however you can also specify more precise information. See wfopen (p. 515)
for more details on the specification of source_description.
• The optional “type=” option may be used to specify a source type. For the most part,
you should not need to specify a “type=” option as EViews will automatically deter-
mine the type from the filename. The following table summaries the various source
formats and along with the corresponding “type=” keywords:
 importtbl—399

Option Keywords
Excel (through 2003) “excel”
Excel 2007 (xml) “excelxml”
HTML “html”
Text / ASCII “text”

Options
name=arg Specify a name for the created table object.
display=arg Specify a display name for the created table object.
page=page_name Optional name for the page into which the table should be
created.
mode=o Overwrite an existing object with the same name (only
applicable if the name option is used).

• import_specification can be used to provide additional information about the file to be

read. The details of import_specification will depend upon the type of file being
imported.

Excel Files
The syntax for reading Excel files is:
importtbl(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

The following table_description elements may be used when reading Excel data:
• “range = arg”, where arg is a range of cells to read from the Excel workbook, follow-
ing the standard Excel format [worksheet!][topleft_cell[:bottomright_cell]].
If the worksheet name contains spaces, it should be placed in single quotes. If the
worksheet name is omitted, the cell range is assumed to refer to the currently active
sheet. If only a top left cell is provided, a bottom right cell will be chosen automati-
cally to cover the range of non-empty cells adjacent to the specified top left cell. If
only a sheet name is provided, the first set of non-empty cells in the top left corner of
the chosen worksheet will be selected automatically. As an alternative to specifying
an explicit range, a name which has been defined inside the excel workbook to refer
to a range or cell may be used to specify the cells to read.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to read files where the
series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
400—Chapter 12. Command Reference

• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection). This option is rarely required.
• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int| all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the data (default is 1). This
option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the data (default is last observation
of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which may be useful
for testing.

Excel Examples
importtbl "c:\data files\data.xls"

loads the active sheet of DATA.XLSX into a new untitled table object.
importtbl(name=mytbl) "c:\data files\data.xls" range="GDP data"

reads the data contained in the “GDP data” sheet of “Data.XLS” into the MYTBL object.

HTML Files
The syntax for reading HTML pages is:
importtbl(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

The following table_description elements may be used when reading an HTML file or page:
• “table = arg”, where arg specifies which HTML table to read in an HTML file/page
containing multiple tables.
When specifying arg, you should remember that tables are named automatically fol-
lowing the pattern “Table01”, “Table02”, “Table03”, etc. If no table name is specified,
the largest table found in the file will be chosen by default. Note that the table num-
bering may include trivial tables that are part of the HTML content of the file, but
would not normally be considered as data tables by a person viewing the page.
• “skip = int”, where int is the number of rows to discard from the top of the HTML
table.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to import files where
the series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

 importtbl—401

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.

• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection). This option is rarely used.
• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int|all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the table of data (default is 1).
This option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the table of data (default is last
observation of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which
may be useful for testing.

HTML Examples
importtbl "c:\data.html"

loads into a new untitled table object the data located in the HTML file “Data.HTML”
located on the C:\ drive
importtbl(type=html, name=forextbl)
"http://www.tradingroom.com.au/apps/mkt/forex.ac" colhead=3

loads into a table object called FOREXTBL the data with the given URL located on the web-
site site “http://www.tradingroom.com.au”. The column header is set to three rows.

Text and Binary Files

The syntax for reading text or binary files is:
importtbl(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

If a table_description is not provided, EViews will attempt to read the file as a free-format
text file. The following table_description elements may be used when reading a text or
binary file:
• “ftype = [ascii|binary]” specifies whether numbers and dates in the file are stored in
a human readable text (ASCII), or machine readable (Binary) form.
• “rectype = [crlf|fixed|streamed]” describes the record structure of the file:
“crlf”, each row in the output table is formed using a fixed number of lines from
the file (where lines are separated by carriage return/line feed sequences). This is
the default setting.
“fixed”, each row in the output table is formed using a fixed number of charac-
402—Chapter 12. Command Reference

ters from the file (specified in “reclen= arg”). This setting is typically used for
files that contain no line breaks.
“streamed”, each row in the output table is formed by reading a fixed number of
fields, skipping across lines if necessary. This option is typically used for files that
contain line breaks, but where the line breaks are not relevant to how rows from
the data should be formed.
• “reclines =int”, number of lines to use in forming each row when “rectype=crlf”
(default is 1).
• “reclen=int”, number of bytes to use in forming each row when “rectype=fixed”.
• “recfields=int”, number of fields to use in forming each row when “rec-
type=streamed”.
• “skip=int”, number of lines (if rectype is “crlf”) or bytes (if rectype is not “crlf”) to
discard from the top of the file.
• “comment=string“, where string is a double-quoted string, specifies one or more
characters to treat as a comment indicator. When a comment indicator is found,
everything on the line to the right of where the comment indicator starts is ignored.
• “emptylines=[keep|drop]”, specifies whether empty lines should be ignored
(“drop”), or treated as valid lines (“keep”) containing missing values. The default is
to ignore empty lines.
• “tabwidth=int”, specifies the number of characters between tab stops when tabs are
being replaced by spaces (default=8). Note that tabs are automatically replaced by
spaces whenever they are not being treated as a field delimiter.
• “fieldtype=[delim|fixed|streamed|undivided]”, specifies the structure of fields within
a record:
“Delim”, fields are separated by one or more delimiter characters
“Fixed”, each field is a fixed number of characters
“Streamed”, fields are read from left to right, with each field starting immediately
after the previous field ends.
“Undivided”, read entire record as a single series.
• “quotes=[single|double|both|none]”, specifies the character used for quoting fields,
where “single” is the apostrophe, “double” is the double quote character, and “both”
means that either single or double quotes are allowed (default is “both”). Characters
contained within quotes are never treated as delimiters.
• “singlequote“, same as “quotes = single”.
 importtbl—403

• “delim=[comma|tab|space|dblspace|white|dblwhite]”, specifies the character(s) to

treat as a delimiter. “White” means that either a tab or a space is a valid delimiter. You
may also use the abbreviation “d=” in place of “delim=”.
• “custom="arg1"”, specifies custom delimiter characters in the double quoted string.
Use the character “t” for tab, “s” for space and “a” for any character.
• “mult=[on|off]”, to treat multiple delimiters as one. Default value is “on” if “delim”
is “space”, “dblspace”, “white”, or “dblwhite”, and “off” otherwise.
• “endian = [big|little]”, selects the endianness of numeric fields contained in binary
files.
• “string = [nullterm|nullpad|spacepad]”, specifies how strings are stored in binary
files. If “nullterm”, strings shorter than the field width are terminated with a single
zero character. If “nullpad”, strings shorter than the field width are followed by extra
zero characters up to the field width. If “spacepad”, strings shorter than the field
width are followed by extra space characters up to the field width.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to import files where
the series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

A central component of the table_description element is the format statement. You may
specify the data format using the following table descriptors:
• Fortran Format:
fformat=([n1]Type[Width][.Precision], [n2]Type[Width][.Precision], ...)
where Type specifies the underlying data type, and may be one of the following,
I - integer
F - fixed precision
E - scientific
A - alphanumeric
X - skip
and n1, n2, ... are the number of times to read using the descriptor (default=1). More
complicated Fortran compatible variations on this format are possible.
• Column Range Format:
rformat="[n1]Type[Width][.Precision], [n2]Type[Width][.Precision], ...)"
where optional type is “$” for string or “#” for number, and n1, n2, n3, n4, etc. are the
range of columns containing the data.
• C printf/scanf Format:
cformat="fmt"
where fmt follows standard C language (printf/scanf) format rules.
404—Chapter 12. Command Reference

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection). This option is rarely used.
• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int|all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the table of data (default is 1).
This option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the table of data (default is last
observation of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which
may be useful for testing.

Text and Binary File Examples (.txt, .csv, etc.)

importtbl c:\data.csv skip=5

reads “Data.CSV” into a new unnamed table object, skipping the first 5 rows.
importtbl(type=text, name=table01) c:\date.txt delim=comma

loads the comma delimited data DATE.TXT into the TABLE01 table object.

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of workfiles.

See also wfopen (p. 515), copy (p. 327), pageload (p. 440), read (p. 458), fetch (p. 355),
wfsave (p. 529), and pagesave (p. 442).

liml Interactive Use Commands

Limited Information Maximum Likelihood and K-class Estimation.

Syntax
liml(options) y c x1 [x2 x3 ...] @ z1 [z2 z3 ...]
liml(options) specification @ z1 [z2 z3 ...]

To use the liml command, list the dependent variable first, followed by the regressors, then
any AR or MA error specifications, then an “@”-sign, and finally, a list of exogenous instru-
ments.
 liml—405

You may estimate nonlinear equations or equations specified with formulas by first provid-
ing a specification, then listing the instrumental variables after an “@”-sign. There must be
at least as many instrumental variables as there are independent variables. All exogenous
variables included in the regressor list should also be included in the instrument list. A con-
stant is included in the list of instrumental variables, unless the noconst option is specified.

Options
noconst Do not include a constant in the instrumental list. Without
this option, a constant will always be included as an instru-
ment, even if not specified explicitly.
w=arg Weight series or expression.
wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation
(default=“istdev”) (“istdev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
kclass=number Set the value of k in the K-class estimator. If omitted, LIML
is performed, and k is calculated as part of the estimation
procedure.
se = arg Set the standard-error calculation type: IV based
(default=“iv”) (“se=iv”), K-Class based (“se=kclass”), Bekker
(“se=bekk”), or Hansen, Hausman, and Newey
(“se=hhn”).
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=number Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
-fastderiv EViews will follow the global default.
Available only for legacy estimation (“optmeth=legacy”).
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
406—Chapter 12. Command Reference

coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by

list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print estimation results.

Examples
liml gdp c cpi inc @ lw lw(-1)

calculates a LIML estimation of GDP on a constant, CPI, and INC, using a constant, LW, and
LW(-1) as instruments.

Cross-references
See “Limited Information Maximum Likelihood and K-Class Estimation” on page 65 of
User’s Guide II for discussion.

See Equation::liml (p. 113) for the equivalent equation object method.

load Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Load a workfile.

Provided for backward compatibility. Same as wfopen (p. 515).

logclear Programming Commands

Clears the log window corresponding to the program.

Use this command anytime from within a program to clear the log of the program.

Syntax
logclear

Cross-references
See “Program Message Logging” on page 135 for details.

See also logmode (p. 407), logmsg (p. 409), and logsave (p. 409).
 logmode—407

logit Interactive Use Commands

Estimate binary models with logistic errors.

Provide for backward compatibility. Equivalent to issuing the command, binary with the
option “(d=l)”.

See binary (p. 299).

logmode Programming Commands

Set the log settings of specified message types.

Activates or deactivates the logging of specified message types if message types are set to be
program controlled.

Syntax
logmode msgtype_list

where msgtype_list is a list of the message types to update.

Options
Message type options
all/-all [Show/Do not show] all messages.
error/-error, e/-e [Show/Do not show] error messages.
logmsg /-logmsg, [Show/Do not show] logmsg messages.
l/ -l
program/-program, [Show/Do not show] program lines.
p/-p
statusline/-sta- [Show/Do not show] status line messages.
tusline, s / -s
408—Chapter 12. Command Reference

hideprogline/- [Hide/Do not hide] the program line when reporting errors
hideprogline encountered during execution.
addin/-addin [Show/Do not show] messages generally appropriate for
addin error reporting. addin is equivalent to the command
and program mode (“Program Modes” on page 134) state-
ments:
logmode hideprogline -error
mode quiet
debug Show messages generally appropriate for debugging of pro-
grams. Equivalent to the command:
logmode -hideprogline error

Note that using logmode with debug will override all subsequent (in either the current pro-
gram or any program run using exec or run), logmode with hideprog and -error specifi-
cations. In particular, debug will override subsequent logmode addin statements.

Examples
logmode p

turns on logging of program lines of code. Note that by default all message types are initially
turned off.
logmode error -p

Building on the first command, this activates the logging of errors and deactivates the log-
ging of program lines.
logmode -all s

turns off logging of all types, with exception to status line messages. Note the order of mes-
sage types is important. For example,
logmode p -all

will initially activate the logging of program lines, but following p with -all will deactivate
program lines as well as any other messages that have been previously activated.

Cross-references
See “Program Message Logging” on page 135 for details. See also “Program Modes” on
page 134.

See also logclear (p. 406), logmsg (p. 409), and logsave (p. 409).
 logsave—409

logmsg Programming Commands

Adds a line of text to the program log.

Syntax
logmsg text

Example
logmsg About to iterate through list of states

appends the text “About to iterate through list of states” to the program log.

Cross-references
See “Program Message Logging” on page 135 for details.

See also logclear (p. 406), logmode (p. 407), and logsave (p. 409).

logsave Programming Commands

Saves the program log to a text file.

Syntax
logsave filepath

where filepath is the location and filename for saving the log file.

Options
type=rtf Save the log as an RTF file (thus preserving syntax color-
ing).

Example
logsave c:\EViews\myprog.text

saves the contents of the program log to the text file MYPROG, in the “C:\EViews” directory.

Cross-references
See “Program Message Logging” on page 135 for details.

See also logclear (p. 406), logmode (p. 407), and logmsg (p. 409).
410—Chapter 12. Command Reference

ls Interactive Use Commands

Estimation by linear or nonlinear least squares regression.

When the current workfile has a panel structure, ls also estimates cross-section weighed
least squares, feasible GLS, and fixed and random effects models.

Syntax
ls(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...]
ls(options) specification

For linear specifications, list the dependent variable first, followed by a list of the indepen-
dent variables. Use a “C” if you wish to include a constant or intercept term; unlike some
programs, EViews does not automatically include a constant in the regression. You may add
AR, MA, SAR, and SMA error specifications, a D fractional differencing term, and PDL spec-
ifications for polynomial distributed lags. If you include lagged variables, EViews will adjust
the sample automatically, if necessary.

Both dependent and independent variables may be created from existing series using stan-
dard EViews functions and transformations. EViews treats the equation as linear in each of
the variables and assigns coefficients C(1), C(2), and so forth to each variable in the list.

Linear or nonlinear single equations may also be specified by explicit equation. You should
specify the equation as a formula. The parameters to be estimated should be included
explicitly: “C(1)”, “C(2)”, and so forth (assuming that you wish to use the default coefficient
vector “C”). You may also declare an alternative coefficient vector using coef and use these
coefficients in your expressions.

Options
Non-Panel LS Options
w=arg Weight series or expression.
Note: we recommend that, absent a good reason, you
employ the default settings Inverse std. dev. weights
(“wtype=istdev”) with EViews default scaling
(“wscale=eviews”) for backward compatibility with ver-
sions prior to EViews 7.
wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-
(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
 ls—411

wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average

(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
z Turn off backcasting in ARMA models where “arma=cls”.
optmethod = arg Optimization method for nonlinear least squares and
ARMA: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-Raphson),
“opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “kohn” (Kohn-Ansley
for ARMA estimated by ML or GLS), or “legacy” (EViews
legacy for nonlinear least squares and ARMA estimated by
CLS).
Gauss-Newton is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method for nonlinear least squares and ARMA: “mar-
quardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dogleg); “linesearch” (Line
search).
Marquardt is the default method.
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich method available for non-
linear least squares or ARMA estimated by CLS), “hac”
(Newey-West HAC, available for nonlinear least squares or
ARMA estimated by CLS)..
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian).
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=”.)
nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing
coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
covlag=arg Whitening lag specification: integer (user-specified lag
(default=1) value), “a” (automatic selection).
covinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
covmaxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum
13
of T .
412—Chapter 12. Command Reference

covkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),

(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
covbw=arg Kernel Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed),
(default=“fixednw” “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-
) West automatic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
covnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric kernel bandwidth selection (if “covbw=newey-
west”).
covbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth.
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
arma=arg ARMA estimation method: “ml” (maximum likelihood);
“gls” (generalized least squares), “cls” (conditional least
squares).
Not applicable to ARFIMA models which always estimate
using maximum likelihood.
armastart=arg ARMA coefficient starting values: “auto” (automatic)
“fixed” (legacy EViews fixed); “random” (random draw);
“user” (user-specified).
Applicable when “arma=ml” or “arma=gls”.
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values for equations specified by list with
AR or MA terms when “arma=cls” (see also param
(p. 453) of the Command and Programming Reference).
s=number Determine starting values for equations specified by list
with AR or MA terms when “arma=cls”. Specify a number
between zero and one representing the fraction of prelimi-
nary least squares estimates computed without AR or MA
terms to be used. Note that out of range values are set to
“s=1”. Specifying “s=0” initializes coefficients to zero. By
default EViews uses “s=1”.
Does not apply to coefficients for AR and MA terms which
are set to EViews determined default values.
 ls—413

numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,

-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / -fastderiv [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
EViews will follow the global default.
Available only for legacy estimation (“optmeth=legacy”).
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print estimation results.

Note: not all options are available for all equation methods. See the User’s Guide II for details
on each estimation method.
Panel LS Options
cx=arg Cross-section effects: (default) none, fixed effects
(“cx=f”), random effects (“cx=r”).
per=arg Period effects: (default) none, fixed effects (“per=f”), ran-
dom effects (“per=r”).
wgt=arg GLS weighting: (default) none, cross-section system
weights (“wgt=cxsur”), period system weights
(“wgt=persur”), cross-section diagonal weighs
(“wgt=cxdiag”), period diagonal weights (“wgt=per-
diag”).
cov=arg Coefficient covariance method: (default) ordinary, White
cross-section system robust (“cov=cxwhite”), White
period system robust (“cov=perwhite”), White heteroske-
dasticity robust (“cov=stackedwhite”), Cross-section sys-
tem robust/PCSE (“cov=cxsur”), Period system
robust/PCSE (“cov=persur”), Cross-section heteroskedas-
ticity robust/PCSE (“cov=cxdiag”), Period heteroskedastic-
ity robust/PCSE (“cov=perdiag”).
keepwgts Keep full set of GLS weights used in estimation with object,
if applicable (by default, only small memory weights are
saved).
rancalc=arg Random component method: Swamy-Arora (“ran-
(default=“sa”) calc=sa”), Wansbeek-Kapteyn (“rancalc=wk”), Wallace-
Hussain (“rancalc=wh”).
414—Chapter 12. Command Reference

nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing

coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
iter=arg (default= Iteration control for GLS specifications: perform one weight
“onec”) iteration, then iterate coefficients to convergence
(“iter=onec”), iterate weights and coefficients simultane-
ously to convergence (“iter=sim”), iterate weights and
coefficients sequentially to convergence (“iter=seq”), per-
form one weight iteration, then one coefficient step
(“iter=oneb”).
Note that random effects models currently do not permit
weight iteration to convergence.
unbalsur Compute SUR factorization in unbalanced data using the
subset of available observations for a cluster.
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values for equations specified by list with
AR terms (see also param (p. 453) of the Command and
Programming Reference).
s=number Determine starting values for equations specified by list
with AR terms. Specify a number between zero and one
representing the fraction of preliminary least squares esti-
mates computed without AR terms to be used. Note that
out of range values are set to “s=1”. Specifying “s=0” ini-
tializes coefficients to zero. By default EViews uses “s=1”.
Does not apply to coefficients for AR terms which are
instead set to EViews determined default values.
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / -fastderiv [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
EViews will follow the global default.
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
 ls—415

prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

p Print basic estimation results.

Examples
ls m1 c uemp inf(0 to -4) @trend(1960:1)

estimates a linear regression of M1 on a constant, UEMP, INF (from current up to four lags),
and a linear trend.
ls(z) d(tbill) c inf @seas(1) @seas(1)*inf ma(2)

regresses the first difference of TBILL on a constant, INF, a seasonal dummy, and an interac-
tion of the dummy and INF, with an MA(2) error. The “z” option turns off backcasting.
coef(2) beta
param beta(1) .2 beta(2) .5 c(1) 0.1
ls(cov=white) q = beta(1)+beta(2)*(l^c(1) + k^(1-c(1)))

estimates the nonlinear regression starting from the specified initial values. The
“cov=white” option reports heteroskedasticity consistent standard errors.
ls r = c(1)+c(2)*r(-1)+div(-1)^c(3)

estimates an UNTITLED nonlinear equation.

ls(cx=f, per=f) n w k ys c

estimates an UNTITLED equation in a panel workfile using both cross-section and period
fixed effects.
ls(cx=f, wgt=cxdiag) n w k ys c

estimates an UNTITLED equation in a panel workfile with cross-section weights and fixed
effects.

Cross-references
Chapter 19. “Basic Regression Analysis,” on page 5 and Chapter 20. “Additional Regression
Tools,” on page 23 of User’s Guide II discuss the various regression methods in greater
depth.

Chapter 16. “Special Expression Reference,” on page 601 describes special terms that may
be used in ls specifications.

See Chapter 17. “Panel Estimation,” on page 855 of User’s Guide II for a discussion of panel
equation estimation.

See Equation::ls (p. 115) for the equivalent equation object method command.
416—Chapter 12. Command Reference

midas Interactive Use Commands

Estimates an equation using Mixed Data Sampling (MIDAS) regression.

MIDAS regression is an estimation technique which allows for data sampled at different fre-
quencies to be used in the same regression.

Syntax
midas(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...] @ z1page\z1 [z2page\z2 ...]

where y, x1, etc., are the dependent and explanatory variables in the current page frequency,
and z1page\z1 and z2page\z2 are the high frequency variable page\series specification.

You may not include ARMA terms in a MIDAS regression.

Options
midwgt=arg MIDAS weight method: step function(“step”), normalized
exponential Almon (“expalmon”), normalized beta func-
tion (“beta”), or the default Almon/PDL weighting
(“almon”).
lag=arg Method for specifying the number of lags of the high fre-
quency regressor to use: lag selection (“auto”), fixed
(“fixed”). The default is “lag=fixed”.
maxlag=arg Maximum number of lags of the high frequency regressor
to use when using lag selection. For use when “lag=auto”.
The default value is 4.
fixedlag=arg Fixed number of lags of the high frequency regressor to
use. For use when “lags=fixed”. The default value is 4.
steps=integer Stepsize (number of high frequency periods to group). For
use when “midwgt=step”.
polynomial=integer Polynomial degree. For use when Almon/PDL weighting is
employed.
beta=arg Beta function restriction: none (“none”), trend coefficient
equals 1 (“trend”), endpoints coefficient equals 0 (“end-
point”), both trend and endpoints restriction (“both”).
For use when “midwgt=beta”. The default is
“beta=none”.
 midas—417

optmethod = arg Optimization method for nonlinear estimation: “bfgs”

(BFGS); “newton” (Newton-Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh”
(OPG or BHHH), “hybrid” (initial BHHH followed by
BFGS).
Hybrid is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method for nonlinear estimation: “marquardt” (Mar-
quardt); “dogleg” (Dogleg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
cov=arg Covariance method for nonlinear models: “ordinary”
(default method based on inverse of the estimated informa-
tion matrix), “huber” or “white” (Huber-White sandwich).
covinfo = arg Information matrix method for nonlinear models: “opg”
(OPG); “hessian” (observed Hessian).
nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing
coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values in nonlinear estimation (see also
param (p. 453) of the Command and Programming Ref-
erence).
s=number Determine starting values for nonlinear estimation.. Specify
a number between zero and one representing the fraction
of preliminary EViews chosen values. Note that out of
range values are set to “s=1”. Specifying “s=0” initializes
coefficients to zero. By default EViews uses “s=1”.
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print estimation results.
418—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
midas(fixedlag=9, midwgt=beta, beta=endpoint) realgdp c realgdp(-
1) @ monthlypage\emp(-5)

estimates a MIDAS beta weight specification using the low frequency dependent variable
REALGDP and regressors C and REALGDP(-1), and 9 beta weighted lags of EMP(-5) from
the “monthlypage” workfile page. The beta weight function places zero restrictions on the
endpoint coefficient.
midas(maxlag=12, lag=auto) realgdp c realgdp(-1) @
monthlypage\emp(-5)

estimates the same equation using PDL/Almon weights. The number of lags is chosen auto-
matically with a maximum of 12 lags.

Cross-references
Chapter 1. “MIDAS Regression,” on page 297 of the User’s Guide II discusses the specifica-
tion and estimation of MIDAS regression models in EViews.

open Object Container, Data, and File Commands || Programming Commands

Opens a program file, or text (ASCII) file.

This command should be used to open program files or text (ASCII) files for editing.

You may also use the command to open workfiles or databases. This use of the open com-
mand for this purposes is provided for backward compatibility. We recommend instead that
you use the new commands wfopen (p. 515) and pageload (p. 440) to open a workfile, and
dbopen (p. 344) to open databases.

Syntax
open(options) [path\]file_name

You should provide the name of the file to be opened including the extension (and option-
ally a path), or the file name without an extension but with an option identifying its type.
Specified types always take precedence over automatic type identification. If a path is not
provided, EViews will look for the file in the default directory.

Files with the “.PRG” extension will be opened as program files, unless otherwise specified.
Files with the “.TXT” extension will be opened as text files, unless otherwise specified.

For backward compatibility, files with extensions that are recognized as database files are
opened as EViews databases, unless an explicit type is specified. Similarly, files with the
extensions “.WF” and “.WF1”, and foreign files with recognized extensions will be opened
as workfiles, unless otherwise specified.
 optimize—419

All other files will be read as text files.

Options
p Open file as program file.
t Open file as text file.
type=arg (“prg” Specify text or program file type using keywords.
or “txt”)

Examples
open finfile.txt

opens a text file named “Finfile.TXT” in the default directory.

open "c:\program files\my files\test1.prg"

opens a program file named “Test1.PRG” from the specified directory.

open a:\mymemo.tex

opens a text file named “Mymemo.TEX” from the A: drive.

Cross-references
See wfopen (p. 515) and pageload (p. 440) for commands to open files as workfiles or
workfile pages, and dbopen (p. 344) for opening database files.

optimize Programming Commands

Find the solution to a user-defined optimization problem.

The optimize command calls the EViews optimizer to find the optimal control values for a
subroutine defined elsewhere in the program file or files.

Syntax
optimize(options) subroutine_name(arguments)

You should follow the optimize command keyword with options and subroutine_name, the
name of a defined subroutine in your program (or included programs).

The subroutine must contain at least two arguments.

By default EViews will interpret the first argument as the output of the subroutine and will
use it as the value to optimize. If the objective contains more than one value, as in a series
or vector, EViews will optimize the sum of the values. The second argument is, by default,
used to define the control parameters for which EViews will find the optimal values.
420—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Since the objective and controls are defined by a standard EViews subroutine, the arguments
of the subroutine may correspond to numbers, strings, and various EViews objects such as
series, vectors, scalars.

Options
Optimization Objective and Controls
The default optimization objective is to maximize the first argument of the subroutine. You
may use the following optimization options to change the optimization objective and to
specify the coefficients (control parameters):

max [=integer] Maximize the subroutine objective or sum of the values of

the subroutine objective (default).
By default the first argument of the subroutine is used as
the maximization objective. You may change the objective
to another argument by specifying an integer argument
location.
min [=integer] Minimize the subroutine objective or sum of the values of
the subroutine objective.
By default the first argument of the subroutine is used as
the minimization objective. You may change the objective
to another argument by specifying an integer argument
location.
ls [=integer] Perform least squares minimization of the sum of squared
values of the subroutine objective. (The objective argu-
ment cannot be a scalar value when using this option.)
By default the first argument of the subroutine is used as
the minimization objective. You can change the objective to
another argument by specifying an integer argument loca-
tion.
ml [=integer] Perform maximum likelihood estimation of the sum of the
values of the subroutine objective. (The objective argu-
ment cannot be a scalar value when using this option.)
By default the first argument of the subroutine is used as
the maximization objective. You can change the objective
to another argument by specifying an integer argument
location.
Note that the “ml” option specifies the same optimization
as when using the “max” option, but permits a different set
of Hessian matrix choices.
 optimize—421

coef=integer Specify the argument number of the function that contains

(default = 2) the coefficient controls for the optimization.
If the argument is a vector or matrix, each element of the
vector or matrix will be treated as a coefficient. If the argu-
ment is a series, each element of the series within the cur-
rent workfile sample will be treated as a coefficient.
The default value is 2 so that the second argument is
assumed to contain the coefficient controls.

Optimization Options
grads=integer Specifies an argument number corresponding to analytic
gradients for each of the coefficients. If this option is not
specified, gradients are evaluated numerically.
Available for “ls” and “ml” estimation.
• If the objective argument is a scalar, the gradient
argument should be a vector of length equal to the num-
ber of elements in the coefficient argument.
• If the objective argument is a series, the gradient
argument should be a group object containing one series
per element of the coefficient argument. The series obser-
vations should contain the corresponding derivatives for
each observation in the current workfile sample.
• For a vector objective, the gradient argument should
be a matrix with number of rows equal to the length of
the objective vector, and columns equal to the number of
elements in the coefficient argument.
• “grad=” may not be specified if the objective is a
matrix.
hess=arg Specify the type of Hessian approximation: “numeric”
(numerical approximation), “bfgs” (Broyden–Fletcher–
Goldfarb–Shanno), or “opg” (outer product of gradients, or
BHHH).
“opg” is only available when using “ls” or “ml” optimiza-
tion. The default value is “bfgs” unless using “ls” optimiza-
tion, which defaults to “opg”.
step=arg Set the step method: “marquardt”, “dogleg” or “line-
(default_= search”.
“marquardt”)
scale=arg Set the scaling method: “maxcurve” (default), or “none”.
m=int Set the maximum number of iterations
c=number Set the convergence criteria.
422—Chapter 12. Command Reference

trust=number Sets the initial trust region size as a proportion of the initial
(default=0.25) control values.
Smaller values of this parameter may be used to provide a
more cautious start to the optimization in cases where
larger steps immediately lead into an undesirable region of
the objective.
Larger values may be used to reduce the iteration count in
cases where the objective is well behaved but the initial
values may be far from the optimum values.
deriv=high Always use high precision numerical derivatives. Without
this option, EViews will start by using lower precision
derivatives, and switch to higher precision as the optimiza-
tion progresses.
feps=number Set the expected relative accuracy of the objective function.
(default=2.2e-16) The value indicates what fraction of the observed objective
value should be considered to be random noise.
noerr Turn off error reporting.
finalh=name Save the final Hessian matrix into the workfile with name
name.
For “hess=bfgs”, the final Hessian will be based on
numeric derivatives rather than the BFGS approximation
used during the optimization since the BFGS approxima-
tion need not converge to the true Hessian.

Examples
The first example estimates a regression model using maximum likelihood. The subroutine
LOGLIKE first computes the regression residuals using the coefficients in the vector BETA
along with the dependent variable series given by DEP and the regressors in the group
REGS.
subroutine loglike(series logl, vector beta, series dep, group regs)
series r = dep - beta(1) - beta(2)*regs(1) - beta(3)*regs(2) -
beta(4)*regs(3)
logl = @log((1/beta(5))*@dnorm(r/beta(5)))
endsub

series LL
vector(5) MLCoefs
MLCoefs = 1
MLCoefs(5) = 100
optimize(ml=1, finalh=mlhess, hess=numeric) loglike(LL, MLCoefs, y,
xs)
 optimize—423

The optimize command instructs EViews to use the LOGLIKE subroutine for purposes of
maximization, and to use maximum likelihood to maximize the sum (over the workfile sam-
ple) of the LL series with respect to the five elements of the vector MLCOEFS. EViews
employs a numeric approximation to the Hessian in optimization, and saves the final esti-
mate in the workfile in the sym object MLHESS.

Notice that we specify initial values for the MLCOEFS coefficients prior to calling the optimi-
zation routine.

Our second example recasts the estimation above as a least squares optimization problem,
and illustrates the use of the “grads=” option to employ analytically computed gradients
defined in the subroutine.
subroutine leastsquareswithgrads(series r, vector beta, group grads,
series dep, group regs)
r = dep - beta(1) - beta(2)*regs(1) - beta(3)*regs(2) -
beta(4)*regs(3)
grads(1) = 1
grads(2) = regs(1)
grads(3) = regs(2)
grads(4) = regs(3)
endsub

series LSresid
vector(4) LSCoefs
lscoefs = 1
series grads1
series grads2
series grads3
series grads4
group grads grads1 grads2 grads3 grads4
optimize(ls=1, grads=3) leastsquareswithgrads(LSresid, lscoefs,
grads, y, xs)

Note that for a linear least squares problem, the derivatives of the coefficients are trivial -
the regressors themselves (and a series of ones for the constant).

The next example uses matrix computation to obtain an optimizer objective that finds the
solution to the same least squares problem. While the optimizer is not a solver, we can trick
it into solving that equation by creating a vector of residuals equal to  XX b – XY , and
asking the optimizer to find the values of b that minimize the square of those residuals:
subroutine local matrixsolve(vector rvec, vector beta, series dep,
group regs)
stom(regs, xmat)
xmat = @hcat(@ones(100), xmat)
stom(dep, yvec)
424—Chapter 12. Command Reference

rvec = @transpose(xmat)*xmat*beta - @transpose(xmat)*yvec

rvec = @epow(rvec,2)
endsub
vector(4) MSCoefs
MSCoefs = 1
vector(4) rvec
optimize(min=1) matrixsolve(rvec, mscoefs, y, xs)

The first few lines of the subroutine convert the input dependent variable series and regres-
sor group into matrices. Note that the regressor group does not contain a constant term
upon input, so we append a column of ones to the regression matrix XMAT, using the @hcat
command.

Lastly, we define a subroutine containing the quadratic form, and use the optimize com-
mand to find the value that minimizes the function:
subroutine f(scalar !y, scalar !x)
!y = 5*!x^2 - 3*!x - 2
endsub
scalar in = 0
scalar out = 0
optimize(min) f(out, in)

The subroutine F calculates the simple quadratic formula:

2
Y  5X – 3X – 2 (12.1)

which attains a minimum of -2.45 at an IN value of 0.3.

Cross-references
For discussion, see Chapter 10. “User-Defined Optimization,” beginning on page 239.

optsave Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Save the current EViews global options settings “.INI” files into a directory.

Syntax
optsave directory

Save a copy of the current global options settings into the specified directory. Usually this
command will be used in conjuncture with a later use of the optset command. Any exist-
ing option settings in the directory will be overwritten.

“General Options” and “Graphics Defaults” will always be saved. “Database registry set-
tings” and “Database object aliases” will only be saved if the file location setting for the
 optset—425

“Database Registry” and “Alias Map Path” is the same as the file location of the INI File
Path.

If the directory name is omitted, the option settings currently in effect will be used to replace
the default global options. (This can be used to copy option settings back into your default
settings after the optset command has switched to using options in a different directory).

Note that this command does not change which set of options are active. You must follow
this command with the optset command if you would like to switch to using the saved
copy as your active set of options.

Cross-references
See Appendix A. “Global Options,” beginning on page 813 of User’s Guide I for discussion of
the global options.

See also optset (p. 425).

optset Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Replace the current EViews global options settings “.INI” files with ones based in a differ-
ent directory.

Syntax
optset directory

Temporarily switch to using the global options settings stored within “.INI” files in the spec-
ified directory. These will typically have been previously saved by using the optsave com-
mand.

“General Options” and “Graphics Defaults” will always be switched. “Database registry set-
tings” and Database object aliases” will only be switched if the file location setting for the
“Database Registry” and “Alias Map Path” is the same as the file location of the INI File
Path.

The new options will stay in effect until EViews is restarted or until the optset command is
executed again with a different directory. After the optset command has been issued,
changing settings using the Options menu will modify settings in the new directory.

If the directory name is omitted, the global options settings will be reset to use the settings
from the default location (the same as restarting EViews).

Note that you can use the command “optset .\” in a program to switch to using the
global options saved in the same directory as the program file. This can be used to ensure
that multiple users always use the same global options settings when running a shared pro-
gram.
426—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Cross-references
See Appendix A. “Global Options,” beginning on page 813 of User’s Guide I for discussion of
the global options.

See also optsave (p. 424).

ordered Interactive Use Commands

Estimation of ordered dependent variable models.

Syntax
equation name.ordered(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...]
equation name.ordered(options) specification

Options
d=arg Specify likelihood: normal likelihood function, ordered pro-
(default=“n”) bit (“n”), logistic likelihood function, ordered logit (“l”),
Type I extreme value likelihood function, ordered Gompit
(“x”).
optmethod = Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
arg Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “legacy”
(EViews legacy).
Newton-Raphson is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dog-
leg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich method)., “glm” (GLM
method)..
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian).
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=”.)
h Huber-White quasi-maximum likelihood (QML) standard
errors and covariances.
(Legacy option Applicable when “optmethod=legacy”).
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
 ordered—427

c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the

maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in “C” as starting values
(see also param (p. 453)).
s=number Specify a number between zero and one to determine start-
ing values as a fraction of preliminary EViews default val-
ues (out of range values are set to “s=1”).
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

If you choose to employ user specified starting values, the parameters corresponding to the
limit points must be in ascending order.

Examples
ordered(d=l,cov=huber) y c wage edu kids

estimates an ordered logit model of Y on a constant, WAGE, EDU, and KIDS with QML stan-
dard errors. This command uses the default quadratic hill climbing algorithm.
param c(1) .1 c(2) .2 c(3) .3 c(4) .4 c(5).5
equation eq1.binary(s) y c x z
coef betahat = @coefs

estimates an ordered probit model of Y on a constant, X, and Z from the specified starting
values. The estimated coefficients are then stored in the coefficient vector BETAHAT.

Cross-references
See “Ordered Dependent Variable Models” on page 334 of the User’s Guide II for additional
discussion.

See also binary (p. 299).

See Equation::ordered (p. 135) for the equivalent equation object command.
428—Chapter 12. Command Reference

output Programming Commands

Redirect printer output.

You may specify that any procedure that would normally send output to the printer puts out-
put in a text, Rich Text Format (RTF), or comma-separated value (CSV) file, in a spool
object, or into frozen table or graph objects in the current workfile.

Syntax
output[(f)] base_name
output(options) [path\]file_name
output[(s)] spool_name
output off

By default, the output command redirects the output into frozen objects. You should supply
a base name after the output keyword. Each subsequent print command will create a new
table or graph object in the current workfile, using the base name and an identifying num-
ber. For example, if you supply the base name of “OUT”, the first print command will gener-
ate a table or graph named OUT01, the second print command will generate OUT02, and so
on.

You can also use the optional settings, described below, to redirect table and text output to a
text, RTF, or CSV file, or all output (including graphs) to an RTF file. If you elect to redirect
output to a file, you must specify a filename.

You can use the “s” option, described below, to redirect all output to a spool object.

When followed by the optional keyword off, the output command turns off output redirec-
tion. Subsequent print commands will be directed to the printer.

Options
f Redirect all output to frozen objects in the default workfile,
using base_name.
t Redirect table and text output to a text file. Graphic output
will still be sent to the printer.
r Redirect all output to an Rich Text Format (RTF) file.
v Redirect all output to an comma-separated value (CSV) file.
 output—429

s Redirect all output to a spool object.

o Overwrite file if necessary. If the specified filename for the
text, RTF, or CSV file exists, overwrite the file. The default
is to append to the file.
Only Applicable when text, RTF, or CSV file output (speci-
fied using options “t”, “r”, or “v”).
c Command logging. Output both the output, and the com-
mand used to generate the output.
This option is only applicable in a program when used in
conjunction with the pon (p. 718) command which
enables automatic printing of output. The use of pon is not
required when output is specified in a command window.
Only Applicable when text, RTF, or CSV file output (speci-
fied using options “t”, “r”, or “v”).

Examples
output print_

causes the first print command to generate a table or graph object named PRINT_01, the sec-
ond print command to generate an object named PRINT_02, and so on.
output(t) c:\data\results
equation eq1.ls(p) log(gdp) c log(k) log(l)
eq1.resids(g,p)
output off

The first line redirects printing to the RESULTS.TXT file, while the print option of the second
and third lines sends the graph output to the printer. The last line turns output redirection
off and restores normal printer use.

If instead, the first line read:

output(r) c:\data\results

all subsequent output would be sent to the RTF file RESULTS.RTF.

output(s) mySpool

redirects all output to the MYSPOOL spool. If the spool already exists, printed objects will be
appended to the end of the spool.

Cross-references
See “Print Setup,” beginning on page 833 of User’s Guide I for further discussion.

See also pon (p. 718), poff (p. 718).

430—Chapter 12. Command Reference

pageappend Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Append contents of the specified workfile page to the active workfile page.

Syntax
pageappend(options) wfname[\pgname] [object_list]

where wfname is the name of a workfile that is currently in memory. You may optionally
provide the name of a page in wfname that you wish to used as a source, and the list of
objects to be read from the source workfile page. If no wfname is provided, EViews will use
the default page in the source workfile.

The command appends the contents of the source page to the active page in the default
workfile. The target page is first unstructured (if necessary) and its range is expanded to
encompass the combined range of the sample from the source workfile page, and the desti-
nation page.

The default behavior is to append all series and alpha objects (but not other types) from the
source page, but the optional object_list may be provided to specify specific series, or to
specify objects other than series or alpha objects to be included. Command options may also
be used to modify the list of objects to be included.

Note that since this operation is performed in place, the original workfile page cannot be
recovered. We recommend that you consider backing up your original page using pagecopy
(p. 432).

Options
smpl=smpl_spec Specifies an optional sample identifying which observa-
tions from the source page are to be appended. Either pro-
vide the sample range in double quotes or specify a named
sample object. The default is “@all”.
allobj Specifies that all objects (including non-series and non-
alpha objects) should be appended. For objects other than
series and alphas, appending involves simply copying the
objects from the source page to the destination page. This
option may not be used with an explicit object_list specifi-
cation.
match Specifies that only series and alphas in the append page
that match series and alphas of the same name in the
active page should be appended. This option may not be
used with “allobj” or with an explicit object_list specifica-
tion.
 pagecontract—431

sufix=suffix_arg Specifies a string to be added to the end of the source

(default=“_a”) object name, if necessary, to avoid name collision when
creating a new object in the target page.
obsid=arg Provides the name of a series used to hold the date or
observation ID of each observation in the destination work-
file.
wfid=arg Provides the name of a (boolean) series to hold an indica-
tor of the source for each observation in the destination
workfile (0, if from the destination; 1, if from the source).

Examples
pageappend updates

appends, to the default workfile page, all of observations in all of the series in the active
page of the workfile UPDATES.
pageappend(match, smpl="1999 2003") updates

restricts the series to those which match (by name) those in the default workfile page, and
restricts the observations to merge to those between 1999 and 2003.
pageappend newdat\page1 income cons

takes only the INCOME and CONS series from the PAGE1 of the NEWDATA workfile, and
appends them to the current workfile page.
pageappend(alltypes, suffix="_1") mydata

appends all objects from MYDATA, merging series with matching names, and renaming
other matching objects by appending “_1” to the end of the name.

Cross-references
See “Appending to a Workfile” on page 281 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

See also pagecopy (p. 432).

pagecontract Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Contract the active workfile page according to the specified sample.

Syntax
pagecontract smpl_spec

where smpl_spec is a sample specification. Contraction removes observations not in speci-

fied sample from the active workfile page. Note that since this operation is performed in
432—Chapter 12. Command Reference

place, you may wish to backup your original page (see pagecopy (p. 432)) prior to contract-
ing.

Examples
pagecontract if income<50000 and race=2

removes all observations with INCOME values greater than or equal to 50000 and RACE not
equal to 2.
pagecontract 1920 1940 1945 2000

removes observations for the years 1941 to 1944.

Cross-references
See “Contracting a Workfile” on page 284 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

See also pagecopy (p. 432).

pagecopy Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Copies all or part of the active workfile page to a new workfile, or to a new page within the
default workfile.

Syntax
pagecopy(options) [object_list]

where the optional object_list specifies the workfile objects to be copied. If object_list is not
provided, all objects will be copied subject to the option restrictions discussed below.

If copying objects to a new page within the default workfile, you may choose to copy series
objects (series, alphas, and links) by value or by link (by employing the “bylink” option). If
you elect to copy by value, links in the source page will converted to ordinary series and
alpha objects when they are copied. If you copy by link, series and alpha objects in the
source page are converted to links when copied. The default is to copy by value.

If you copy objects to a new workfile, data objects must be copied by value.
 pagecopy—433

Options
bylink Specifies that series and alpha objects be copied as links to
the source page. This option is not available if you use the
“wf=” option, since linking requires that the destination
page be in the same workfile as the source page. Automati-
cally sets the “dataonly” option so that only series, alphas,
links, and valmaps will be copied.
smpl=smpl_spec Specifies an optional sample identifying which observa-
tions from the source page are to be appended. Either pro-
vide the sample range in double quotes or specify a named
sample object. The default is “@all”.
rndobs=integer Copy only a random subsample of integer observations
from the specified sample. Not available with “bylink,”
“rndpct,” or “prob.”
rndpct=arg Copy only a random percentage subsample of arg (a num-
ber between 0 and 100) of the specified sample. Not avail-
able with “bylink,” “rndobs,” or “prob.”
prob=arg Copies a random subsample where each observation has a
fixed probability, prob, of being selected. prob should be
entered as a percentage value (a number between 0 and
100). Not available with “bylink,” “rndobs,” or “rndpc”
dataonly Only series, alphas, links, and valmaps should be copied.
The default is to copy all objects (unless the “bylink”
option is specified, in which case only series objects are
copied).
nolinks Do not copy links from the source page.
wf=wf_name Optional name for the destination workfile. If not provided,
EViews will create a new untitled workfile. Not available if
copying using the “bylink” option.
page=page_name Optional name for the newly created page. If not provided,
EViews will use the next available name of the form “Unti-
tled##”, where ## is a number.

Examples
pagecopy(page=allvalue, wf=newwf)

will first create a new workfile named NEWWF, with a page ALLVALUE that has the same
structure as the current page. Next, all of the objects in the active workfile page will be cop-
ied into the new page, with the series objects copied by value. In contrast,
pagecopy(bylink, page=alllink)
434—Chapter 12. Command Reference

will instead create a page ALLLINK in the existing workfile, and will copy all series objects
by creating links in the new page.
pagecopy(page=partcopy, bylink, smpl="1950 2000 if
gender=""male""") a* *z

will create a new page named PARTCOPY in the existing workfile containing the specified
subsample of observations, and will copy all series objects in the current page beginning
with the letter “A” or ending with the letter “Z”. The objects will be copied by creating links
in the new page.
pagecopy(page=rndcopy, smpl="1950 2000 if gender=""male""",
rndobs=200, dataonly, nolinks)

creates a new workfile and page RNDCOPY containing a 200 observation random sample
from the specified subsample. Series and alpha objects only will be copied by value from the
source page.

Cross-references
See “Copying from a Workfile” on page 284 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

See also pageappend (p. 430).

pagecreate Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Create a new page in the default workfile. The new page becomes the active page.

Syntax
pagecreate(options) freq[(subperiod_opts)] start_date end_date [num_cross_sections]
pagecreate(options) u num_observations
pagecreate(id_method[,options]) id_list [@srcpage page_list]
pagecreate(idcross[,options]) id1 id2 [@srcpage page1 page2]
pagecreate(idcross[,options]) id1 @range(freq, start_date, end_date) [@srcpage
page1]

These different forms of the pagecreate command encompass three distinct approaches to
creating a new workfile page: (1) regular frequency description or unstructured data descrip-
tion; (2) using the union or intersection of unique values from one or more ID series in exist-
ing workfile pages; (3) using the cross of unique values from two identifier series or from an
identifier series and a date range. Each of these approaches is described in greater detail
below.
 pagecreate—435

Regular Frequency or Unstructured Description

The first two forms of the command permit you to create a new workfile page using a regu-
lar frequency or unstructured description:
• pagecreate(options) freq[(subperiod_opts)] start_date end_date [num_cross_sections]
• pagecreate(options) u num_observations

The first form of the command should be employed to create a regular frequency page with
the specified frequency, start, and end date. If you include the optional argument
num_cross_sections, EViews will create a balanced panel page using integer identifiers for
each of the cross-sections. Note that more complex panel structures may be defined using
pagestruct (p. 448).

The second form of the command creates an unstructured workfile with the specified num-
ber of observations.

Note that these forms of the command are analogous to wfcreate (p. 510) except that
instead of creating a new workfile, we create a new page in the default workfile.

The freq argument should be specified using one of the following forms:
Sec[opt], 5Sec[opt], Seconds in intervals of: 1, 5, 15, or 30 seconds, respec-
15Sec[opt], tively. You may optionally specify days of the week and
30Sec[opt] start and end times during the day using the opt parameter.
See explanation of subperiod options below.
Min[opt], Minutes in intervals of: 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes,
2Min[opt], respectively. You may optionally specify days of the week
5Min[opt], and start and end times during the day using the opt
10Min[opt], parameter. See explanation of subperiod options below.
15Min[opt],
20Min[opt],
30Min[[opt]
H[opt], 2H[opt], Hours in intervals of: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 hours, respectively.
4H[opt], 6H[opt], You may optionally specify days of the week and start and
8H[opt], 12H[[opt] end times during the day using the opt parameter. See
explanation of subperiod options below.
D(s, e) Daily with arbitrary days of the week. Specify the first and
last days of the week with integers s and e, where Monday
is given the number 1 and Sunday is given the number 7.
(Note that the “D” option used to specify a 5-day frequency
in versions prior to EViews 7).
D5 or 5 Daily with five days per week, Monday through Friday.
D7 or 7 Daily with seven days per week.
436—Chapter 12. Command Reference

W Weekly
T Ten-day (daily in intervals of ten).
F Fortnight
BM Bimonthly
M Monthly
Q Quarterly
S Semi-annual
A or Y Annual
2Y, 3Y, 4Y, 5Y, 6Y, Multi-year in intervals of: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 20
7Y, 8Y, 9Y, 10Y, 20Y years, respectively.

Subperiod options
EViews allows for setting the days of the week and the time of day within intraday frequen-
cies, which include seconds, minutes, and hours. For instance, you may specify hourly data
between 8AM and 5PM on Monday through Wednesday. These subperiod options should
follow the frequency keyword and be enclosed in parentheses.

To specify days of the week, use integers to indicate the days, where Monday is given the
number 1 and Sunday is given the number 7. For example,
pagecreate(wf=strhours) 30MIN(1-6, 8:00-17:00) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

indicates a half-hour frequency that includes Monday through Saturday from 8AM to 5PM.

To specify the start and end times, you may use either a 24 hour clock, including minutes
and optionally seconds, or a 12 hour clock using AM and PM. For example, each of the fol-
lowing represents 8PM: 8PM, 8:00PM, 8:00:00PM, 20:00, and 20:00:00. Thus, our previous
example could have been written:
pagecreate(wf=strhours) 30MIN(1-6, 8AM-5PM) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

Note that day and time ranges may be delimited by either commas or dashes. So this com-
mand is also equivalent to:
pagecreate(wf=strhours) 30MIN(1,6, 8AM,5PM) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

though you will likely find the dashes easier to read.

If you wish to include all days of the week but would like to specify a start and end time, set
the date range to include all days and then specify the times. The day of the week parameter
appears first and is required if you wish to supply the time of day parameters. For instance,
pagecreate(wf=storehours) 30MIN(1-7, 10AM-3PM) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

indicates a half-hour frequency from 10AM to 3PM on all days of the week.
 pagecreate—437

You may also include a time with the start and end date parameters to specify partial days at
the beginning or end of the workfile. For example,
pagecreate(wf=strhours) 30MIN(1-6, 8AM-5PM) 1/3/2000 10AM
12/30/2000 2PM

creates the same workfile page as above, but limits the first day, 1/3/2000, to 10AM - 5PM
and the last day, 12/30/2000, to 8AM - 2PM.
Unique Values from a Set of Identifier Series
The next form of the command allows for creating pages from the unique values of one or
more identifier series found in one or more workfile pages:
• pagecreate(id_method[,options]) identifier_list [@srcpage page_list]

The identifier_list should include one or more ID series. If more than one ID series is pro-
vided, EViews will use the values that are unique across all of the series. If you wish to cre-
ate a page with a date structure, you should specify one of your identifiers using the special
“@DATE” keyword identifier, enclosing the series (or the date ID component series) inside
parentheses. If you wish to use the date ID values from the source workfile page, you may
use the “@DATE” keyword without arguments.

The id_method describes how to handle unique ID values that differ across multiple pages:
id Use the observed values of the series in the identifier_list in
specified page.
idunion Use the union of the observed values of the series in the
identifier_list in the specified pages.
idintersect Use the intersection of the observed values of the series in
the identifier_list in the specified pages.

If the optional source page or list of source pages is not provided, EViews will use the
default workfile page. Note that if a single workfile page is used, the two ID methods yield
identical results.
Cross of Unique Values from Two Identifier Series or from an Identifier Series and a Date Range
The last two forms of the command create a new page by crossing the unique values in two
ID series located in one or more pages, or by crossing an ID series from one page with a date
range. First, you may specify a pair of identifiers, and optionally source pages where they
are located,
• pagecreate(idcross[,options]) id1 id2 [@srcpage page1 page2]

You may instruct EViews to create a date structured page by specifying one of your two iden-
tifiers using a “@DATE” specification as described above.
438—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Alternately, you may provide a single identifier and a range specification using the
“@RANGE” keyword with a freq, start_date, and end_date, and optionally, the location of
the identifier series.
• pagecreate(idcross[,options]) id1 @range(freq, start_date, end_date) [@srcpage
page1]

Options
smpl=smpl_spec Specifies an optional sample identifying which observa-
tions to use when creating a page using the id_method
option. Either provide the sample range in double quotes or
specify a named sample object. The default is “@all”.
When multiple source workfiles are involved, the specified
sample must be valid for all workfiles.
page=page_name Optional name for the newly created page. If not provided,
EViews will use the next available name of the form “Unti-
tled##”, where ## is a number.
wf=wf_name Optional name for the new workfile. If not provided,
EViews will create a new page in the default workfile.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

Examples
Regular Frequency or Unstructured Description
The two commands:
pagecreate(page=annual) a 1950 2005
pagecreate(page=unstruct) u 1000

create new pages in the existing workfile. The first page is an annual page named ANNUAL,
containing data from 1950 to 2005; the second is a 1000 observation unstructured page
named UNSTRUCT.
pagecreate(page=mypanel) a 1935 1954 10

creates a new workfile page named MYPANEL, containing a 10 cross-section annual panel
for the years 1935 to 1954.
pagecreate(page=fourday) D(1,4) 1/3/2000 12/31/2000

specifies a daily workfile page from January 3, 2000 to December 31, 2000, including only
Monday through Thursday. The day range may be delimited by either a comma or a dash,
such that
pagecreate(wf=fourday) D(1-4) 1/3/2000 12/31/2000

is equivalent to the previous command.

 pagecreate—439

pagecreate(wf=captimes) 15SEC(2-4) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

creates a workfile page with 15 second intervals on Tuesday through Thursday only, from
1/3/2000 to 12/30/2000.
Unique Values from a Set of Identifier Series
pagecreate(id, page=statepage) state

creates a new page STATEIND using the distinct values of STATE in the current workfile
page.
pagecreate(id, page=statepage) state industry

creates a new page named STATEIND, using the distinct STATE/INDUSTRY values in the
active page.
pagecreate(id, page=stateyear) state @date(year)
pagecreate(id, page=statemonth) @date(year, month)

use STATE, along with YEAR, and the YEAR and MONTH series respectively, to form identi-
fiers that will be used in creating the new dated workfile pages.
pagecreate(id, smpl="if sex=1") crossid @date

creates a new page using CROSSID and existing date ID values of the active workfile page.
Note that only observations in the subsample defined by “@all if sex=1” are used to deter-
mine the unique values.
pagecreate(id, page=AllStates, smpl="if sex=""Female""") stateid
@srcpage north south east west

creates a new page ALLSTATES structured using the union of the unique values of STATEID
from the NORTH, SOUTH, EAST and WEST workfile pages that are in the sample “if
sex="Female"”. Note the use of the double quote escape character for the double quotes in
the sample string.
pagecreate(idintersect, page=CommonStates, smpl="1950 2005")
stateid @srcpage page1 page2 page3

creates a new page name COMMONSTATES structured using the intersection of the unique
values of STATEID taken from the pages PAGE1, PAGE2, and PAGE3.
Cross of Unique Values from Two Identifier Series or from an Identifier Series and a Date Range
pagecreate(idcross,page=UndatedPanel) id1 id2 @srcpage page1 page2

will add the new page UNDATEDPANEL to the current workfile. UNDATEDPANEL will be
structured as an undated panel using values from the cross of ID1 from PAGE1 and ID2 from
PAGE2.

To create a dated page using the “idcross” option, you must tag one of the identifiers using
an “@DATE” specification:
440—Chapter 12. Command Reference

pagecreate(idcross,page=AnnualPanel) id1 @date(year) @srcpage

page1 page2

You may also specify the cross of an identifier with a date range:
pagecreate(idcross,page=QuarterlyPanel) id1 @range(q, 1950, 2006)
@srcpage page1

creates a quarterly panel page named QUARTERLYPANEL using the cross of ID1 taken from
PAGE1, and quarterly observations from 1950q1 to 2006q4.

Cross-references
See “Creating a Workfile,” on page 42 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

See also wfcreate (p. 510) and pagedelete (p. 440).

pagedelete Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Delete the named pages from the default workfile.

Syntax
pagedelete [pgname1 pgname2 pgname3...]

By default pagedelete will delete the currently active page in the default workfile. You may
specify other pages to delete by listing them, in a space delimited list, after the pagedelete
command.

Examples
pagedelete page1 page2

Cross-references
See also pagecreate (p. 434).

pageload Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Load one or more new pages in the default workfile.

Syntax
pageload [path\]workfile_name [page1] [page2] [...]
pageload(options) source_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop drop_list] [@keep-
map keepmap_list] [@dropmap dropmap_list] [@selectif condition]
pageload(options)source_description table_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop
drop_list] [@keepmap keepmap_list] [@dropmap dropmap_list] [@selectif con-
dition]
 pagerefresh—441

The basic syntax for pageload follows that of wfopen (p. 515). The difference between the
two commands is that pageload creates a new page in the default workfile, rather than open-
ing or creating a new workfile. If a page is loaded with a name that matches an existing
page, EViews will rename the new page to the next available name (e.g., “INDIVID” will be
renamed “INDIVID1”.

If a workfile is provided as the source file, EViews will, by default, open all pages in the
source workfile. Specific pages may be loaded by providing their names.

Examples
pageload "c:\my documents\data\panel1"

loads the workfile PANEL1.WF1 from the specified directory. All of the pages in the workfile
will be loaded as new pages into the current workfile.
pageload f.wf1 mypage

loads the page mypage in the workfile F.WF1 located in the default directory.

See the extensive set of examples in wfopen (p. 515).

Cross-references
See “Creating a Page by Loading a Workfile or Data Source” on page 85 of User’s Guide I for
discussion.

See also wfopen (p. 515) and pagecreate (p. 434).

pagerefresh Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Refresh all links and auto-series in the active workfile page. Primarily used to refresh links
that use external database data.

Syntax
pagerefresh

Cross-references
See “Creating a Database Link” on page 366 and “Understanding the Cache” on page 367 of
User’s Guide I.

See also Chapter 8. “Series Links,” on page 223 of User’s Guide I for a description of link
objects, and “Auto-Updating Series” on page 193 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of auto-
updating series.

See wfrefresh (p. 528) to reference an entire workfile.

See also Link::link (p. 352) and Link::linkto (p. 353) in the Object Reference.
442—Chapter 12. Command Reference

pagerename Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Rename the specified workfile page.

Syntax
pagerename old_name new_name

renames the old_name page in the default workfile to new_name. Page names are case-
insensitive for purposes of comparison, even though they are displayed using the input case.

Examples
pagerename Page1 StateByYear

Cross-references
See also pagecreate (p. 434).

pagesave Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Save the active page in the default workfile as an EViews workfile (.WF1 file) or as a for-
eign data source.

Syntax
pagesave(options) [path\]filename
pagesave(options) source_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop drop_list] [@keep-
map keepmap_list] [@dropmap dropmap_list] [@smpl smpl_spec]
pagesave(options) source_description table_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop
drop_list] [@keepmap keepmap_list] [@dropmap dropmap_list] [@smpl
smpl_spec]

The command saves the active page in the specified directory using filename. By default, the
page is saved as an EViews workfile, but options may be used to save all or part of the page
in a foreign file or data source. See wfopen (p. 515) for details on the syntax of source_de-
scriptions and table_descriptions. Note, in particular, that you may use the byrow table_de-
scription for Excel 2007 files to instruct EViews to save the series by row (instead of the
standard by column).
 pagesave—443

Options
type=arg, t=arg Optional type specification: (see table below).
Note that ODBC support is provided only in the EViews
Enterprise Edition.
mode=arg Specify whether to create a new file, overwrite an existing
file, or update an existing file. arg may be “create” (create
new file only; error on attempt to overwrite) or “update”
(only available for Excel files, and only if Excel is installed)
(update an existing file, only overwriting the area specified
by the range= table_description). If the “mode=” option is
not used, EViews will create a new file, unless the file
already exists in which case it will overwrite it.
maptype=arg Write selected maps as: numeric (“n”), character (“c”),
both numeric and character (“b”).
nomapval Do not write mapped values for series with attached value
labels (the default is to write mapped values)
noid Do not write observation identifiers to foreign data files (by
default, EViews will include a column with the date or
observation identifier).
nonames Do not export variable names.

The following table summaries the various foreign formats, along with the corresponding
“type=” keywords:

Option Keywords
Access “access”
Aremos-TSD “a”, “aremos”, “tsd”
Binary “binary”
dBASE “dbase”
Excel (through 2003) “excel”
EViews Workfile ---
Gauss Dataset “gauss”
GiveWin/PcGive “g”, “give”
HTML “html”
Lotus 1-2-3 “lotus”
ODBC Dsn File “dsn”
ODBC Data Source “odbc”
MicroTSP Workfile “dos”, “microtsp”
444—Chapter 12. Command Reference

MicroTSP Mac Workfile “mac”

RATS 4.x “r”, “rats”
RATS Portable / TROLL “l”, “trl”
SAS Program “sasprog”
SAS Transport “sasxport”
SPSS “spss”
SPSS Portable “spssport”
Stata (Version 7 Format) “stata”
Text / ASCII “text”
TSP Portable “t”, “tsp”

Note that if you wish to save your Excel 2007 XML file with macros enabled, you should
specify an explicit filename extension of “.XLSM”.

Examples
pagesave new_wf

saves the current EViews workfile page as “New_wf.WF1” in the default directory.
pagesave "c:\documents and settings\my data\consump"

saves the current workfile page as “Consump.WF1” in the specified path.

To save the current page in a macro-enabled Excel 2007 file, you should specify the explicit
filename extension “.XLSM”:
pagesave(type=excelxml, mode=update) range=”Sheet2!a1” byrow
macro.xlsm @keep gdp unemp

Cross-references
See “Saving a Workfile” on page 75 in the User’s Guide I.

See also wfopen (p. 515) and wfsave (p. 529).

pageselect Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Make the specified page in the default workfile the active page.

Syntax
pageselect pgname

where pgname is the name of a page in the default workfile.

 pagestack—445

Examples
pageselect page2

changes the active page to PAGE2.

Cross-references
See also wfselect (p. 532).

pagestack Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Create a panel structured workfile page using series, alphas, or links from the default
workfile page (convert repeated series to repeated observations).

Series in the new panel workfile may be created by stacking series, alphas, and links whose
names contain a pattern (series with names that differ only by a “stack identifier”), or by
repeating a single series, alpha, or link, for each value in a set of stack identifiers.

Syntax
pagestack(options) stack_id_list [@ series_to_stack]
pagestack(options) pool_name [@ series_to_stack]
pagestack(options) series_name_pattern [@ series_to_stack]

The resulting panel workfile will use the identifiers specified in one of the three forms of the
command:
• stack_id_list includes a list of the ID values (e.g., “US UK JPN”).
• pool_name is the name of a pool object that contains the ID values.
• series_name_pattern contains an expression from which the ID values may be deter-
mined. The pattern should include the “?” character as a stand in for the parts of the
series names containing the stack identifiers. For example, if “CONS?” is the
series_name_pattern, EViews will find all series with names beginning with “CONS”
and will extract the IDs from the trailing parts of the observed names.

The series_to_stack list may contain two types of entries: stacked series (corresponding to
sets of series, alphas, and links whose names contain the stack IDs) and simple series (other
series, alphas, and links).

To stack a set of series whose names differ only by the stack IDs, you should enter an
expression that includes the “?” character in place of the IDs. You may list the names of a
single stacked series (e.g., “GDP?” or “?CONS”), or you may use expressions containing the
wildcard character “*” (e.g., “*?” and “?C*”) to specify multiple series.
446—Chapter 12. Command Reference

By default, the stacked series will be named in the new workfile using the base portion of
the series name (if you specify “?CONS” the stacked series will be named “CONS”), and will
contain the values of the individual series stacked one on top of another. If one of the indi-
vidual series associated with a particular stack ID does not exist, the corresponding stacked
values will be assigned the value NA.

Individual (simple) series may also be stacked. You may list the names of individual simple
series (e.g., “POP INC”), or you can specify your series using expressions containing the
wildcard character “*” (e.g., “*”, “*C”, and “F*”). A simple series will be stacked on top of
itself, once for each ID value. If the target workfile page is in the same workfile, EViews will
create a link in the new page; otherwise, the stacked series will contain (repeated) copies of
the original values.

When evaluating wildcard expressions, stacked series take precedence over simple series.
This means that simple series wildcards will be processed using the list of series not already
included as a stacked series.

If the series_to_stack list is not specified, the expression “*? *”, is assumed.

Options
?=name_patt, idre- Specifies the characters to use instead of the identifier, ”?”,
place = in naming the stacked series.
name_patt By default, the name_patt is blank, indicating, for exam-
ple, that the stacked series corresponding to the pattern
“GDP?” will be named “GDP” in the stacked workfile page.
If pattern is set to “STK”, the stacked series will be named
GDPSTK.
interleave Interleave the observations in the destination stacked
workfile (stack by using all of the series values for the first
source observation, followed by the values for the second
observation, and so on). The default is to stack observa-
tions by identifier (stack the series one on top of each
other).
wf=wf_name Optional name for the new workfile. If not provided,
EViews will create a new page in the default workfile.
page=page_name Optional name for the newly created page. If not provided,
EViews will use the next available name of the form “Unti-
tled##”, where ## is a number.

Examples
Consider a workfile that contains the seven series: GDPUS, GDPUK, GDPJPN, CONSUS,
CONSUK, CONSJPN, CONSFR, and WORLDGDP.
pagestack us uk jpn @ *?
 pagestack—447

creates a new, panel structured workfile page with the series GDP and CONS, containing the
stacked GDP? series (GDPUS, GDPUK, and GDPJPN) and stacked CONS? series (CONSUS,
CONSUK, and CONSJPN). Note that CONSFR and WORLDGDP will not be copied or
stacked.

We may specify the stacked series list explicitly. For example:

pagestack(page=stackctry) gdp? @ gdp? cons?

first determines the stack IDs from the names of series beginning with “GDP”, the stacks the
GDP? and CONS? series. Note that this latter example also names the new workfile page
STACKCTRY.

If we have a pool object, we may instruct EViews to use it to specify the IDs:
pagestack(wf=newwf, page=stackctry) countrypool @ gdp? cons?

Here, the panel structured page STACKCTRY will be created in the workfile NEWWF.

Simple series may be specified by adding them to the stack list, either directly, or using wild-
card expressions. Both commands:
pagestack us uk jpn @ gdp? cons? worldgdp consfr
pagestack(wf=altwf) us uk jpn @ gdp? cons? *

stack the various GDP? and CONS? series on top of each other, and stack the simple series
GDPFR and WORLDGDP on top of themselves.

In the first case, we create a new panel structured page in the same workfile containing the
stacked series GDP and CONS and link objects CONSFR and WORLDGDP, which repeat the
values of the series. In the second case, the new panel page in the workfile ALTWF will con-
tain the stacked GDP and CONS, and series named CONSFR and WORLDGDP containing
repeated copies of the values of the series.

The following two commands are equivalent:

pagestack(wf=newwf) us uk jpn @ *? *
pagestack(wf=newwf) us uk jpn

Here, every series, alpha, and link in the source workfile is stacked and copied to the desti-
nation workfile, either by stacking different series containing the stack_id or by stacking
simple series on top of themselves.

The “?=” option may be used to prevent name collision.

pagestack(?="stk") us uk jpn @ gdp? gdp

stacks GDPUS, GDPUK and GDPJPN into a series called GDPSTK and repeats the values of
the simple series GDP in the destination series GDP.
448—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Cross-references
For additional discussion, see “Stacking a Workfile” on page 297 in User’s Guide I. See also
pageunstack (p. 451).

pagestruct Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Assign a structure to the active workfile page.

Syntax
pagestruct(options) [id_list]
pagestruct(options) *

where id_list is an (optional) list of ID series. The “*” may be used as shorthand for the indi-
ces currently in place.

If an id_list is provided, EViews will attempt to auto determine the workfile structure. Auto-
determination may be overridden through the use of options.

If you do not provide an id_list, the workfile will be restructured as a regular frequency
workfile. In this case, either the “none” or the “freq=” and “start=” options described
below must be provided.

Options
none Remove the existing workfile structure.
freq= arg Specifies a regular frequency; if not provided EViews will
auto-determine the frequency. The frequency may be speci-
fied as “a” (annual), “s” (semi-annual), “q” (quarterly),
“m” (monthly), “w” (weekly), “d” (5-day daily), “7” (7-
day daily), or “u” (unstructured/undated).
start=arg Start date of the regular frequency structure; if not speci-
fied, defaults to “@FIRST”. Legal values for arg are
described below.
end=arg End date of the regular frequency structure; if not specified,
defaults to “@LAST”. Legal values for arg are described
below.
regular, reg When used with a date ID, this option informs EViews to
insert observations (if necessary) to remove gaps in the
date series so that it follows the regular frequency calendar.
The option has no effect unless a date index is specified.
 pagestruct—449

create Allow creation of a new series to serve as an additional ID

series when duplicate ID values are found in any group.
EViews will use this new series as the observation ID.
The default is to prompt in interactive mode and to fail in
programs.
balance=arg, Balance option (for panel data) describing how EViews
bal=arg should handle data that are unbalanced across ID (cross-
section) groups.
The arg should be formed using a combination of starts
(“s”), ends (“e”), and middles (“m”), as in “balance=se”
or “balance=m”.
If balancing starts (arg contains “s”), EViews will (if neces-
sary) add observations to your workfile so that each cross-
section begins at the same observation (the earliest date or
observation observed).
If balancing ends (arg contains “e”), EViews will add any
observations required so that each cross-section ends at the
same point (the last date or observation observed).
If balancing middles (arg contains “m”) EViews will add
observations to ensure that each cross-section has consecu-
tive observations from the earliest date or observation for
the cross-section to the last date or observation for the
cross-section.
Note that “balance=m” is implied by the “regular” option.
dropna Specifies that observations which contain missing values
(NAs or blank strings) in any ID series (including the date
or observation ID) be removed from the workfile. If “dro-
pna” is not specified and NAs are found, EViews will
prompt in interactive mode and fail in programs.
dropbad Specifies that observations for which any of the date index
series contain values that do not represent dates be
removed from the workfile. If “dropbad” is not provided
and bad dates are present, EViews will prompt in interac-
tive mode and fail in programs.

The values for start and end dates should contain date literals (actual dates or periods), e.g.,
“1950q1” and “2/10/1951”, “@FIRST”, or “@LAST” (first and last observed dates in the
date ID series). Date literals must be used for the “start=” option when restructuring to a
regular frequency.

In addition, offsets from these date specifications can be specified with a “+” or “–” fol-
lowed by an integer: “@FIRST-5”, “@LAST+2”, “1950m12+6”. Offsets are most often used
when resizing the workfile to add or remove observations from the endpoints.
450—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
pagestruct state industry

structures the workfile using the IDs in the STATE and INDUSTRY series.

A date ID series (or a series used to form a date ID) should be tagged using the “@DATE”
keyword. For example:
pagestruct state @date(year)
pagestruct(regular) @date(year, month)

A “*” may be used to indicate the indices defined in the current workfile structure.
pagestruct(end=@last+5) *

adds 5 observations to the end of the current workfile.

When you omit the id_list, EViews will attempt to restructured the workfile to a regular fre-
quency. In this case you must either provide the “freq=” and “start=” options to identify
the regular frequency structure, or you must specify “none” to remove the existing structure:
pagestruct(freq=a, start=1950)
pagestruct(none)

Cross-references
For extensive discussion, see “Structuring a Workfile,” beginning on page 253 in the User’s
Guide I.

pageunlink Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Break links in all link objects and auto-updating series (formulae) in the active workfile
page.

You should use some caution with this command as you will not be prompted before the
links and auto-updating series are converted.

Syntax
pageunlink

Examples
pageunlink

breaks links in all pages of the active workfile page.

 pageunstack—451

Cross-references
See Chapter 8. “Series Links,” on page 223 of the User’s Guide I for a description of link
objects, and “Auto-Updating Series” on page 193 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of
auto-updating series.

See also Link::link (p. 352) and Link::linkto (p. 353) in the Object Reference.

See unlink (p. 501) and wfunlink (p. 533) for object and workfile based unlinking, respec-
tively.

pageunstack Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Unstack workfile page (convert repeated observations to repeated series).

Create a new workfile page by taking series objects (series, alphas, or links) in the default
workfile page and breaking them into multiple series (or alphas), one for each distinct value
found in a user supplied list of series objects. Typically used on a page with a panel struc-
ture.

Syntax
pageunstack(options) stack_id obs_id [@ series_to_unstack]

where stack_id is a single series containing the unstacking ID values used to identify the
individual unstacked series, obs_id is a series containing the observation IDs, and
series_to_unstack is an optional list of series objects to be copied to the new workfile.

Options
namepat Specifies the pattern from which unstacked series names
=name_pattern are constructed, where “*” indicates the original series
name and “?” indicates the stack ID.
By default the name_pattern is “*?”, indicating, for exam-
ple, that if we have the IDs “US”, “UK”, “JPN”, the
unstacked series corresponding to the series GDP should be
named “GDPUS”, “GDPUK”, “GDPJPN” in the unstacked
workfile page.
wf=wf_name Optional name for the new workfile. If not provided,
EViews will create a new page in the default workfile.
page=page_name Optional name for the newly created page. If not provided,
EViews will use the next available name of the form “Unti-
tled##”, where ## is a number.
452—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
Consider a workfile that contains the series GDP and CONS which contain the values of
Gross Domestic Product and consumption for three countries stacked on top of each other.
Suppose further there is an alpha object called COUNTRY containing the observations “US”,
“UK”, and “JPN”, which identify which from which country each observation of GDP and
CONS comes. Finally, suppose there is a date series DATEID which identifies the date for
each observation. The command:
pageunstack country dateid @ gdp cons

creates a new workfile page using the workfile frequency and dates found in DATEID. The
page will contain the 6 series GDPUS, GDPUK, GDPJPN, CONSUS, CONSUK, and CONSJPN
corresponding to the unstacked GDP and CONS.

Typically the source workfile described above would be structured as a dated panel with the
cross-section ID series COUNTRY and the date ID series DATEID. Since the panel has built-in
date information, we may use the “@DATE” keyword as the DATEID. The command:
pageunstack country @date @ gdp cons

uses the date portion of the current workfile structure to identify the dates for the unstacked
page.

The stack_id must be an ordinary, or an alpha series that uniquely identifies the groupings
to use in unstacking the series. obs_id may be one or more ordinary series or alpha series,
the combination of which uniquely identify each observation in the new workfile.

You may provide an explicit list of series to unstack following an “@” immediately after the
obs_id. Wildcards may be used in this list. For example:
pageunstack country dateid @ g* c*

unstacks all series and alphas that have names that begin with “G” or “C’.

If no series_to_unstack list is provided, all series in the source workfile will be unstacked.
Thus, the two commands:
pageunstack country dateid @ *
pageunstack country dateid

are equivalent.

By default, series are named in the destination workfile page by appending the stack_id val-
ues to the original series name. Letting “*” stand for the original series name and “?” for the
stack_id, names are constructed as “*?”. This default may be changed using the “name-
pat=” option. For example:
pageunstack(namepat="?_*") country dateid @ gdp cons
 plot—453

creates the series US_GDP, UK_GDP, JPN_GDP, etc.

Cross-references
For additional discussion and examples, see “Unstacking a Workfile” on page 291 of the
User’s Guide I. See also pagestack (p. 445).

param Global Commands

Set parameter values.

Allows you to set the current values of coefficient vectors. The command may be used to
provide starting values for the parameters in nonlinear least squares, nonlinear system esti-
mation, and (optionally) ARMA estimation.

Syntax
param coef_name1 number1 [coef_name2 number2 coef_name3 number3…]

List, in pairs, the names of the coefficient vector and its element number followed by the
corresponding starting values for any of the parameters in your equation.

Examples
param c(1) .2 c(2) .1 c(3) .5

resets the first three values of the coefficient vector C.

coef(3) beta
param beta(2) .1 beta(3) .5

The first line declares a coefficient vector BETA of length 3 that is initialized with zeros. The
second line sets the second and third elements of BETA to 0.1 and 0.5, respectively.

Cross-references
See “Starting Values” on page 48 of the User’s Guide II for a discussion of setting initial val-
ues in nonlinear estimation.

plot Object Creation Commands

Line graph.

Provided for backward compatibility. See line (p. 924).

454—Chapter 12. Command Reference

print Command Actions

Sends views of objects to the default printer.

Syntax
print(options) object1 [object2 object3 …]
print(options) object_name.view_command

print should be followed by a list of object names or a view of an object to be printed. The
list of names must be of the same object type. If you do not specify the view of an object,
print will print the default view for the object.

Options
p Print in portrait orientation.
l Print in landscape orientation.

The default orientation is set by clicking on Print Setup.

Examples
print gdp log(gdp) d(gdp) @pch(gdp)

sends a table of GDP, log of GDP, first difference of GDP, and the percentage change of GDP
to the printer.
print graph1 graph2 graph3

prints three graphs on a single page.

To merge the three graphs, realign them in one row, and print in landscape orientation, you
may use the commands:
graph mygra.merge graph1 graph2 graph3
mygra.align(3,1,1)
print(l) mygra

To estimate the equation EQ1 and send the output view to the printer.
print eq1.ls gdp c gdp(-1)

Cross-references
See “Print Setup,” beginning on page 833 of the User’s Guide II for a discussion of print
options and the Print Setup dialog.

See output (p. 428) for print redirection.

 qreg—455

probit Interactive Use Commands

Estimation of binary dependent variable models with normal errors.

Equivalent to “binary(d=n)”.

See binary (p. 299).

program Programming Commands

Declare a program.

Syntax
program [path\]prog_name

Enter a name for the program after the program keyword. If you do not provide a name,
EViews will open an untitled program window. Programs are text files, not objects.

Examples
program runreg

opens a program window named RUNREG which is ready for program editing.

Cross-references
See Chapter 6. “EViews Programming,” on page 117 of the User’s Guide I for further details,
and examples of writing EViews programs.

See also open (p. 418).

qreg Interactive Use Commands

Estimate a quantile regression specification.

Syntax
qreg(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...]
qreg(options) linear_specification
456—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Options
quant=number Quantile to be fit (where number is a value between 0 and
(default = 0.5) 1).
w=arg Weight series or expression.
Note: we recommend that, absent a good reason, you
employ the default settings Inverse std. dev. weights
(“wtype=istdev”) with EViews default scaling
(“wscale=eviews”) for backward compatibility with ver-
sions prior to EViews 7.
wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-
(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
cov=arg Method for computing coefficient covariance matrix: “iid”
(default=“sand- (ordinary estimates), “sandwich” (Huber sandwich esti-
wich”) mates), “boot” (bootstrap estimates).
When “cov=iid” or “cov=sandwich”, EViews will use the
sparsity nuisance parameter calculation specified in
“spmethod=” when estimating the coefficient covariance
matrix.
bwmethod=arg Method for automatically selecting bandwidth value for
(default = “hs”) use in estimation of sparsity and coefficient covariance
matrix: “hs” (Hall-Sheather), “bf” (Bofinger), “c” (Cham-
berlain).
bw =number Use user-specified bandwidth value in place of automatic
method specified in “bwmethod=”.
bwsize=number Size parameter for use in computation of bandwidth (used
(default = 0.05) when “bw=hs” and “bw=bf”).
spmethod=arg Sparsity estimation method: “resid” (Siddiqui using residu-
(default=“kernel”) als), “fitted” (Siddiqui using fitted quantiles at mean values
of regressors), “kernel” (Kernel density using residuals)
Note: “spmethod=resid” is not available when
“cov=sandwich”.
btmethod=arg Bootstrap method: “resid” (residual bootstrap), “pair” (xy-
(default= “pair”) pair bootstrap), “mcmb” (MCMB bootstrap), “mcmba”
(MCMB-A bootstrap).
 qreg—457

btreps=integer Number of bootstrap repetitions

(default=100)
btseed=positive Seed the bootstrap random number generator.
integer If not specified, EViews will seed the bootstrap random
number generator with a single integer draw from the
default global random number generator.
btrnd=arg Type of random number generator for the bootstrap:
(default=“kn” or improved Knuth generator (“kn”), improved Mersenne
method previously Twister (“mt”), Knuth’s (1997) lagged Fibonacci generator
set using rndseed used in EViews 4 (“kn4”) L’Ecuyer’s (1999) combined mul-
(p. 463)). tiple recursive generator (“le”), Matsumoto and
Nishimura’s (1998) Mersenne Twister used in EViews 4
(“mt4”).
btobs=integer Number of observations for bootstrap subsampling (when
“bsmethod=pair”).
Should be significantly greater than the number of regres-
sors and less than or equal to the number of observations
used in estimation. EViews will automatically restrict val-
ues to the range from the number of regressors and the
number of estimation observations.
If omitted, the bootstrap will use the number of observa-
tions used in estimation.
btout=name (optional) Matrix to hold results of bootstrap simulations.
k=arg Kernel function for sparsity and coefficient covariance
(default=“e”) matrix estimation (when “spmethod=kernel”): “e” (Epan-
echnikov), “r” (Triangular), “u” (Uniform), “n” (Normal–
Gaussian), “b” (Biweight–Quartic), “t” (Triweight), “c”
(Cosinus).
m=integer Maximum number of iterations.
s Use the current coefficient values in “C” as starting values
(see also param (p. 453)).
s=number (default Determine starting values for equations. Specify a number
=0) between 0 and 1 representing the fraction of preliminary
least squares coefficient estimates.
Note that out of range values are set to the default.
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
458—Chapter 12. Command Reference

coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by

list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print estimation results.

Examples
qreg y c x

estimates the default least absolute deviations (median) regression for the dependent vari-
able Y on a constant and X. The estimates use the Huber Sandwich method for computing
the covariance matrix, with individual sparsity estimates obtained using kernel methods.
The bandwidth uses the Hall and Sheather formula.
qreg(quant=0.6, cov=boot, btmethod=mcmba) y c x

estimates the quantile regression for the 0.6 quantile using MCMB-A bootstrapping to obtain
estimates of the coefficient covariance matrix.

Cross-references
See Chapter 8. “Quantile Regression,” on page 497 of the User’s Guide II for a discussion of
the quantile regression.

range Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Reset the workfile range for a regular frequency workfile.

No longer supported. See the replacement command pagestruct (p. 448).

read Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Import data from a foreign disk file into series.

May be used to import data into an existing workfile from a text, Excel, or Lotus file on disk.

Unless you need to merge data into an existing workfile page, we recommend that you use
the more powerful, easy-to-use tools for reading data (see “Creating a Workfile by Reading
from a Foreign Data Source” on page 47 of the User’s Guide I). See pageload (p. 440), and
wfopen (p. 515) for command details.

Syntax
read(options) [path\]file_name name1 [name2 name3 ...]
read(options) [path\]file_name n
 read—459

You must supply the name of the source file. If you do not include the optional path specifi-
cation, EViews will look for the file in the default directory. Path specifications may point to
local or network drives. If the path specification contains a space, you may enclose the
entire expression in double quotation marks.

The input specification follows the source file name. There are two ways to specify the input
series. First, you may list the names of the series in the order they appear in the file. Second,
if the data file contains a header line for the series names, you may specify the number, n, of
series in the file instead of a list of names. EViews will name the n series using the names
given in the header line. If you specify a number and the data file does not contain a header
line, EViews will name the series as SER01, SER02, SER03, and so on.

To import data into alpha series, you must specify the names of your series, and should
enter the tag “$” following the series name (e.g., “NAME $ INCOME CONSUMP”).

Options
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

File type options

t=dat, txt ASCII (plain text) files.
t=wk1, wk3 Lotus spreadsheet files.
t=xls Excel spreadsheet files.

If you do not specify the “t” option, EViews uses the file name extension to determine the
file type. If you specify the “t” option, the file name extension will not be used to determine
the file type.
Options for ASCII text files
t Read data organized by series. Default is to read by obser-
vation with series in columns.
na=text Specify text for NAs. Default is “NA”.
d=t Treat tab as delimiter (note: you may specify multiple
delimiter options). The default is “d=c” only.
d=c Treat comma as delimiter.
d=s Treat space as delimiter.
d=a Treat alpha numeric characters as delimiter.
custom = Specify symbol/character to treat as delimiter.
symbol
mult Treat multiple delimiters as one.
460—Chapter 12. Command Reference

name Series names provided in file.

label=integer Number of lines between the header line and the data.
Must be used with the “name” option.
rect (default) / [Treat / Do not treat] file layout as rectangular.
norect
skipcol = Number of columns to skip. Must be used with the “rect”
integer option.
skiprow = Number of rows to skip. Must be used with the “rect”
integer option.
comment= Specify character/symbol to treat as comment sign. Every-
symbol thing to the right of the comment sign is ignored. Must be
used with the “rect” option.
singlequote Strings are in single quotes, not double quotes.
dropstrings Do not treat strings as NA; simply drop them.
negparen Treat numbers in parentheses as negative numbers.
allowcomma Allow commas in numbers (note that using commas as a
delimiter takes precedence over this option).
currency= Specify symbol/character for currency data.
symbol

Options for spreadsheet (Lotus, Excel) files

t Read data organized by series. Default is to read by obser-
vation with series in columns.
letter_number Coordinate of the upper-left cell containing data.
(default=“b2”)
s=sheet_name Sheet name for Excel 5–8 Workbooks.

Examples
read(t=dat,na=.) a:\mydat.raw id lwage hrs

reads data from an ASCII file MYDAT.RAW in the A: drive. The data in the file are listed by
observation, the missing value NA is coded as a “.” (dot or period), and there are three
series, which are to be named ID, LWAGE, HRS (from left to right).
read(a2,s=sheet3) cps88.xls 10

reads data from an Excel file CPS88 in the default directory. The data are organized by obser-
vation, the upper left data cell is A2, and 10 series are read from a sheet named SHEET3
using names provided in the file.
read(a2, s=sheet2) "\\network\dr 1\cps91.xls" 10
 reset—461

reads the Excel file CPS91 from the network drive specified in the path.

Cross-references
See “Importing Data” on page 139 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion and examples of
importing data from external files.

See also write (p. 535).

rename Object Utility Commands

Rename an object in the active workfile or database.

Syntax
rename old_name new_name [old_name1 new_name1 [old_name2 new_name2 [...]]]

After the rename keyword, list the pairs of old object names followed by the new names.
Note that the name specifications may include matching wildcard patterns.

Examples
rename temp_u u2

renames an object named TEMP_U as U2.

rename aa::temp_u aa::u2

renames the object TEMP_U to U2 in database AA.

rename a* b*

renames all objects beginning with the letter “A” to begin with the letter “B”.
rename a1 a2 b1 b2

renames A1 to A2 and B1 to B2.

Cross-references
See Chapter 4. “Object Basics,” on page 97 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of working
with objects in EViews.

reset Interactive Use Commands

Compute Ramsey’s regression specification error test.

Syntax
reset(n, options)

You must provide the number of powers of fitted terms n to include in the test regression.
462—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Options
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print the test result.

Examples
ls lwage c edu race gender
reset(2)

carries out the RESET test by including the square and the cube of the fitted values in the
test equation.

Cross-references
See “Ramsey's RESET Test” on page 212 of the User’s Guide II for a discussion of the RESET
test.

rndint Object Assignment Commands

Generate uniform random integers.

The rndint command fills series, vector, and matrix objects with (pseudo) random integers
drawn uniformly from zero to a user specified maximum. The rndint command ignores the
current sample and fills the entire object with random integers.

Syntax
rndint(object_name, n)

Type the name of the series, vector, or matrix object to fill, followed by an integer value rep-
resenting the maximum value n of the random integers. n should a positive integer.

Examples
series index
rndint(index,10)

fills the entire series INDEX with integers drawn randomly from 0 to 10. Note that unlike
standard series assignment using genr, rndint ignores the current sample and fills the
series for the entire workfile range.
sym(3) var3
rndint(var3,5)

fills the entire symmetric matrix VAR3 with random integers ranging from 0 to 5.
 rndseed—463

Cross-references
See the list of available random number generators in “Statistical Distribution Functions” on
page 569 of the User’s Guide I.

See also nrnd (p. 606), rnd (p. 608) and rndseed (p. 463).

rndseed Global Commands

Seed the random number generator.

Use rndseed when you wish to generate a repeatable sequence of random numbers, or to
select the generator to be used.

Note that EViews 5 has updated the seeding routines of two of our pseudo-random number
generators (backward compatible options are provided). It is strongly recommended that
you use new generators.

Syntax
rndseed(options) integer

Follow the rndseed keyword with the optional generator type and an integer for the seed.

Options
type=arg Type of random number generator: improved Knuth gener-
(default=“kn”) ator (“kn”), improved Mersenne Twister (“mt”), Knuth’s
(1997) lagged Fibonacci generator used in EViews 4
(“kn4)”, L’Ecuyer’s (1999) combined multiple recursive
generator (“le”), Matsumoto and Nishimura’s (1998)
Mersenne Twister used in EViews 4 (“mt4”).

When EViews starts up, the default generator type is set to the improved Knuth lagged Fibo-
nacci generator. Unless changed using rndseed, Knuth’s generator will be used for subse-
quent pseudo-random number generation.

Knuth L’Ecuyer Mersenne Twister

(“kn4”) (“le”) (“mt4”)
Period 129 319 19937
2 2 2 –1
7 27.3 secs 15.7 secs 1.76 secs
Time (for 10 draws)
Cases failed Diehard test 0 0 0
464—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
rndseed 123456
genr t3=@qtdist(rnd,3)
rndseed 123456
genr t30=@qtdist(rnd,30)

generates random draws from a t-distribution with 3 and 30 degrees of freedom using the
same seed.

Cross-references
See the list of available random number generators in “Statistical Distribution Functions” on
page 569 of the User’s Guide I.

At press time, further information on the improved seeds may be found on the web at the
following addresses:

Knuth generator: http://sunburn.stanford.edu/~knuth/news02.html#rng

Mersenne twister: http://www.math.keio.ac.jp/~matumoto/MT2002/emt19937ar.html

See also nrnd (p. 606), rnd (p. 608) and rndint (p. 462).

References
Knuth, D. E. (1997). The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 2, Semi-numerical Algorithms,
3rd edition, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Note: the C implementa-
tion of the lagged Fibonacci generator is described in the errata to the 2nd edition,
downloadable from Knuth's web site.
L’Ecuyer, P. (1999). “Good Parameters and Implementations for Combined Multiple Recursive Ran-
dom Number Generators,” Operations Research, 47(1), 159-164
Matsumoto, M. and T. Nishimura (1998). “Mersenne Twister: A 623-Dimensionally Equidistrib-
uted Uniform Pseudo-Random Number Generator,” ACM Transactions on Modeling and
Computer Simulation, 8(1), 3-30.

robustls Equation Methods

Estimates an equation using robust least squares.

You may perform three different types of robust estimation: M-estimation, S-estimation and
MM-estimation.

Syntax:
robustls(options) y x1 [x2 x3…]

Enter the robustls keyword, followed by the dependent variable and a list of the regres-
sors.
 robustls—465

Options
method=arg Robust estimation method: “m” (M-estimation), “s”
(default=“m”) (S-estimation) or “mm” (MM-estimation).
cov=arg Covariance method type: “type1”, “type2”, or “type3”.
(default=“type1”)
tuning=number Specify a value for the tuning parameter. If a value is
not specified, EViews will use the default tuning
parameter for the type of estimation and weighting
function (if applicable).
c=s Convergence criterion. The criterion will be set to the
nearest value between 1e-24 and 0.2.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified
by list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coeffi-
cient vector.
m=integer Maximum number the number of iterations.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

M-estimation Options
fn=arg Weighting function used during M-estimation:
(default=“bisquare”) “andrews” (Andrews), “bisquare” (Bisquare), “cau-
chy” (Cauchy), “fair”, “huber”, “huberbi” (Huber-
bisquare), “logistic” (Logistic), “median”, “tal” (Tal-
worth), “Welsch” (Welsch).
scale=arg Scaling method used for calculating the scalar parame-
(default=“madzero”) ter during M estimation: “madzero” (median absolute
deviation, zero centered), “madmed” (median abso-
lute deviation, median centered), "huber" (Huber scal-
ing).
hmat Use the hat-matrix to down-weight observations with
high leverage.
466—Chapter 12. Command Reference

S and MM estimation options

compare = integer Number of comparison sets.
(default=4)
refine = integer Number of refinements.
(default= 2)
trials = integer Number of trials.
(default=200)
subsmpl=integer Specifies the size of the subsamples. Note, the default
is number of coefficients in the regression.
seed=number Specifies the random number generator seed
rng=arg Specifies the type of random number generator. The
key can be; improved Knuth generator (“kn”),
improved Mersenne Twister (“mt”), Knuth’s (1997)
lagged Fibonacci generator used in EViews 4 (“kn4”)
L’Ecuyer’s (1999) combined multiple, recursive gener-
ator (“le”), Matsumoto and Nishimura’s (1998)
Mersenne Twister used in EViews 4 (“mt4”).

MM estimation options
mtuning=arg M-estimator tuning parameter.
Note the S-estimator tuning parameter is set with the
“tuning=” option outlined above.
hmat Use the hat-matrix to down-weight observations with
high leverage during m-estimation.

Examples
The following examples use the “Rousseeuw and Leroy.wf1” file located in the EViews
application data directory.
robustls salinity c lagsal trend discharge

This line estimates a simple M-type robust estimation, with SALINITY as the dependent
variable, and a constant, LAGSAL, TREND and DISCHARGE as independent variables.

The line:
robustls(method=mm, tuning=2.937, mtuning=3.44, cov=type2)
salinity c lagsal trend discharge

estimates the same model, but using MM-estimation, with an S tuning constant of 2.937, an
M tuning constant of 3.44, and using Huber Type II standard errors.

Cross-references
 run—467

See Chapter 4. “Robust Least Squares,” beginning on page 405 of User’s Guide II for discus-
sion.

run Programming Commands

Run a program.

The run command executes a program. The program may be located in memory or stored in
a program file on disk.

Syntax
run(options) [path\]prog_name(prog_options) [%0 %1 …]

If you wish to pass one or more options to the program, you should enclose them in paren-
theses immediately after the filename. If the program has arguments, you should list them
after the filename.

EViews first checks to see if the specified program is in memory. If the program is not
located, EViews then looks for the program on disk in the current working directory, or in the
specified path. The program file should have a “.PRG” extension, which you need not spec-
ify in the prog_name.

Options
integer Set maximum errors allowed before halting the program.
(default=1)
c Run program file without opening a window for display of
the program file.
verbose / quiet Verbose mode in which messages will be sent to the status
line at the bottom of the EViews window (slower execu-
tion), or quiet mode which suppresses workfile display
updates (faster execution).
v/q Same as [verbose / quiet].
ver4 / ver5 Execute program in [version 4 / version 5] compatibility
mode.
this=object_na Set the _this object for the executed program. If omitted,
me the executed program will inherit the _this object from
the parent program, or from the current active workfile
object when the exec command is issued from the com-
mand window.

Examples
run(q) simul(h=2) x xhat
468—Chapter 12. Command Reference

quietly runs a program named “Simul.prg” from the default directory using options string
“h=2” and arguments %0=X and %1=XHAT.

Since run is a command, it may also be placed in a program file. You should note that if you
put the run command in a program file and then execute the program, EViews will stop
after executing the program referred to by the run command. For example, if you have a pro-
gram containing:
run simul
print x

the print statement will not be executed since execution will stop after executing the com-
mands in “Simul.prg”. If this behavior is not intended, you should consider using the exec
(p. 350) command or an include (p. 713) statement.

Cross-references
See “Executing a Program” on page 120 of the User’s Guide I for further details.

See also exec (p. 350) and include (p. 713).

save Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Save current workfile to disk.

This usage is provided only for backward compatibility, as it has been replaced with the
equivalent wfsave (p. 529) command.

Syntax
save [path\]file_name

Follow the keyword with a name for the file. If an explicit path is not specified, the file will
be stored in the default directory, as set in the File Locations global options.

Examples
save MyWorkfile

saves the current workfile with the name MYWORKFILE.WF1 in the default directory.
save c:\data\MyWF1

saves the current workfile with the name MYWF1.WF1 in the specified directory.

Cross-references
See wfsave (p. 529).
 setcell—469

seas Interactive Use Commands

Seasonal adjustment.

The seas command carries out seasonal adjustment using either the ratio to moving aver-
age, or the difference from moving average technique.

EViews also performs Census X11 and X12 seasonal adjustment. For details, see
Series::x11 (p. 614) and Series::x12 (p. 616) in the Object Reference.

Syntax
seas(options) series_name name_adjust [name_fac]

List the name of the original series and the name to be given to the seasonally adjusted
series. You may optionally include an additional name for the seasonal factors. seas will
display the seasonal factors using the convention of the Census X11 program.

Options
m Multiplicative (ratio to moving average) method.
a Additive (difference from moving average) method.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

Examples
seas(a) pass pass_adj pass_fac

seasonally adjusts the series PASS using the additive method, and saves the adjusted series
as PASS_ADJ and the seasonal factors as PASS_FAC.

Cross-references
See “Seasonal Adjustment” on page 418 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of seasonal
adjustment methods.

See also seasplot (p. 948), Series::x11 (p. 614), and Series::x12 (p. 616) in the
Object Reference.

setcell Table Commands

Insert contents into cell of a table.

The setcell command puts a string or number into a cell of a table.

470—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Syntax
setcell(table_name, r, c, content[, "options"])

Options
Provide the following information in parentheses in the following order: the name of the
table object, the row number, r, of the cell, the column number, c, of the cell, a number or
string to put in the cell, and optionally, a justification and/or numerical format code. A
string of text must be enclosed in double quotes.

The justification options are:

c Center the text/number in the cell.

r Right-justify the text/number in cell.
l Left-justify the text/number in cell.

The numerical format code determines the format with which a number in a cell is dis-
played; cells containing strings will be unaffected. The format code can either be a positive
integer, in which case it specifies the number of decimal places to be displayed after the dec-
imal point, or a negative integer, in which case it specifies the total number of characters to
be used to display the number. These two cases correspond to the Fixed decimal and Fixed
character fields in the number format dialog.

Note that when using a negative format code, one character is always reserved at the start of
a number to indicate its sign, and that if the number contains a decimal point, that will also
be counted as a character. The remaining characters will be used to display digits. If the
number is too large or too small to display in the available space, EViews will attempt to use
scientific notation. If there is insufficient space for scientific notation (six characters or less),
the cell will contain asterisks to indicate an error.

Examples
setcell(tab1, 2, 1, "Subtotal")

puts the string “Subtotal” in row 2, column 1 of the table object named TAB1.
setcell(tab1, 1, 1, "Price and cost", "r")

puts the a right-justify string “Price and cost” in row 1, column 1 of the table object named
TAB1.

Note that in general, that unless you wish to control the formatting, assignment statements
of the form
Mytable(1,1) = "hello"

are easier than using the default setcell statement:

Setcell(mytable,1,1,"hello")
 setcolwidth—471

Cross-references
Chapter 3. “Working with Tables and Spreadsheets,” on page 57 describes table formatting
using commands. See “Table Objects,” beginning on page 743 of the User’s Guide I for a dis-
cussion and examples of table formatting in EViews.

See also Table::setjust (p. 791) and Table::setformat (p. 786) in the Object Refer-
ence. Note that this command is supported primarily for backward compatibility. There is a
more extensive set of table procs for working with and customizing tables. See “Table
Procs,” on page 770 in Object Reference.

setcolwidth Table Commands

Set width of a column of a table.

Provided for backward compatibility. See Table::setwidth (p. 797) in the Object Refer-
ence for the new method of setting the width of table and spreadsheet columns.

Syntax
setcolwidth(table_name, c, width)

Options
To change the width of a column, provide the following information in parentheses, in the
following order: the name of the table, the column number c, and the number of characters
width for the new width. EViews measures units in terms of the width of a numeric charac-
ter. Because different characters have different widths, the actual number of characters that
will fit may differ slightly from the number you specify. By default, each column is approxi-
mately 10 characters wide.

Examples
setcolwidth(mytab,2,20)

sets the second column of table MYTAB to fit approximately 20 characters.

Cross-references
Chapter 3. “Working with Tables and Spreadsheets,” on page 57 of the User’s Guide I
describes table formatting using commands. See also “Table Objects” on page 743 of the
User’s Guide I for a discussion and examples of table formatting in EViews.

Note that this command is supported primarily for backward compatibility. There is a more
extensive set of table procs for working with and customizing tables. See “Table Procs,” on
page 770 in the Object Reference.
472—Chapter 12. Command Reference

See also Table::setwidth (p. 797) and Table::setheight (p. 790) in the Object Refer-
ence.

setline Table Commands

Place a double horizontal line in a table.

Provided for backward compatibility. For a more general method of setting the line charac-
teristics and borders for a set of table cells, see the table proc Table::setlines (p. 792)
See also Table::setwidth (p. 797) and Table::setheight (p. 790) in the Object Refer-
ence.

Syntax
setline(table_name, r)

Options
Specify the name of the table and the row number r in which to place the horizontal line.

Examples
setline(tab3,8)

places a (double) horizontal line in the eighth row of the table object TAB3.

Cross-references
Chapter 3. “Working with Tables and Spreadsheets,” on page 57 of the User’s Guide I
describes table formatting using commands. See also “Table Objects” on page 743 of the
User’s Guide I for a discussion and examples of table formatting in EViews.

See Table::setlines (p. 792) in the Object Reference for more flexible line drawing tools.
Note that this command is supported primarily for backward compatibility. There is a more
extensive set of table procs for working with and customizing tables. See “Table Procs,” on
page 770 in the Object Reference.

shell Programming Commands

Start the Windows command shell, optionally executing a command.

Syntax
shell(options) [arg1 arg2 arg3…]

See spawn (p. 480) for available options. By default, the Windows command shell will be
started in hidden mode with the exit code for success set to zero.
 show—473

Examples
shell mkdir c:\newdir

makes a new directory “c:\newdir”.

shell(out=flist) dir /b *.wf1

lists all workfiles in the current directory, saving output in a table named FLIST.

Cross-references
See spawn (p. 480) for details on spawning a new process.

show Command Actions

Display objects.

The show command displays series or other objects on your screen. A scalar object is dis-
played in the status line at the bottom of the EViews window.

Syntax
show object_name.view_command
show object1 [object2 object3 ...]

The command show should be followed by the name of an object, or an object name with
an attached view.

For series and graph objects, show can operate on a list of names. The list of names must be
of the same type. show creates and displays an untitled group or multiple graph object.

Examples
genr x=nrnd
show x.hist
close x

generates a series X of random draws from a standard normal distribution, displays the his-
togram view of X, and closes the series window.
show wage log(wage)

opens an untitled group window with the spreadsheet view of the two series.
freeze(gra1) wage.hist
genr lwage=log(wage)
freeze(gra2) lwage.hist
show gra1 gra2

opens an untitled graph object with two histograms.

474—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Cross-references
See “Object Commands” on page 17 for discussion.

Chapter 1. “Object View and Procedure Reference,” on page 2 in the Object Reference pro-
vides a complete listing of the views of the various objects.

See also close (p. 310) and do (p. 349).

smooth Interactive Use Commands

Exponential smoothing.

Forecasts a series using one of a number of exponential smoothing techniques. By default,

smooth estimates the damping parameters of the smoothing model to minimize the sum of
squared forecast errors, but you may specify your own values for the damping parameters.

smooth automatically calculates in-sample forecast errors and puts them into the series
RESID.

Syntax
smooth(method) series_name smooth_name [freq]

You should follow the smooth keyword with the name of the series and a name for the
smoothed series. You must also specify the smoothing method in parentheses. The optional
freq may be used to override the default for the number of periods in the seasonal cycle. By
default, this value is set to the workfile frequency (e.g. — 4 for quarterly data). For undated
data, the default is 5.

Options
Smoothing method options
s[,x] Single exponential smoothing for series with no trend. You
may optionally specify a number x between zero and one
for the mean parameter.
d[,x] Double exponential smoothing for series with a trend. You
may optionally specify a number x between zero and one
for the mean parameter.
 smooth—475

n[,x,y] Holt-Winters without seasonal component. You may

optionally specify numbers x and y between zero and one
for the mean and trend parameters, respectively.
a[,x,y,z] Holt-Winters with additive seasonal component. You may
optionally specify numbers x, y, and z, between zero and
one for the mean, trend, and seasonal parameters, respec-
tively.
m[,x,y,z] Holt-Winters with multiplicative seasonal component. You
may optionally specify numbers x, y, and z, between zero
and one for the mean, trend, and seasonal parameters,
respectively.

Other Options:
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print a table of forecast statistics.

If you wish to set only some of the damping parameters and let EViews estimate the other
parameters, enter the letter “e” where you wish the parameter to be estimated.

If the number of seasons is different from the frequency of the workfile (an unusual case
that arises primarily if you are using an undated workfile for data that are not monthly or
quarterly), you should enter the number of seasons after the smoothed series name. This
optional input will have no effect on forecasts without seasonal components.

Examples
smooth(s) sales sales_f

smooths the SALES series by a single exponential smoothing method and saves the
smoothed series as SALES_F. EViews estimates the damping (smoothing) parameter and dis-
plays it with other forecast statistics in the SALES series window.
smooth(n,e,.3) tb3 tb3_hw

smooths the TB3 series by a Holt-Winters no seasonal method and saves the smoothed
series as TB3_HW. The mean damping parameter is estimated while the trend damping
parameter is set to 0.3.
smpl @first @last-10
smooth(m,.1,.1,.1) order order_hw
smpl @all
graph gra1.line order order_hw
show gra1
476—Chapter 12. Command Reference

smooths the ORDER series by a Holt-Winters multiplicative seasonal method leaving the last
10 observations. The damping parameters are all set to 0.1. The last three lines plot and dis-
play the actual and smoothed series over the full sample.

Cross-references
See “Exponential Smoothing” on page 466 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of exponen-
tial smoothing methods.

smpl Global Commands

Set sample range.

The smpl command sets the workfile sample to use for statistical operations and series
assignment expressions.

Syntax
smpl smpl_spec
smpl sample_name

List the date or number of the first observation and the date or number of the last observa-
tion for the sample. Rules for specifying dates are given in “Dates” on page 94. The sample
spec may contain more than one pair of beginning and ending observations.

The smpl command also allows you to select observations on the basis of conditions speci-
fied in an if statement. This enables you to use logical operators to specify what observa-
tions to include in EViews’ procedures. Put the if statement after the pairs of dates.

You can also use smpl to set the current observations to the contents of a named sample
object; put the name of the sample object after the keyword.

Special keywords for smpl

The following “@-keywords” can be used in a smpl command:

@all The entire workfile range.

@first The first observation in the workfile.
@last The last observation in the workfile.

The following frequency functions may also be used:

 smpl—477

@year The four digit year in which the current observation

begins.
@quarter The quarter of the year in which the current observation
begins.
@month The month of the year in which the current observation
begins.
@day The day of the month in which the current observation
begins.
@weekday The day of the week in which the current observation
begins, where Monday is given the number 1 and Sun-
day is given the number 7.
@hour The observation hour as an integer. (9:30AM returns 9,
5:15PM returns 17.)
@minute The observation minute as an integer. (9:30PM returns 30.)
@second The observation second as an integer.
@hourf The observation time as a floating point hour. (9:30AM
returns 9.5, 5:15PM returns 17.25.)

In panel settings, you may use the additional keywords:

@firstmin The earliest of the first observations (computed across

cross-sections).
@firstmax The latest of the first observations.
@lastmin The earliest of the last observations.
@lastmax The latest of the last observations.

Examples
smpl 1955m1 1972m12

sets the workfile sample from 1955M1 to 1972M12.

smpl @first 1940 1946 1972 1975 @last

excludes observations (or years) 1941–1945 and 1973–1974 from the workfile sample.
smpl if union=1 and edu<=15

sets the sample to those observations where UNION takes the value 1 and EDU is less than
or equal to 15.
sample half @first @first+@obs(x)/2
smpl half
smpl if x>0
478—Chapter 12. Command Reference

smpl @all if x>0

The first line declares a sample object named HALF which includes the first half of the series
X. The second line sets the sample to HALF and the third line sets the sample to those obser-
vations in HALF where X is positive. The last line sets the sample to those observations
where X is positive over the full sample.

The sample may be set for intraday data using optional times after the dates. For example,
smpl 1/3/2000 10AM 12/30/2000 2PM

removes any observations before 10AM on 1/3/2000 and after 2PM on 12/30/2000.
smpl if @hourf<=9.5 and @hourf<=14.5

sets the sample to include only observations between and including 9:30AM and 2:30PM.
smpl if @minute=0 or @minute=30

selects only observations that appear on the half hour.

smpl if @weekday=1 and @hourf=10

sets the sample to include only observations that appear on Mondays at 10AM.

Cross-references
See “Samples” on page 129 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of samples in EViews.

See also Sample::set (p. 526) and Sample::sample (p. 525) in the Object Reference.

solve Interactive Use Commands

Solve the model.

solve finds the solution to a simultaneous equation model for the set of observations spec-
ified in the current workfile sample.

Syntax
solve(options) model_name

Note: when solve is used in a program (batch mode) models are always solved over the
workfile sample. If the model contains a solution sample, it will be ignored in favor of the
workfile sample.

You should follow the name of the model after the solve command. The default solution
method is dynamic simulation. You may modify the solution method as an option.
 sort—479

solve first looks for the specified model in the current workfile. If it is not present, solve
attempts to fetch a model file (.DBL) from the default directory or, if provided, the path
specified with the model name.

Options
solve can take any of the options available in Model::solveopt (p. 446) in the Object Ref-
erence.

Examples
solve mod1

solves the model MOD1 using the default solution method.

solve(m=500,e) nonlin2

solves the model NONLIN2 with an extended search of up to 500 iterations.

Cross-references
See Chapter 14. “Models,” on page 719 of the User’s Guide II for a discussion of models.

See also Model::model (p. 435), Model::msg (p. 436) and Model::solveopt (p. 446) in
the Object Reference.

sort Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Sort the current workfile page.

The sort command sorts all series in the workfile page on the basis of the values of one or
more of the series. For purposes of sorting, NAs are considered to be smaller than any other
value. By default, EViews will sort the series in ascending order. You may use options to
override the sort order.

EViews will first remove any workfile structures and then will sort the workfile using the
specified settings.

Syntax
sort(options) arg1 [arg2 arg3…]

List the name of the series or groups by which you wish to sort the workfile. If you list two
or more series, sort uses the values of the second series to resolve ties from the first series,
and values of the third series to resolve ties from the second, and so on.

Options
d sort in descending order.
480—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Examples
sort(d) inc

sorts all series in the workfile in order of the INC series with the highest value of INC first.
NAs in INC (if any) will be placed at the bottom.
sort gender race wage

sorts all series in the workfile in order of the values of GENDER from low to high, with ties
resolved by ordering on the basis of RACE, with further ties resolved by ordering on the
basis of WAGE.

Cross-references
See “Sorting a Workfile” on page 305 of the User’s Guide I.

spawn Programming Commands

Spawn a new process.

Syntax
spawn(options) filename [arg1 arg2 arg3…]

Follow the keyword with a filename indicating the process to spawn, and optional argu-
ments to be passed to the process.

Options
“n” or “normal” Create process in normal mode. The process will typically
create a maximized window and may wait for user input.
“m” or Create process in a minimized window. Note that some
“minimized” applications may not accept requests to run in minimized
mode.
“h” or “hidden” Create process in hidden mode (without a visible window).
Note that some applications may not accept requests to run
in hidden mode.
 stats—481

t=isecs Specifies the maximum time in seconds that EViews should

wait for the process to complete. If the timeout interval is
reached and the process has not completed, EViews will
generate an error. A timeout setting of zero may be used to
indicate that EViews should not wait for the spawned pro-
cess to complete. If no timeout option is provided, EViews
will wait indefinitely for the process to complete.
exit=icode Specifies the exit code that the process will return if it is
completed successfully. If the process returns an exit code
other than the specified value, EViews will generate an
error. If the exit code option is not specified, EViews will
not generate an error no matter what exit code is returned
by the process.
out = If an output table name is specified, EViews will capture
tablename any data written to standard output by the spawned pro-
cess and store it into a table object with the specified name
in the workfile. Note that this option will have no effect
unless either the minimized or hidden option is used and
the timeout value is not zero.

Examples
spawn "c:\program files\microsoft office\office11\excel.exe"
test.xls

starts a new Excel process, passing it the command line argument “test.xls”.

Cross-references
See shell (p. 472) for information on starting a Windows command shell.

stats Interactive Use Commands

Descriptive statistics.

Computes and displays a table of means, medians, maximum and minimum values, stan-
dard deviations, and other descriptive statistics of one or more series or a group of series.

stats creates an untitled group containing all of the specified series, and opens a statistics
view of the group. By default, if more than one series is given, the statistics are calculated
for the common sample.

Syntax
stats(options) ser1 [ser2 ser3 …]
482—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Options
p Print the stats table.

Examples
stats height weight age

opens an untitled group window displaying the histogram and descriptive statistics for the
common sample of the three series.

Cross-references
See “Descriptive Statistics & Tests” on page 376 and page 528 of the User’s Guide I for a dis-
cussion of the descriptive statistics views of series and groups.

See also boxplot (p. 907) and hist (p. 380).

statusline Programming Commands

Send text to the status line.

Displays a message in the status line at the bottom of the EViews main window. The mes-
sage may include text, control variables, and string variables.

Syntax
statusline message_string

Examples
statusline Iteration Number: !t

Displays the message “Iteration Number: !t” in the status line replacing “!t” with the current
value of the control variable in the program.

Cross-references
See Chapter 6. “EViews Programming,” on page 117 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion
and examples of programs, control variables and string variables.

See also commandcap (p. 327).

 stepls—483

stepls Interactive Use Commands

Estimation by stepwise least squares.

Syntax
stepls(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...] @ z1 z2 z3

Specify the dependent variable followed by a list of variables to be included in the regres-
sion, but not part of the search routine, followed by an “@” symbol and a list of variables to
be part of the search routine. If no included variables are required, simply follow the depen-
dent variable with an “@” symbol and the list of search variables.

Options
method = arg Stepwise regression method: “stepwise” (default), “uni”
(uni-directional), “swap” (swapwise), “comb” (combinato-
rial).
nvars = int Set the number of search regressors. Required for swapwise
and combinatorial methods, optional for uni-directional
and stepwise methods.
w=arg Weight series or expression.
Note: we recommend that, absent a good reason, you
employ the default settings Inverse std. dev. weights
(“wtype=istdev”) with EViews default scaling
(“wscale=eviews”) for backward compatibility with ver-
sions prior to EViews 7.
wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-
(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print estimation results.
484—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Stepwise and uni-directional method options

back Set stepwise or uni-directional method to run backward. If
omitted, the method runs forward.
tstat Use t-statistic values as a stopping criterion. (Default uses
p-values).
ftol=number Set forward stopping criterion value.
(default = 0.5)
btol=number Set backward stopping criterion value.
(default = 0.5)
fmaxstep=int Set the maximum number of steps forward.
(default = 1000)
bmaxstep=int Set the maximum number of steps backward.
(default = 1000)
tmaxstep=int Set the maximum total number of steps.
(default = 2000)

Swapwise method options

minr2 Use minimum R-squared increments. (default uses maxi-
mum R-squared increments.)

Combinatorial method options

force Suppress the warning message issued when a large number
of regressions will be performed.

Examples
stepls(method=comb,nvars=3) y c @ x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x7 x8

performs a combinatorial search routine to search for the three variables from the set of X1,
X2, ..., X8, yielding the largest R-squared in a regression of Y on a constant and those three
variables.

Cross-references
See “Stepwise Least Squares Regression,” beginning on page 49.

store Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Store objects in databases and databank files.

Stores one or more objects in the current workfile in EViews databases or individual data-
bank files on disk. The objects are stored under the name that appears in the workfile.
 store—485

Syntax
store(options) object_list

Follow the store command keyword with a list of object names (each separated by a space)
that you wish to store. The default is to store the objects in the default database. (This
behavior is a change from EViews 2 and earlier where the default was to store objects in indi-
vidual databank files).

You may precede the object name with a database name and the double colon “::” to indi-
cate a specific database. You can also specify the database name as an option in parenthe-
ses, in which case all objects without an explicit database name will be stored in the
specified database.

You may use wild card characters “?” (to match any single character) or “*” (to match zero
or more characters) in the object name list. All objects with names matching the pattern will
be stored.

You can optionally choose to store the listed objects in individual databank files. To store in
files other than the default path, you should include a path designation before the object
name.

Options
d=db_name Store to the specified database.
i Store to individual databank files.
1/2 Store series in [single / double] precision to save space.
o Overwrite object in database (default is to merge data,
where possible).
g=arg Group store from workfile to database: “s” (copy group
definition and series as separate objects), “t” (copy group
definition and series as one object), “d” (copy series only
as separate objects), “l” (copy group definition only).

If you do not specify the precision option (1 or 2), the global option setting will be used. See
“Database Storage Defaults” on page 823 of the User’s Guide II.

Examples
store m1 gdp unemp

stores the three objects M1, GDP, UNEMP in the default database.
store(d=us1) m1 gdp macro::unemp

stores M1 and GDP in the US1 database and UNEMP in the MACRO database.
store usdat::gdp macro::gdp
486—Chapter 12. Command Reference

stores the same object GDP in two different databases USDAT and MACRO.
store(1) cons*

stores all objects with names starting with CONS in the default database. The “1” option
uses single precision to save space.
store(i) m1 c:\data\unemp

stores M1 and UNEMP in individual databank files.

Cross-references
“Basic Data Handling” on page 119 of the User’s Guide I discusses exporting data in other
file formats. See Chapter 10. “EViews Databases,” on page 307 of the User’s Guide I for a dis-
cussion of EViews databases and databank files.

For additional discussion of wildcards, see Appendix A. “Wildcards,” on page 739 of the
User’s Guide I.

See also fetch (p. 355) and copy (p. 327).

switchreg Interactive Use Commands

Estimate a switching regression model (simple exogenous or Markov).

Syntax
switchreg(options) dependent_var list_of_varying_regressors [ @nv list_of_nonvary-
ing_regressors ] [ @prv list_of_probability_regressors ]

List the switchreg keyword, followed by options, then the dependent variable and a list of
the regressors with regime-varying coefficients, following optionally by the keyword @nv
and a list of regressors with regime-invariant coefficients, and by the keyword @prv and a
list of regressors that enter into the transition probability specification.

The dependent variable in switchreg may not be an expression. Dynamics may be speci-
fied by including lags of the dependent variable as regressors, or by specifying AR errors
using the AR keyword. The latter incorporate mean adjusted lags of the form specified by the
“Hamilton-model.”

Options
type=arg Type of switching: simple exogenous (“simple”), Markov
(“markov”).
nstates=integer Number of regimes.
(default=2)
 switchreg—487

heterr Allow for heterogeneous error variances across regimes

fprobmat=arg Name of fixed transition probability matrix allows for fixing
specific elements of the time-invariant transition matrix.
Leave NAs in elements of the matrix to estimate. The
 i, j  element of the matrix corresponds to
P  st  j st – 1  i  .
initprob=arg Method for determining initial Markov regime probabilities:
(default=“ergodic”) ergodic solution (“ergodic”), estimated parameter (“est”),
equal probabilities (“uniform”), user-specified probabilities
(“user”).
If “initprob=user” is specified, you will need to specify the
“userinit=” option.
userinit=arg Name of vector containing user-specified initial Markov
probabilities. The vector should have rows equal to the
number of states; we expand this to the size of the initial
lag state vector where necessary for AR specifications.
For use in specifications containing both the “type=mar-
kov” and “initprob=user” options.
startnum=arg Number of random starting values tried. The default is 0
(default=0 or 25) for user-supplied coefficients (option “s”) and 25 in all
other cases.

startiter=arg Number of iterations taken after each random start before

(default=10) comparing objective to determine final starting value.
searchnum=arg Number of post-estimation perturbed starting values tried.
(default=0)
searchstds=arg Number of standard deviations to use in perturbed starts (if
(default=1) “searchnum=”) is specified.
seed=positive_inte- Seed the random number generator.
ger from 0 to If not specified, EViews will seed random number genera-
2,147,483,647 tor with a single integer draw from the default global ran-
dom number generator.
rnd=arg Type of random number generator: improved Knuth gener-
(default=“kn” or ator (“kn”), improved Mersenne Twister (“mt”), Knuth’s
method previously set (1997) lagged Fibonacci generator used in EViews 4
using rndseed (“kn4”) L’Ecuyer’s (1999) combined multiple recursive
(p. 463) in the Com- generator (“le”), Matsumoto and Nishimura’s (1998)
mand and Program- Mersenne Twister used in EViews 4 (“mt4”).
ming Reference).

In addition to the specification options, there are options for estimation and covariance cal-
culation.
488—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Additional Options
optmethod = arg Optimization method: “bfgs” (BFGS); “newton” (Newton-
Raphson), “opg” or “bhhh” (OPG or BHHH), “legacy”
(EViews legacy).
BFGS is the default method.
optstep = arg Step method: “marquardt” (Marquardt); “dogleg” (Dog-
leg); “linesearch” (Line search).
Marquardt is the default method.
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
cov=arg Covariance method: “ordinary” (default method based on
inverse of the estimated information matrix), “huber” or
“white” (Huber-White sandwich method).
covinfo = arg Information matrix method: “opg” (OPG); “hessian”
(observed Hessian).
(Applicable when non-legacy “optmethod=”.)
nodf Do not degree-of-freedom correct the coefficient covariance
estimate.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
s Use the current coefficient values in “C” as starting values
(see also param (p. 453) of the Command and Program-
ming Reference).
s=number Specify a number between zero and one to determine start-
ing values as a fraction of EViews default values (out of
range values are set to “s=1”).
showopts / -showopts [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
estimation options in the estimation output.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print results.

Examples
switchreg(type=markov) y c @nv ar(1) ar(2) ar(3) ar(4)
 tabplace—489

estimates a Hamilton-type Markov switching regression model with four non-regime varying
autoregressive terms implying mean adjustment for the lagged endogenous.
switchreg(type=markov) y c @nv y(-1) y(-2) y(-3) y(-4)

specifies an alternate dynamic model in which the lags enter directly into the contemporane-
ous equation without mean adjustment.
switchreg(type=markov) yy_dalt c @nv ar(1) ar(2) ar(3) ar(4) @prv c
yy_ldalt

estimates a 2 state model with non-varying AR(4) and transition matrix probability regressor
YY_LDALT.

Cross-references
See Chapter 7. “Switching Regression,” beginning on page 461 of User’s Guide II for a
description of the switching regression methodology.

See also Equation::rgmprobs (p. 152), Equation::transprobs (p. 167), Equa-

tion::makergmprobs (p. 128) and Equation::maketransprobs (p. 129), all in the
Object Reference, for routines that allow you to work with the regime probabilities and tran-
sition probabilities.

tabplace Table Commands

Copies a portion of one table to the specified location in another table.

Syntax
tabplace(desttable,sourcetable,d1,s1,s2)
tabplace(desttable,sourcetable,dr1,dc1,sr1,sc1,sr2,sc2)

The tabplace command can be specified either using coordinates where columns are signi-
fied with a letter, and rows by a number (for example “A3” represents the first column, third
row), or by row number and column number.

The first syntax represents coordinate form, where sourcetable is the name of the table from
which to copy, s1 specifies the upper-left coordinate portion of the section of the source
table to be copied, s2 specifies the bottom-right coordinate, desttable specifies the name of
the table to copy to, and d1 specifies the upper-left coordinate of the destination table.

The second syntax represents the row/column number form, where sourcetable is the name
of the table from which to copy, sr1 specifies the source table upper row number, sc1 speci-
fies the source table left most column number, sr2 specifies the source table bottom row
number, sc2 specifies the source table right most column number. desttable specifies the
490—Chapter 12. Command Reference

name of the table to copy to, and dr1 and dr2 specify the upper and left most row and col-
umn of the destination table, respectively.

Examples
tabplace(table2,table1,"d1","B9","E17")

places a copy of the data from cell range B9 to E17 in TABLE1 to TABLE2 at cell D1
tabplace(table3,table1,10,3,9,2,17,5)

copies 8 rows of data (from row 9 to row 17) and 3 columns (from 2 to 5)of data in TABLE1
to the tenth row and 3rd column of TABLE3.

Cross-references
See also Table::copytable (p. 775).

For additional discussion of table commands see Chapter 3. “Working with Tables and
Spreadsheets,” on page 57 of the Command and Programming Reference.

See also Chapter 16. “Table and Text Objects,” on page 743 of the User’s Guide I for a discus-
sion and examples of table formatting in EViews.

testadd Interactive Use Commands

Test whether to add regressors to an estimated equation.

Tests the hypothesis that the listed variables were incorrectly omitted from an estimated
equation (only available for equations estimated by list). The test displays some combina-
tion of Wald and LR test statistics, as well as the auxiliary regression.

Syntax
testadd(options) arg1 [arg2 arg3 ...]

List the names of the series or groups of series to test for omission after the keyword. The
test is applied to the default equation, if defined.

Options
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print output from the test.

Examples
ls sales c adver lsales ar(1)
testadd gdp gdp(-1)

tests whether GDP and GDP(-1) belong in the specification for SALES. The commands:
 threshold—491

Cross-references
See “Coefficient Diagnostics” on page 164 of the User’s Guide II for further discussion.

See also testdrop (p. 491).

testdrop Interactive Use Commands

Test whether to drop regressors from a regression.

Tests the hypothesis that the listed variables were incorrectly included in the estimated
equation (only available for equations estimated by list). The test displays some combina-
tion of F and LR test statistics, as well as the test regression.

Syntax
testdrop(options) arg1 [arg2 arg3 ...]

List the names of the series or groups of series to test for omission after the keyword. The
test is applied to the default equation, if defined.

Options
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print output from the test.

Examples
ls sales c adver lsales ar(1)
testdrop adver

tests whether ADVER should be excluded from the specification for SALES. The commands:

Cross-references
See “Coefficient Diagnostics” on page 164 of the User’s Guide II for further discussion of
testing coefficients.

See also testadd (p. 490) and Equation::wald (p. 175) in the Object Reference.

threshold Interactive Use Commands

Estimation by threshold least squares, including threshold autoregression.

Syntax
threshold(options) y z1 [z2 z3 ...] [@nv x1 x2 x3 ...] @thresh t1 [t2 t3 ...]
492—Chapter 12. Command Reference

List the dependent variable first, followed by a list of the independent variables that have
coefficients that are allowed to vary across threshold, followed optionally by the keyword
@nv and a list of non-varying coefficient variables.

List a threshold variable or variables (for model selection) or a single integer or range pairs
after the keyword @thresh. The integer or range pairs indicate a self-exciting model with the
lagged dependent variable as the threshold variable.

Options
Threshold Options

method=arg Threshold selection method: “seqplus1” (sequential

(default=“seqplus1”) tests of single l  1 versus l thresholds), “seqall”
(sequential test of all possible l  1 versus l thresh-
olds), “glob” (tests of global l vs. no thresholds), “glob-
plus1” (tests of l  1 versus l globally determined
thresholds), “globinfo” (information criteria evalua-
tion)., “fixedseq” (fixed number of sequentially deter-
mined thresholds), “fixedglob” (fixed number of
globally determined thresholds), “user” (user-specified
thresholds)
nthresh=arg Number of thresholds for fixed number threshold selec-
(default=1) tion methods.
select=arg Sub-method setting (options depend on “method=”).
(1) if “method=glob”: Sequential ("seq") (default),
Highest significant ("high"), UDmax ("udmax"),
WDmax ("wdmax").
(2) if “method=globinfo”: Schwarz criterion (“bic” or
“sic”) (default), Liu-Wu-Zidek criterion (“lwz”).
trim=arg (default=5) Trimming percentage for determining minimum segment
size (5, 10, 15, 20, 25).
maxthresh=integer Maximum number of thresholds to allow (not applicable
(default=5) if “method=seqall”).
maxlevels=integer Maximum number of threshold levels to consider in
(default=5) sequential testing (applicable when
“method=sequall”).
breaks=arg User-specified threshold values. For use when
“method=user”.
 threshold—493

size=arg (default=5) Test sizes for use in sequential determination and final
test evaluation (10, 5, 2.5, 1) corresponding to 0.10,
0.05, 0.025, 0.01, respectively
heterr Assume regimes specific error distributions in variance
computation.
commondata Assume a common distribution for the data across seg-
ments (only applicable if original equation is estimated
with a robust covariance method, “heterr” is not speci-
fied).

General Options
w=arg Weight series or expression.
wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-
(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
cov=keyword Covariance type (optional): “white” (White diagonal
matrix), “hac” (Newey-West HAC).
nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing
coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
covlag=arg Whitening lag specification: integer (user-specified lag
(default=1) value), “a” (automatic selection).
covinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
covmaxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum
13
of T .
covkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),
(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
494—Chapter 12. Command Reference

covbw=arg Kernel Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed),

(default=“fixednw” “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-
) West automatic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
covnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric kernel bandwidth selection (if “covbw=newey-
west”).
covbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print basic estimation results.

Examples
threshold(method=fixedseq) ss_transf c ss_transf(-1 to -11)
@thresh 2

uses the fixed number of thresholds test to determine the optimal threshold in a model
regressing SS_TRANSF on the threshold variables C and SS_TRANSF(-1 to -11).
threshold(method=fixedseq) ss_transf c ss_transf(-1 to -11)
@thresh 1 5

uses the fixed number of thresholds test to determine the optimal threshold and does model
selection over lags of SS_TRANSF from SS_TRANSF(-1) to SS_TRANSF(-5).
threshold(method=user, threshold=7.44) ss_transf c @nv ss_transf(
-1 to -11) @thresh 2

estimates the model with one user-specified threshold value. In addition, the variables
SS_TRANSF(-1 to -11) are restricted to have common coefficients across the regimes.

Cross-references
See “Threshold Regression” on page 445 for a discussion of the various forms of threshold
models.

tic Programming Commands

Reset the timer.

Syntax
Command: tic

Examples
The sequence of commands:
tic
 toc—495

[some commands]
toc

resets the timer, executes commands, and then displays the elapsed time in the status line.
Alternatively:
tic
[some commands]
!elapsed = @toc

resets the time, executes commands, and saves the elapsed time in the control variable
!ELAPSED.

Cross-references
See also toc (p. 495) and @toc (p. 726).

toc Programming Commands

Display elapsed time (since timer reset) in seconds.

Syntax
Command: toc

Examples
The sequence of commands:
tic
[some commands]
toc

resets the timer, executes commands, and then displays the elapsed time in the status line.
The set of commands:
tic
[some commands]
!elapsed = @toc
[more commands]
toc

resets the time, executes commands, saves the elapsed time in the control variable
!ELAPSED, executes additional commands, and displays the total elapsed time in the status
line.

Cross-references
See also tic (p. 494) and @toc (p. 726).
496—Chapter 12. Command Reference

tsls Interactive Use Commands

Two-stage least squares.

Carries out estimation using two-stage least squares.

Syntax
tsls(options) y x1 [x2 x3 ...] @ z1 [z2 z3 ...]
tsls(options) specification @ z1 [z2 z3 ...]

To use the tsls command, list the dependent variable first, followed by the regressors, then
any AR or MA error specifications, then an “@”-sign, and finally, a list of exogenous instru-
ments. You may estimate nonlinear equations or equations specified with formulas by first
providing a specification, then listing the instrumental variables after an “@”-sign.

There must be at least as many instrumental variables as there are independent variables.
All exogenous variables included in the regressor list should also be included in the instru-
ment list. A constant is included in the list of instrumental variables even if not explicitly
specified.

Options
Non-Panel TSLS Options
nocinst Do not automatically include a constant as an instrument.
w=arg Weight series or expression.
Note: we recommend that, absent a good reason, you
employ the default settings Inverse std. dev. weights
(“wtype=istdev”) with EViews default scaling
(“wscale=eviews”) for backward compatibility with ver-
sions prior to EViews 7.
wtype=arg Weight specification type: inverse standard deviation (“ist-
(default=“istdev”) dev”), inverse variance (“ivar”), standard deviation
(“stdev”), variance (“var”).
wscale=arg Weight scaling: EViews default (“eviews”), average
(“avg”), none (“none”).
The default setting depends upon the weight type:
“eviews” if “wtype=istdev”, “avg” for all others.
z Turn off backcasting in ARMA models.
cov=keyword Covariance type (optional): “white” (White diagonal
matrix), “hac” (Newey-West HAC).
 tsls—497

nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing

coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
covlag=arg Whitening lag specification: integer (user-specified lag
(default=1) value), “a” (automatic selection).
covinfosel=arg Information criterion for automatic selection: “aic”
(default=“aic”) (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc” (Hannan-Quinn) (if
“lag=a”).
covmaxlag=integer Maximum lag-length for automatic selection (optional) (if
“lag=a”). The default is an observation-based maximum
13
of T .
covkern=arg Kernel shape: “none” (no kernel), “bart” (Bartlett, default),
(default=“bart”) “bohman” (Bohman), “daniell” (Daniel), “parzen”
(Parzen), “parzriesz” (Parzen-Riesz), “parzgeo” (Parzen-
Geometric), “parzcauchy” (Parzen-Cauchy), “quadspec”
(Quadratic Spectral), “trunc” (Truncated), “thamm”
(Tukey-Hamming), “thann” (Tukey-Hanning), “tparz”
(Tukey-Parzen).
covbw=arg Kernel Bandwidth: “fixednw” (Newey-West fixed),
(default=“fixednw” “andrews” (Andrews automatic), “neweywest” (Newey-
) West automatic), number (User-specified bandwidth).
covnwlag=integer Newey-West lag-selection parameter for use in nonpara-
metric kernel bandwidth selection (if “covbw=newey-
west”).
covbwint Use integer portion of bandwidth.
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=scalar Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values for equations specified by list with
AR or MA terms (see also param (p. 453) of the Com-
mand and Programming Reference).
498—Chapter 12. Command Reference

s=number Determine starting values for equations specified by list

with AR or MA terms. Specify a number between zero and
one representing the fraction of TSLS estimates computed
without AR or MA terms to be used. Note that out of range
values are set to “s=1”. Specifying “s=0” initializes coeffi-
cients to zero. By default EViews uses “s=1”.
Does not apply to coefficients for AR and MA terms which
are set to EViews determined default values.
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / -fastderiv [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
EViews will follow the global default.
showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and
-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default behavior is to use the “C” coefficient vec-
tor.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print basic estimation results.

Panel TSLS Options

cx=arg Cross-section effects. For fixed effects estimation, use
“cx=f”; for random effects estimation, use “cx=r”.
per=arg Period effects. For fixed effects estimation, use “cx=f”; for
random effects estimation, use “cx=r”.
wgt=arg GLS weighting: (default) none, cross-section system
weights (“wgt=cxsur”), period system weights
(“wgt=persur”), cross-section diagonal weighs
(“wgt=cxdiag”), period diagonal weights (“wgt=per-
diag”).
cov=arg Coefficient covariance method: (default) ordinary, White
cross-section system robust (“cov=cxwhite”), White
period system robust (“cov=perwhite”), White heteroske-
dasticity robust (“cov=stackedwhite”), Cross-section sys-
tem robust/PCSE (“cov=cxsur”), Period system
robust/PCSE (“cov=persur”), Cross-section heteroskedas-
ticity robust/PCSE (“cov=cxdiag”), Period heteroskedastic-
ity robust (“cov=perdiag”).
keepwgts Keep full set of GLS weights used in estimation with object,
if applicable (by default, only small memory weights are
saved).
 tsls—499

rancalc=arg Random component method: Swamy-Arora (“ran-

(default=“sa”) calc=sa”), Wansbeek-Kapteyn (“rancalc=wk”), Wallace-
Hussain (“rancalc=wh”).
nodf Do not perform degree of freedom corrections in computing
coefficient covariance matrix. The default is to use degree
of freedom corrections.
iter=arg Iteration control for GLS specifications: perform one weight
(default=“onec”) iteration, then iterate coefficients to convergence
(“iter=onec”), iterate weights and coefficients simultane-
ously to convergence (“iter=sim”), iterate weights and
coefficients sequentially to convergence (“iter=seq”), per-
form one weight iteration, then one coefficient step
(“iter=oneb”).
Note that random effects models currently do not permit
weight iteration to convergence.
unbalsur Compute SUR factorization in unbalanced data using the
subset of available observations for a cluster.
coef=arg Specify the name of the coefficient vector (if specified by
list); the default is to use the “C” coefficient vector.
s Use the current coefficient values in estimator coefficient
vector as starting values for equations specified by list with
AR terms (see also param (p. 453) of the Command and
Programming Reference).
s=number Determine starting values for equations specified by list
with AR terms. Specify a number between zero and one
representing the fraction of TSLS estimates computed with-
out AR terms to be used. Note that out of range values are
set to “s=1”. Specifying “s=0” initializes coefficients to
zero. By default EViews uses “s=1”.
Does not apply to coefficients for AR terms which are
instead set to EViews determined default values.
m=integer Set maximum number of iterations.
c=number Set convergence criterion. The criterion is based upon the
maximum of the percentage changes in the scaled coeffi-
cients. The criterion will be set to the nearest value
between 1e-24 and 0.2.
numericderiv / [Do / do not] use numeric derivatives only. If omitted,
-numericderiv EViews will follow the global default.
fastderiv / -fastderiv [Do / do not] use fast derivative computation. If omitted,
EViews will follow the global default.
500—Chapter 12. Command Reference

showopts / [Do / do not] display the starting coefficient values and

-showopts estimation options in the estimation output.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print estimation results.

Examples
tsls y_d c cpi inc ar(1) @ lw(-1 to -3)

estimates an UNTITLED equation using TSLS regression of Y_D on a constant, CPI, INC with
AR(1) using a constant, LW(-1), LW(-2), and LW(-3) as instruments.
param c(1) .1 c(2) .1
tsls(s,m=500) y_d=c(1)+inc^c(2) @ cpi

estimates a nonlinear TSLS model using a constant and CPI as instruments. The first line
sets the starting values for the nonlinear iteration algorithm.

Cross-references
See Chapter 20. “Additional Regression Tools,” on page 23 and “Two-Stage Least Squares”
on page 603 of the User’s Guide II for details on two-stage least squares estimation in single
equations and systems, respectively. “Instrumental Variables” on page 824 of the User’s
Guide II discusses estimation using pool objects, while “Instrumental Variables Estimation”
on page 858 of the User’s Guide II discusses estimation in panel structured workfiles.

See also ls (p. 410).

ubreak Interactive Use Commands

Andrews-Quandt test for unknown breakpoint.

Carries out the Andrews-Quandt test for parameter stability at some unknown breakpoint.

Syntax
ubreak(options) trimlevel @ x1 x2 x3

You must provide the level of trimming of the data. The level must be one of the following:
49, 48, 47, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, or 5. If the equation is specified by list and contains
no linear terms, you may specify a subset of the regressors to be tested for a breakpoint after
an “@” sign.
 unlink—501

Options
wfname = Store the individual Wald F-statistics into the series
series_name series_name.
lfname = Store the individual likelihood ratio F-statistics into the
series_name series series_name.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print the result of the test.

Examples
ls log(spot) c log(p_us) log(p_uk)
ubreak 15

regresses the log of SPOT on a constant, the log of P_US, and the log of P_UK, and then car-
ries out the Andrews-Quandt test, trimming 15% of the data from each end.

To test whether only the constant term and the coefficient on the log of P_US are subject to
a structural break, use:
ubreak @ c log(p_us)

Cross-references
See “Quandt-Andrews Breakpoint Test” on page 196 of the User’s Guide II for further discus-
sion.

See also Equation::chow (p. 60) and Equation::rls (p. 153) in the Object Reference.

unlink Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Break links and auto-updating series (formulae) in the specified series objects.

Syntax
unlink link_names

unlink converts link objects and auto-updating series to ordinary series or alphas. Follow
the keyword with a list of names of links and auto-updating series to be converted to ordi-
nary series (values). The list of links may include wildcard characters.

Examples
unlink gdp income

converts the link series GDP and INCOME to ordinary series.

unlink *
502—Chapter 12. Command Reference

breaks all links in the active workfile page.

Cross-references
See Chapter 8. “Series Links,” on page 223 of the User’s Guide I for a description of link
objects, and “Auto-Updating Series” on page 193 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of
auto-updating series. See also Link::link (p. 352) and Link::linkto (p. 353).

See also pageunlink (p. 450) and wfunlink (p. 533) for page and workfile based unlink-
ing, respectively.

uroot Interactive Use Commands

Carries out unit root tests on a single series, pool series, group of series, or panel structured
series.

The ordinary, single series unit root tests include Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), GLS
detrended Dickey-Fuller (DFGLS), Phillips-Perron (PP), Kwiatkowski, et. al. (KPSS), Elliot,
Rothenberg, and Stock (ERS) Point Optimal, or Ng and Perron (NP) tests for a unit root in
the series (or its first or second difference).

If used on a series in a panel structured workfile, or with a pool series, or group of series,
the procedure will perform panel unit root testing. The panel unit root tests include Levin,
Lin and Chu (LLC), Breitung, Im, Pesaran, and Shin (IPS), Fisher - ADF, Fisher - PP, and
Hadri tests on levels, or first or second differences.

Syntax
uroot(options) object_name

where object_name can be the name of a series, group or pool object.

Options
Basic Specification Options
You should specify the exogenous variables and order of dependent variable differencing in
the test equation using the following options:

const (default) Include a constant in the test equation.

trend Include a constant and a linear time trend in the test equa-
tion.
none Do not include a constant or time trend (only available for
the ADF and PP tests).
dif=integer Order of differencing of the series prior to running the test.
(default=0) Valid values are {0, 1, 2}.
 uroot—503

For backward compatibility, the shortened forms of these options, “c”, “t”, and “n”, are
presently supported. For future compatibility we recommend that you use the longer forms.

For ordinary (non-panel) unit root tests, you should specify the test type using one of the
following keywords:

adf (default) Augmented Dickey-Fuller.

dfgls GLS detrended Dickey-Fuller (Elliot, Rothenberg, and
Stock).
pp Phillips-Perron.
kpss Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt, and Shin.
ers Elliot, Rothenberg, and Stock (Point Optimal).
np Ng and Perron.

For panel testing, you may use one of the following keywords to specify the test:

sum (default) Summary of all of the panel unit root tests.

llc Levin, Lin, and Chu.
breit Breitung.
ips Im, Pesaran, and Shin.
adf Fisher - ADF.
pp Fisher - PP.
hadri Hadri.

Options for ordinary (non-panel) unit root tests

In addition, the following panel specific options are available:

hac=arg Method of estimating the frequency zero spectrum: “bt”

(Bartlett kernel), “pr” (Parzen kernel), “qs” (Quadratic
Spectral kernel), “ar” (AR spectral), “ardt (AR spectral -
OLS detrended data), “argls” (AR spectral - GLS detrended
data).
Applicable to PP, KPSS, ERS, and NP tests. The default set-
tings are test specific (“bt” for PP and KPSS, “ar” for ERS,
“argls” for NP).
504—Chapter 12. Command Reference

band = arg, Method of selecting the bandwidth: “nw” (Newey-West

b=arg automatic variable bandwidth selection), “a” (Andrews
(default=“nw”) automatic selection), number (user specified bandwidth).
Applicable to PP, KPSS, ERS, and NP tests when using ker-
nel sums-of-covariances estimators (where “hac=” is one
of {bt, pz, qs}).
lag=arg Method of selecting lag length (number of first difference
(default=“a”) terms) to be included in the regression: “a” (automatic
information criterion based selection), or integer (user-
specified lag length).
Applicable to ADF and DFGLS tests, and for the other tests
when using AR spectral density estimators (where “hac=”
is one of {ar, ardt, argls}).
infosel=arg Information criterion to use when computing automatic lag
(default=“sic”) length selection: “aic” (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc”
(Hannan-Quinn), “msaic” (Modified Akaike), “msic”
(Modified Schwarz), “mhqc” (Modified Hannan-Quinn).
Applicable to ADF and DFGLS tests, and for other tests
when using AR spectral density estimators (where “hac=”
is one of {ar, ardt, argls}).
maxlag=integer Maximum lag length to consider when performing auto-
matic lag length selection:
14
default= int( 12T  100  )
Applicable to ADF and DFGLS tests, and for other tests
when using AR spectral density estimators (where “hac=”
is one of {ar, ardt, argls}).

Options for panel unit root tests

The following panel specific options are available:

balance Use balanced (across cross-sections or series) data when

performing test.
hac=arg Method of estimating the frequency zero spectrum: “bt”
(default=“bt”) (Bartlett kernel), “pr” (Parzen kernel), “qs” (Quadratic
Spectral kernel).
Applicable to “Summary”, LLC, Fisher-PP, and Hadri tests.
band = arg, Method of selecting the bandwidth: “nw” (Newey-West
b=arg automatic variable bandwidth selection), “a” (Andrews
(default=“nw”) automatic selection), number (user-specified common
bandwidth), vector_name (user-specified individual band-
width).
Applicable to “Summary”, LLC, Fisher-PP, and Hadri tests.
 uroot—505

lag=arg Method of selecting lag length (number of first difference

terms) to be included in the regression: “a” (automatic
information criterion based selection), integer (user-speci-
fied common lag length), vector_name (user-specific indi-
vidual lag length).
If the “balance” option is used,

 1 if  T min  60 

default=  2 if  60  T min  100 

 4 if  T min  100 
where T min is the length of the shortest cross-section or
series, otherwise default=“a”.
Applicable to “Summary”, LLC, Breitung, IPS, and Fisher-
ADF tests.
infosel=arg Information criterion to use when computing automatic lag
(default=“sic”) length selection: “aic” (Akaike), “sic” (Schwarz), “hqc”
(Hannan-Quinn).
Applicable to “Summary”, LLC, Breitung, IPS, and Fisher-
ADF tests.
maxlag=arg Maximum lag length to consider when performing auto-
matic lag length selection, where arg is an integer (com-
mon maximum lag length) or a vector_name (individual
maximum lag length)
14
default= int(min i(12, T i  3)   T i  100  )
where T i is the length of the cross-section or series.

Other options
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print output from the test.

Examples
The command:
uroot(adf,const,lag=3,save=mout) gdp

performs an ADF test on the series GDP with the test equation including a constant term
and three lagged first-difference terms. Intermediate results are stored in the matrix MOUT.
uroot(dfgls,trend,infosel=sic) ip

runs the DFGLS unit root test on the series IP with a constant and a trend. The number of
lagged difference terms is selected automatically using the Schwarz criterion.
506—Chapter 12. Command Reference

uroot(kpss,const,hac=pr,b=2.3) unemp

runs the KPSS test on the series UNEMP. The null hypothesis is that the series is stationary
around a constant mean. The frequency zero spectrum is estimated using kernel methods
(with a Parzen kernel), and a bandwidth of 2.3.
uroot(np,hac=ardt,infosel=maic) sp500

runs the NP test on the series SP500. The frequency zero spectrum is estimated using the
OLS AR spectral estimator with the lag length automatically selected using the modified
AIC.

Cross-references
See “Unit Root Testing” on page 545 of the User’s Guide II for discussion of standard unit
root tests performed on a single series, and “Panel Unit Root Testing” on page 573 of the
User’s Guide II for discussion of unit roots tests performed on panel structured workfiles,
groups of series, or pooled data.

varest Interactive Use Commands

Specify and estimate a VAR or VEC.

Syntax
varest(options) lag_pairs endog_list [@ exog_list]
varest(method=ec, trend, n, options) lag_pairs endog_list [@ exog_list]

The first form of the command estimates a VAR. It is the interactive command equivalent of
using ls to estimate a named VAR object (see Var::ls (p. 852) in the Object Reference for
syntax and details).

The second form of the command estimates a VEC. It is the interactive command equivalent
of using ec to estimate a named VAR object (see Var::ec (p. 842) in the Object Reference
for syntax and details).

Examples
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
p Print output from the test.

Examples
varest 1 3 m1 gdp

estimates an unnamed unrestricted VAR with two endogenous variables (M1 and GDP), a
constant and 3 lags (lags 1 through 3).
 wfclose—507

varest(noconst) 1 3 ml gdp

estimates the same VAR, but with no constant term included in the specification.
varest(method=ec) 1 4 m1 gdp tb3

estimates a VEC with four lagged first differences, three endogenous variables and one
cointegrating equation using the default trend option “c”.
varest(method=ec,b,2) 1 2 4 4 tb1 tb3 tb6 @ d2 d3 d4

estimates a VEC with lagged first differences of order 1, 2, 4, three endogenous variables,
three exogenous variables, and two cointegrating equations using trend option “b”.

Cross-references
See also Var::var (p. 864), Var::ls (p. 852) and Var::ec (p. 842) in the Object Refer-
ence.

wfclose Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Close the active or specified workfile.

Syntax
wfclose(options) [name]

wfclose allows you to close the currently active workfile. You may optionally provide the
name of a workfile if you do not wish to close the active workfile. If more than one workfile
is found with the same name, the one most recently opened will be closed.

Options
noerr Do not error if a name is provided and no workfile with
that name is found.

Examples
wfclose

closes the workfile that was most recently active.

wfclose basics

closes the workfile named BASICS.

Cross-references
See also wfcreate (p. 510), wfopen (p. 515) and wfsave (p. 529).
508—Chapter 12. Command Reference

wfcompare Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Compare the contents of the current workfile or page with the contents of a different work-
file, page or database.

Syntax
wfcompare(options) targetspec baselinespec [@keep keeplist @drop droplist]

The command shows a list of any differences between the objects specified by targetspec
and those specified by baselinespec.

targetspec should be a specification of objects in the current workfile. It should take the form
of [page\]name_pattern, where the optional page\ may be used to specify a specific page of
the current workfile. name_pattern is used to list the objects you wish to compare. The typi-
cal form of targetspec is simply “*”, meaning to compare all objects in the current workfile.

baselinespec should be a specification of the list of objects to compare against. It should take
the form of [container::page\]name_pattern, where the optional container::page\ may be
used to specify the name of the workfile or database or page containing the objects to com-
pare against. name_pattern is used to list the objects you wish to compare against. If base-
linespec is blank, the version of the current workfile stored on disk is used as the baseline.

The optional @keep and @drop lists allow you to narrow further the list of objects in tar-
getspec by listing specific objects to compare (using @keep), or drop from the targetspec
(using @drop).

Options
tol=arg Specifies the threshold below which differences between
the target and baseline values should be ignored. The
threshold is specified as a fraction of the baseline value. For
example, if tol=1%, one or more observations in the target
object must differ from their values in the baseline object
by at least one percent for the objects to be reported as dif-
ferent. The default tolerance is 1e-15.
seterr Set an error if any differences exceeding the specified toler-
ance were found. This option may be useful in batch pro-
gramming to alert the user if a program causes
unexpectedly large changes to data values.
 wfcompare—509

list=key Selects which objects should be included in the output list.

key may be “a” (list objects that exist in the target but not
baseline), “d” (list objects that exist in the baseline, but not
target), “r” (list objects that exist in both but have different
objects types), “c” (list objects that exist in both but have
different frequencies), “m” (list objects that exist in both
but have values that differ by more than the tolerance), “u”
(list objects that exist in both and are unchanged), “s” (list
objects that exist in both but cannot be compared).
out=name Create a table object name, containing the comparison
table.
nohead Used with “out=” option to suppress the header row at the
top of the frozen table.

Examples
wfcompare

Compares the current workfile with the previously saved version of the workfile on disk. All
pages are compared.
wfcompare *_0 *_1

compares all in the current page with names ending with “_0” with all objects whose names
ends in “_1”.
wfcompare page1\* page2\*

compares all objects in page1 of the current workfile with those in page2.
wfcompare page1\* page2\* @drop GDP UNEMP

compares all objects except for the objects “GDP” and “UNEMP” in page1 of the current
workfile with those in page2.
wfcompare * myfile.wf1

compares the contents of the current page with the contents of the same page in the saved
workfile 'myfile.wf1'
wfcompare *\* jun2012.wf1

compares the contents of all pages in the current workfile in memory with all pages of the
saved workfile “Jun2012.WF1”.
wfcompare page2\x* test.edb::y*

compares all objects in page2 of the current workfile whose name begins with the letter “x”
to all objects in the database test.edb whose name begins with the letter “y”.
510—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Cross-references
See “Comparing Workfiles,” on page 88 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

wfcreate Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Create a new workfile. The workfile becomes the active workfile.

Syntax
wfcreate(options) frequency[(subperiod_opts)] start_date end_date [num_cross_sec-
tions]
wfcreate(options) u num_observations

The first form of the command may be used to create a new regular frequency workfile with
the specified frequency, start, and end date. Subperiod options may also be specified for
intraweek or intraday data. See table below for a complete description for each frequency. If
you include the optional num_cross_sections, EViews will create a balanced panel page
using integer identifiers for each of the cross-sections. Note that more complex panel struc-
tures may be created using pagestruct (p. 448). You may use the @now keyword to specify
the current date/time as either the start_date or end_date.

The second form of the command is used to create an unstructured workfile with the speci-
fied number of observations.

Options
wf=wf_name Optional name for the new workfile.
page=page_name Optional name for the page in the new workfile.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

Arguments
The frequency argument should be specified using one of the following forms:
Sec[opt], 5Sec[opt], Seconds in intervals of: 1, 5, 15, or 30 seconds, respec-
15Sec[opt], tively. You may optionally specify days of the week and
30Sec[opt] start and end times during the day using the opt parameter.
See explanation of subperiod options below.
 wfcreate—511

Min[opt], Minutes in intervals of: 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes,

2Min[opt], respectively. You may optionally specify days of the week
5Min[opt], and start and end times during the day using the opt
10Min[opt], parameter. See explanation of subperiod options below.
15Min[opt],
20Min[opt],
30Min[[opt]
H[opt], 2H[opt], Hours in intervals of: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 hours, respectively.
4H[opt], 6H[opt], You may optionally specify days of the week and start and
8H[opt], 12H[[opt] end times during the day using the opt parameter. See
explanation of subperiod options below.
D(s, e) Daily with arbitrary days of the week. Specify the first and
last days of the week with integers s and e, where Monday
is given the number 1 and Sunday is given the number 7.
(Note that the “D” option used to specify a 5-day frequency
prior to EViews 7.)
D5 or 5 Daily with five days per week, Monday through Friday.
D7 or 7 Daily with seven days per week.
W Weekly
T Ten-day (daily in intervals of ten).
F Fortnight
BM Bimonthly
M Monthly
Q Quarterly
S Semi-annual
A or Y Annual
2Y, 3Y, 4Y, 5Y, 6Y, Multi-year in intervals of: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 20
7Y, 8Y, 9Y, 10Y, 20Y years, respectively.

Subperiod options
EViews allows for setting the days of the week and the time of day within intraday frequen-
cies, which include seconds, minutes, and hours. For instance, you may specify hourly data
between 8AM and 5PM on Monday through Wednesday. These subperiod options should
follow the frequency keyword and be enclosed in parentheses.

To specify days of the week, use integers to indicate the days, where Monday is given the
number 1 and Sunday is given the number 7. For example,
wfcreate(wf=storehours) 30MIN(1-6, 8:00-17:00) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000
512—Chapter 12. Command Reference

indicates a half-hour frequency that includes Monday through Saturday from 8AM to 5PM.

To specify the start and end times, you may use either a 24 hour clock, including minutes
and optionally seconds, or a 12 hour clock using AM and PM. For example, each of the fol-
lowing represents 8PM: 8PM, 8:00PM, 8:00:00PM, 20:00, and 20:00:00. Thus, our previous
example could have been written:
wfcreate(wf=storehours) 30MIN(1-6, 8AM-5PM) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

If you wish to include all days of the week but would like to specify a start and end time, set
the date range to include all days and then specify the times. The day of the week parameter
appears first and is required if you wish to supply the time of day parameters. For instance,
wfcreate(wf=storehours) 30MIN(1-7, 10AM-3PM) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

indicates a half-hour frequency from 10AM to 3PM on all days of the week.

You may also include a time with the start and end date parameters to specify partial days at
the beginning or end of the workfile. For example,
wfcreate(wf=storehours) 30MIN(1-6, 8AM-5PM) 1/3/2000 10AM
12/30/2000 2PM

creates the same workfile as above, but limits the first day, 1/3/2000, to 10AM - 5PM and the
last day, 12/30/2000, to 8AM - 2PM.
Alignment options
Certain frequencies optionally allow you to specify the starting point of the frequency
period. Weekly and biweekly frequencies allow you to set the day at which the week begins.
Annual, semiannual and quarterly frequencies allow you to set the month at which the
quarter or year begins. Setting the starting period is important if you wish to use frequency
conversion to convert data from a different frequency.

To specify the start period, simply add an extra term to the frequency symbol, surrounded in
parenthesis, containing the day, or month, upon which you wish the frequency to start. For
example:
wfcreate w(monday) 2000 2010

creates a weekly workfile from 2000 to 2010, where each week starts on a Monday.
wfcreate a(july) 2001 2007

creates an annual workfile where each year starts in July.

Note that by default, if you do not specify a starting point, EViews will use the period of the
specified start_date. To make this difference concrete, consider the commands:
wfcreate w 2000 2010

and
 wfcreate—513

wfcreate w(monday) 2000 2010

Since January 1st, 2000 was a Saturday, the first command will create a weekly workfile
where each week starts on a Saturday, and the first observation in the workfile will span the
period January 1st-January 7th 2000.

The second command will force EViews to start weeks on a Monday, and thus the first
observation will actually span the period December 27th 1999 - January 2nd 2000.

Examples
wfcreate(wf=annual, page=myproject) a 1950 2005
wfcreate(wf=unstruct, page=undated) u 1000

creates two workfiles. The first is a workfile named ANNUAL containing a single page
named MYPROJECT containing annual data from 1950 to 2005; the second is a workfile
named UNSTRUCT containing a single page named UNDATED with 1000 unstructured
observations.
wfcreate(wf=griliches_grunfeld, page=annual) a 1935 1954 10

creates the GRILICHES_GRUNFELD workfile containing a page named “ANNUAL” with 10

cross-sections of annual data for the years 1935 to 1954.
wfcreate(wf=fourday) D(1,4) 1/3/2000 12/31/2000

specifies a daily workfile from January 3, 2000 to December 31, 2000, including only Mon-
day through Thursday. The day range may be delimited by either a comma or a dash, such
that
wfcreate(wf=fourday) D(1-4) 1/3/2000 12/31/2000

is equivalent to the previous command.

wfcreate(wf=captimes) 15SEC(2-4) 1/3/2000 12/30/2000

creates a workfile with 15 second intervals on Tuesday through Thursday only, from
1/3/2000 to 12/30/2000.

Cross-references
See “Creating a Workfile,” on page 42 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

See also pagecreate (p. 434) and pagedelete (p. 440).

514—Chapter 12. Command Reference

wfdetails Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Change the details displayed in the current workfile window, optionally freezing the
results into a table object in the current workfile.

Syntax
wfdetails(options) col1[(width1)] [col2[(width2)].....] @sort sortcol

Specify the names of the attribute columns you would like to display in the workfile details
view, optionally including the width of the column in parenthesis. Widths can be specified
with positive numbers, indicating a width in pixels, or negative numbers if you wish to spec-
ify the width in approximate characters.

You may use the @sort keyword at the end of the specification to indicate by which column
to sort the details view.

Options
out=name Create a table object name, containing the details view
table.
nohead Used with “out=” option to suppress the header row at the
top of the frozen table.

Examples
wfdetails start end

shows the workfile details view, with the attribute columns “start” and “end”.
wfdetails(out=dettable) start(30) end(-10)

shows the same view, but setting the “start” column’s width to 30 pixels, and the “end” col-
umn’s width to 10 characters, and freezing the view into a table called DETTABLE.
wfdetails start end @sortcol type

sorts the details view by object type.

Cross-references
See “Workfile Details Display,” on page 62 of User’s Guide I for discussion.
 wfopen—515

wfdir Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Change the workfile view to a simple object directory listing.

Syntax
wfdir

If the workfile is currently in details view, the wfdir command switches the view back to a
simple directory listing.

Cross-references
See “Workfile Details Display,” on page 62 of User’s Guide I for discussion.

wfopen Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Open a workfile. Reads in a previously saved workfile from disk, or reads the contents of a
foreign data source into a new workfile.

The opened workfile becomes the default workfile; existing workfiles in memory remain on
the desktop but become inactive.

Syntax
wfopen [path\]source_name
wfopen(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]
wfopen(options) source_description [table_description] [dataset_modifiers]

where path is an optional local path or URL.

There are three basic forms of the wfopen command:

• the first form is used by EViews native (“EViews and MicroTSP” on page 518) and
time series database formats (“Time Series Formats” on page 518).
• the second form used for raw data files—Excel, Lotus, ASCII text, and binary files
(“Raw Data Formats” on page 519).
• the third form is used with the remaining source formats, which we term dataset for-
mats, since the data have already been arranged in named variables (“Datasets” on
page 526).

(See “Options” on page 517 for a description of the supported source formats and corre-
sponding types.)
516—Chapter 12. Command Reference

In all three cases, the workfile or external data source should be specified as the first argu-
ment following the command keyword and options.
• In most cases, the external data source is a file, so the source_description will be the
description of the file (including local path or URL information, if necessary). Alterna-
tively, the external data source may be the output from a web server, in which case
the URL should be provided. Similarly, when reading from an ODBC query, the ODBC
DSN (data source name) should be used as the source_description.
If the source_description contains spaces, it must be enclosed in (double) quotes.

For raw and dataset formats, you may use table_description to provide additional informa-
tion about the data to be read:
• Where there is more than one table that could be formed from the specified external
data source, a table_description may be provided to select the desired table. For exam-
ple, when reading from an Excel file, an optional cell range may be provided to specify
which data are to be read from the spreadsheet. When reading from an ODBC data
source, a SQL query or table name must be used to specify the table of data to be
read.
• In raw data formats, the table_description allows you to provide additional informa-
tion regarding names and descriptions for variables to be read, missing values codes,
settings for automatic format, and data range subsetting.
• When working with text or binary files, the table_description must be used to describe
how to break up the file into columns and rows.

For raw and dataset formats, you may use the dataset_modifiers specification to select the
set of variables, maps (value labels), and observations to be read from the source data. The
dataset_modifiers consists of the following keyword delimited lists:
[@keep keep_list] [@drop drop_list] [@keepmap keepmap_list] [@dropmap drop-
map_list] [@selectif condition]
• The @keep and @drop keywords, followed by a list of names and patterns, are used to
specify variables to be retain or dropped. Similarly, the @keepmap and @dropmap
keywords followed by lists of name patterns controls the reading of value labels. The
keyword @selectif, followed by an if condition (e.g., “if age>30 and gender=1”)
may be used to select a subset of the observations in the original data. By default, all
variables, value labels, and observations are read.

By default, all variables, maps and observations in the source file will be read.
 wfopen—517

Options
type=arg / t=arg Optional type specification: (see table below).
Note that ODBC support is provided only in the EViews
Enterprise Edition.
link Link the object to the source data so that the values can be
refreshed at a later time.
wf=wf_name Optional name for the new workfile.
page=page_name Optional name for the page in the new workfile.
prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

For the most part, you should not need to specify a “type=” option as EViews will automat-
ically determine the type from the filename.

The following table summaries the various source formats and types, along with the corre-
sponding “type=” keywords:

Source Type Option Keywords

Access dataset “access”
Aremos-TSD time series database “a”, “aremos”, “tsd”
Binary raw data “binary”
dBASE dataset “dbase”
Excel (through 2003) raw data “excel”
Excel 2007 (xml) raw data “excelxml”
EViews Workfile native ---
Gauss Dataset dataset “gauss”
GiveWin/PcGive time series database “g”, “give”
HTML raw data “html”
Lotus 1-2-3 raw data “lotus”
ODBC Dsn File dataset “dsn”
ODBC Query File dataset “msquery”
ODBC Data Source dataset “odbc”
MicroTSP Workfile native “dos”, “microtsp”
MicroTSP Mac Workfile native “mac”
RATS 4.x time series database “r”, “rats”
RATS Portable / TROLL time series database “l”, “trl”
SAS Program dataset “sasprog”
518—Chapter 12. Command Reference

SAS Transport dataset “sasxport”

SPSS dataset “spss”
SPSS Portable dataset “spssport”
Stata dataset “stata”
Text / ASCII raw data “text”
TSP Portable time series database “t”, “tsp”

EViews and MicroTSP

The syntax for EViews and MicroTSP files is:
wfopen [path\]workfile_name

where path is an option local path or URL.

Examples
wfopen c:\data\macro

loads a previously saved EViews workfile “Macro.WF1” from the “data” directory in the C
drive.
wfopen c:\tsp\nipa.wf

loads a MicroTSP workfile “Nipa.WF”. If you do not use the workfile type option, you
should add the extension “.WF” to the workfile name when loading a DOS MicroTSP work-
file. An alternative method specifies the type explicitly:
wfopen(type=dos) nipa

The command:
wfopen “<mydropboxdrive>”\folder\nipa.wf1”
will open the file from the cloud location MYDROPBOXDRIVE.
Time Series Formats
The syntax for time series format files (Aremos-TSD, GiveWin/PcGive, RATS, RATS Porta-
ble/TROLL, TSP Portable) is:
wfopen(options) [path\]source_name

where path is an optional local path or URL.

If the source files contain data of multiple frequencies, the resulting workfile will be of the
lowest frequency, and higher frequency data will be converted to this frequency. If you wish
to obtain greater control over the workfile creation, import, or frequency conversion pro-
cesses, we recommend that you open the file using dbopen (p. 344) and use the database
tools to create your workfile.
 wfopen—519

Aremos Example
wfopen dlcs.tsd
wfopen(type=aremos) dlcs.tsd

open the AREMOS-TSD file DLCS.

GiveWin/PcGive Example
wfopen "f:\project\pc give\data\macrodata.in7"
wfopen(type=give) "f:\project\pc give\data\macrodata"

open the PcGive file MACRODATA.

Rats Examples
wfopen macrodata.rat"
wfopen macrodata.trl

read the native RATS 4.x file MACRODATA.RAT and the RATS Portable/TROLL file
“Macrodata.TRL”.

TSP Portable Example

wfopen macrodata.tsp

reads the TSP portable file “Macrodata.TSP”.

Raw Data Formats

The command for reading raw data (Excel 97-2003, Excel 2007, HTML, ASCII text, Binary,
Lotus 1-2-3) is
wfopen(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]
[@keep keep_list] [@drop drop_list] [@keepmap keepmap_list] [@dropmap
dropmap_list] [@selectif condition]

where the syntax of the table_description and variables_description differs slightly depend-
ing on the type of file.

Excel and Lotus Files

The syntax for reading Excel and Lotus files is:
wfopen(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

The following table_description elements may be used when reading Excel and Lotus data:
• “range = arg”, where arg is a range of cells to read from the Excel workbook, follow-
ing the standard Excel format [worksheet!][topleft_cell[:bottomright_cell]].
If the worksheet name contains spaces, it should be placed in single quotes. If the
worksheet name is omitted, the cell range is assumed to refer to the currently active
sheet. If only a top left cell is provided, a bottom right cell will be chosen automati-
520—Chapter 12. Command Reference

cally to cover the range of non-empty cells adjacent to the specified top left cell. If
only a sheet name is provided, the first set of non-empty cells in the top left corner of
the chosen worksheet will be selected automatically. As an alternative to specifying
an explicit range, a name which has been defined inside the excel workbook to refer
to a range or cell may be used to specify the cells to read.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to read files where the
series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
• “namepos = [first|last|all|none]”, which row(s) of the column headers should be
used to form the column name. The setting “first” refers to first line, “last” is last line,
“all” is all lines and “none” is no lines. The remaining column header rows will be
used to form the column description. The default setting is “all”.
• “Nonames”, the file does not contain a column header (same as “colhead=0”).
• “names=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified column names, where arg1, arg2, … are
names of the first series, the second series, etc. when names are provided, these over-
ride any names that would otherwise be formed from the column headers.
• “descriptions=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified descriptions of the series. If
descriptions are provided, these override any descriptions that would otherwise be
read from the data.
• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection).
• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int| all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the table of data (default is 1).
This option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the table of data (default is last
observation of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which
may be useful for testing.

Excel Examples
wfopen "c:\data files\data.xls"
 wfopen—521

loads the active sheet of DATA.XLS into a new workfile.

wfopen(page=mypage) "c:\data files\data.xls" range="GDP data"
@drop X

reads the data contained in the “GDP data” sheet of “Data.XLS” into the MYPAGE page of a
new workfile. The data for the series X is dropped, and the name of the new workfile page is
“GDP”.

To load the Excel file containing US Macro Quarterly data from Stock and Watson’s Introduc-
tion to Econometrics you may use the command:
wfopen
http//wps.aw.com/wps/media/objects/3254/3332253/datasets2e/dat
asets/USMacro_Quarterly.xls

which will load the Excel file directly into EViews from the publisher’s website (as of
08/2009).

HTML Files
The syntax for reading HTML pages is:
wfopen(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

The following table_description elements may be used when reading an HTML file or page:
• “table = arg”, where arg specifies which table to read in an HTML file/page contain-
ing multiple tables.
When specifying arg, you should remember that tables are named automatically fol-
lowing the pattern “Table01”, “Table02”, “Table03”, etc. If no table name is specified,
the largest table found in the file will be chosen by default. Note that the table num-
bering may include trivial tables that are part of the HTML content of the file, but
would not normally be considered as data tables by a person viewing the page.
• “skip = int”, where int is the number of rows to discard from the top of the HTML
table.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to import files where
the series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
• “namepos = [first|last|all|none]”, which row(s) of the column headers should be
used to form the column name. The setting “first” refers to first line, “last” is last line,
“all” is all lines and “none” is no lines. The remaining column header rows will be
used to form the column description. The default setting is “all”.
• “nonames”, the file does not contain a column header (same as “colhead=0”).
522—Chapter 12. Command Reference

• “names=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified column names, where arg1, arg2, … are

names of the first series, the second series, etc. when names are provided, these over-
ride any names that would otherwise be formed from the column headers.
• “descriptions=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified descriptions of the series. If
descriptions are provided, these override any descriptions that would otherwise be
read from the data.
• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection).
• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int|all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the table of data (default is 1).
This option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the table of data (default is last
observation of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which
may be useful for testing.

HTML Examples
wfopen "c:\data.html"

loads into a new workfile the data located on the HTML file “Data.HTML” located on the C:\
drive
wfopen(type=html)
"http://www.tradingroom.com.au/apps/mkt/forex.ac" colhead=3,
namepos=first

loads into a new workfile the data with the given URL located on the website site
“http://www.tradingroom.com.au”. The column header is set to three rows, with the first
row used as names for columns, and the remaining two lines used to form the descriptions.

Text and Binary Files

The syntax for reading text or binary files is:
wfopen(options) source_description [table_description] [variables_description]

If a table_description is not provided, EViews will attempt to read the file as a free-format
text file. The following table_description elements may be used when reading a text or
binary file:
 wfopen—523

• “ftype = [ascii|binary]” specifies whether numbers and dates in the file are stored in
a human readable text (ASCII), or machine readable (Binary) form.
• “rectype = [crlf|fixed|streamed]” describes the record structure of the file:
“crlf”, each row in the output table is formed using a fixed number of lines from
the file (where lines are separated by carriage return/line feed sequences). This is
the default setting.
“fixed”, each row in the output table is formed using a fixed number of charac-
ters from the file (specified in “reclen= arg”). This setting is typically used for
files that contain no line breaks.
“streamed”, each row in the output table is formed by reading a fixed number of
fields, skipping across lines if necessary. This option is typically used for files that
contain line breaks, but where the line breaks are not relevant to how rows from
the data should be formed.
• “reclines =int”, number of lines to use in forming each row when “rectype=crlf”
(default is 1).
• “reclen=int”, number of bytes to use in forming each row when “rectype=fixed”.
• “recfields=int”, number of fields to use in forming each row when “rec-
type=streamed”.
• “skip=int”, number of lines (if rectype is “crlf”) or bytes (if rectype is not “crlf”) to
discard from the top of the file.
• “comment=string“, where string is a double-quoted string, specifies one or more
characters to treat as a comment indicator. When a comment indicator is found,
everything on the line to the right of where the comment indicator starts is ignored.
• “emptylines=[keep|drop]”, specifies whether empty lines should be ignored
(“drop”), or treated as valid lines (“keep”) containing missing values. The default is
to ignore empty lines.
• “tabwidth=int”, specifies the number of characters between tab stops when tabs are
being replaced by spaces (default=8). Note that tabs are automatically replaced by
spaces whenever they are not being treated as a field delimiter.
• “fieldtype=[delim|fixed|streamed|undivided]”, specifies the structure of fields within
a record:
“Delim”, fields are separated by one or more delimiter characters
“Fixed”, each field is a fixed number of characters
“Streamed”, fields are read from left to right, with each field starting immediately
after the previous field ends.
“Undivided”, read entire record as a single series.
524—Chapter 12. Command Reference

• “quotes=[single|double|both|none]”, specifies the character used for quoting fields,

where “single” is the apostrophe, “double” is the double quote character, and “both”
means that either single or double quotes are allowed (default is “both”). Characters
contained within quotes are never treated as delimiters.
• “singlequote“, same as “quotes = single”.
• “delim=[comma|tab|space|dblspace|white|dblwhite]”, specifies the character(s) to
treat as a delimiter. “White” means that either a tab or a space is a valid delimiter. You
may also use the abbreviation “d=” in place of “delim=”.
• “custom="arg1"”, specifies custom delimiter characters in the double quoted string.
Use the character “t” for tab, “s” for space and “a” for any character.
• “mult=[on|off]”, to treat multiple delimiters as one. Default value is “on” if “delim”
is “space”, “dblspace”, “white”, or “dblwhite”, and “off” otherwise.
• “endian = [big|little]”, selects the endianness of numeric fields contained in binary
files.
• “string = [nullterm|nullpad|spacepad]”, specifies how strings are stored in binary
files. If “nullterm”, strings shorter than the field width are terminated with a single
zero character. If “nullpad”, strings shorter than the field width are followed by extra
zero characters up to the field width. If “spacepad”, strings shorter than the field
width are followed by extra space characters up to the field width.
• “byrow”, transpose the incoming data. This option allows you to import files where
the series are contained in rows (one row per series) rather than columns.

A central component of the table_description element is the format statement. You may
specify the data format using the following table descriptors:
• Fortran Format:
fformat=([n1]Type[Width][.Precision], [n2]Type[Width][.Precision], ...)
where Type specifies the underlying data type, and may be one of the following,
I - integer
F - fixed precision
E - scientific
A - alphanumeric
X - skip
and n1, n2, ... are the number of times to read using the descriptor (default=1). More
complicated Fortran compatible variations on this format are possible.
• Column Range Format:
rformat="[n1]Type[Width][.Precision], [n2]Type[Width][.Precision], ...)"
 wfopen—525

where optional type is “$” for string or “#” for number, and n1, n2, n3, n4, etc. are the
range of columns containing the data.
• C printf/scanf Format:
cformat="fmt"
where fmt follows standard C language (printf/scanf) format rules.

The optional variables_description may be formed using the elements:

• “colhead=int”, number of table rows to be treated as column headers.
• “namepos = [first|last|all|none]”, which row(s) of the column headers should be
used to form the column name. The setting “first” refers to first line, “last” is last line,
“all” is all lines and “none” is no lines. The remaining column header rows will be
used to form the column description. The default setting is “all”.
• “nonames”, the file does not contain a column header (same as “colhead=0”).
• “names=("arg1", "arg2",…)”, user specified column names, where arg1, arg2, … are
names of the first series, the second series, etc. when names are provided, these over-
ride any names that would otherwise be formed from the column headers.
• “descriptions=("arg1", "arg2",…)”, user specified descriptions of the series. If
descriptions are provided, these override any descriptions that would otherwise be
read from the data.
• “types=("arg1","arg2",…)”, user specified data types of the series. If types are pro-
vided they will override the types automatically detected by EViews. You may use any
of the following format keywords: “a” (character data), “f” (numeric data), “d”
(dates), or “w”(EViews automatic detection).
• “na="arg1"”, text used to represent observations that are missing from the file. The
text should be enclosed on double quotes.
• “scan=[int|all]”, number of rows of the table to scan during automatic format detec-
tion (“scan=all” scans the entire file).
• “firstobs=int”, first observation to be imported from the table of data (default is 1).
This option may be used to start reading rows from partway through the table.
• “lastobs = int”, last observation to be read from the table of data (default is last
observation of the file). This option may be used to read only part of the file, which
may be useful for testing.

Text and Binary File Examples (.txt, .csv, etc.)

wfopen c:\data.csv skip=5, names=(gdp, inv, cons)

reads “Data.CSV” into a new workfile page, skipping the first 5 rows and naming the series
GDP, INV, and CONS.
526—Chapter 12. Command Reference

wfopen(type=text) c:\date.txt delim=comma

loads the comma delimited data DATE.TXT into a new workfile.

wfopen(type=raw) c:\data.txt skip=8, rectype=fixed,
format=(F10,X23,A4)

loads a text file with fixed length data into a new workfile, skipping the first 8 rows. The
reading is done as follows: read the first 10 characters as a fixed precision number, after that,
skip the next 23 characters (X23), and then read the next 4 characters as strings (A4).
wfopen(type=raw) c:\data.txt rectype=fixed, format=2(4F8,2I2)

loads the text file as a workfile using the specified explicit format. The data will be a repeat
of four fixed precision numbers of length 8 and two integers of length 2. This is the same
description as “format=(F8,F8,F8,F8,I2,I2,F8,F8,F8,F8,I2,I2)”.
wfopen(type=raw) c:\data.txt rectype=fixed, rformat="GDP 1-2 INV 3
CONS 6-9"

loads the text file as a workfile using column range syntax. The reading is done as follows:
the first series is located at the first and second character of each row, the second series
occupies the 3rd character, the third series is located at character 6 through 9. The series will
named GDP, INV, and CONS.

Datasets
The syntax for reading data from the remaining sources (Access, Gauss, ODBC, SAS pro-
gram, SAS transport, SPSS, SPSS portable, Stata) is:
wfopen(options) source_description table_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop
drop_list] [@selectif condition]

Note that for this purpose we view Access and ODBC as datasets.

ODBC or Microsoft Access

The syntax for reading from an ODBC or Microsoft Access data source is
wfopen(options) source_description table_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop
drop_list] [@selectif condition]

When reading from an ODBC or Microsoft Access data source, you must provide a table_de-
scription to indicate the table of data to be read. You may provide this information in one of
two ways: by entering the name of a table in the data source, or by including an SQL query
statement enclosed in double quotes.

Note that ODBC support is provided only in the EViews Enterprise Edition.

ODBC Examples
wfopen c:\data.dsn CustomerTable
 wfopen—527

opens in a new workfile the table named CUSTOMERTABLE from the ODBC database
described in the DATA.DSN file.
wfopen(type=odbc) "my server" "select * from customers where id>30"
@keep p*

opens in a new workfile with SQL query from database using the server “MY SERVER”,
keeping only variables that begin with P. The query selects all variables from the table CUS-
TOMERS where the ID variable takes a value greater than 30.

Other Dataset Types

The syntax for reading data from the remaining sources (Gauss, SAS program, SAS trans-
port, SPSS, SPSS portable, Stata) is:
wfopen(options) source_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop drop_list] [@selectif
condition]

Note that no table_description is required.

SAS Program Example

If a data file, “Sales.DAT”, contains the following space delimited data:
AZ 110 1002
CA 200 2003
NM 90 908
OR 120 708
WA 113 1123
UT 98 987

then the following SAS program file can be read by EViews to open the data:
Data sales;
infile sales.dat';
input state $ price sales;
run;

SAS Transport Examples

wfopen(type=sasxport) c:\data.xpt

loads a SAS transport file “data.XPT” into a new workfile.

wfopen c:\inst.sas

creates a workfile by reading from external data using the SAS program statements in
“Inst.SAS”. The program may contain a limited set of SAS statements which are commonly
used in reading in a data file.
528—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Stata Examples
To load a Stata file “Data.DTA” into a new workfile, dropping maps MAP1 and MAP2, you
may enter:
wfopen c:\data.dta @dropmap map1 map2

To download the sports cards dataset from Stock and Watson’s Introduction to Econometrics
you may use the command:
wfopen
http://wps.aw.com/wps/media/objects/3254/3332253/datasets2e/da
tasets/Sportscards.dta

which will load the Stata dataset directly into EViews from the publisher’s website (as of
08/2009).

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of workfiles.

See also pageload (p. 440), read (p. 458), fetch (p. 355), wfsave (p. 529), wfclose
(p. 507) and pagesave (p. 442).

wfrefresh Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Refresh all links and auto-series in the active workfile. Primarily used to refresh links that
use external database data.

Syntax
wfrefresh

Examples
wfrefresh

Cross-references
See “Creating a Database Link” on page 366 and “Understanding the Cache” on page 367 of
the User’s Guide I.

See also Chapter 8. “Series Links,” on page 223 of the User’s Guide I for a description of link
objects, and “Auto-Updating Series” on page 193 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of
auto-updating series.

See also pagerefresh (p. 441), Link::link (p. 352) and Link::linkto (p. 353) in the
Object Reference.
 wfsave—529

wfsave Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Save the default workfile as an EViews workfile (.wf1 file) or as a foreign file or data
source.

Syntax
wfsave(options) [path\]filename
wfsave(options) source_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop drop_list] [@keepmap
keepmap_list] [@dropmap dropmap_list] [@smpl smpl_spec]
wfsave(options) source_description table_description [@keep keep_list] [@drop
drop_list] [@keepmap keepmap_list] [@dropmap dropmap_list] [@smpl
smpl_spec]

saves the active workfile in the specified directory using filename. By default, the workfile is
saved as an EViews workfile, but options may be used to save all or part of the active page in
a foreign file or data source. See wfopen (p. 515) for details on the syntax for source_descrip-
tions and table_descriptions. Note, in particular, that you may use the byrow table_descrip-
tion for Excel 2007 files to instruct EViews to save the series by row (instead of the standard
by column).

Options
Workfile Save Options
1 Save using single precision.
2 Save using double precision.
c Save compressed workfile (not compatible with EViews
versions prior to 5.0).

The default workfile save settings use the global options.

530—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Foreign Source Save Options

type=arg, t=arg Optional type specification: (see table below).
Note that ODBC support is provided only in the EViews
Enterprise Edition.
mode=arg Specify whether to create a new file, overwrite an existing
file, or update an existing file. arg may be “create” (create
new file only; error on attempt to overwrite) or “update”
(only available for Excel files, and only if Excel is installed)
(update an existing file, only overwriting the area specified
by the range= table_description). If the “mode=” option is
not used, EViews will create a new file, unless the file
already exists in which case it will overwrite it.
maptype=arg Write selected maps as: numeric (“n”), character (“c”),
both numeric and character (“b”).
nomapval Do not write mapped values for series with attached value
labels (the default is to write the mapped values if avail-
able).
noid Do not write observation identifiers to foreign data files (by
default, EViews will include a column with the date or
observation identifier).
nonames Do not write variable names (only applicable to file for-
mats that support writing raw data without variable
names).
na=arg String value to be used for NAs.

The following table summaries the various formats along with the corresponding “type=”
keywords:

Option Keywords
Access “access”
Aremos-TSD “a”, “aremos”, “tsd”
Binary “binary”
dBASE “dbase”
Excel (through 2003) “excel”
Excel 2007 (xml) “excelxml”
EViews Workfile ---
Gauss Dataset “gauss”
GiveWin/PcGive “g”, “give”
HTML “html”
 wfsave—531

Lotus 1-2-3 “lotus”

ODBC Dsn File “dsn”
ODBC Data Source “odbc”
MicroTSP Workfile “dos”, “microtsp”
MicroTSP Mac Workfile “mac”
RATS “r”, “rats”
RATS Portable / TROLL “l”, “trl”
SAS Program “sasprog”
SAS Transport “sasxport”
SPSS “spss”
SPSS Portable “spssport”
Stata “stata”
Text / ASCII “text”
TSP Portable “t”, “tsp”

Note that if you wish to save your Excel 2007 XML file with macros enabled, you should
specify an explicit filename extension of “.XLSM”.

Examples
wfsave new_wf

saves the current EViews workfile as “New_wf.WF1” in the default directory.

wfsave "c:\documents and settings\my data\consump"
saves the current workfile as “Consump.WF1” in the specified path.
wfsave macro @keep gdp unemp

saves the two series GDP and UNEMP in a separate workfile, “macro.WF1” in the default
directory.
wfsave macro @dropmap gdp*

saves all of the series in the current workfile, other than those that match the name pattern
“gdp*” in a workfile, “macro.WF1” in the default directory.
wfsave(type=excel) macro @keep gdp unemp

saves the two series GDP and UNEMP as an Excel 2003 file, “macro.xls” in the default direc-
tory.
wfsave(type=excelxml, mode=update) macro.xlsx range="Sheet2!a1"
byrow @keep gdp unemp
532—Chapter 12. Command Reference

will save the two series GDP and UNEMP into the existing Excel 2007 file “macro.xlsx”,
specifying that the series should be written by row, starting in cell A1 on sheet Sheet2.

To save the latter file in a macro-enabled Excel 2007 file, you should specify the explicit file-
name extension “.XLSM”:
wfsave(type=excelxml, mode=update) macro.xlsm range="Sheet2!a1"
byrow @keep gdp unemp

The command:
wfsave “<mydropboxdrive>”\folder\nipa.wf1”
will save the file to the cloud location MYDROPBOXDRIVE.
Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of work-
files.

See also pagesave (p. 442), wfopen (p. 515), and pageload (p. 440).

wfselect Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Make the selected workfile page the active workfile page.

Syntax
wfselect wfname[\pgname]

where wfname is the name of a workfile that has been loaded into memory. You may option-
ally provide the name of a page in the new default workfile that you wish to be made active.

Examples
wfselect myproject
wfselect myproject\page2

both change the default workfile to MYPROJECT. The first command uses the default active
page, while the second changes the page to PAGE2.

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of work-
files.

See also pageselect (p. 444).

 wfunlink—533

wfstats Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Display the workfile statistics and summary view.

Syntax
wfstats [wfname]

displays the workfile statistics and summary view showing, for each page of the specified
workfile, the structure of the page, and a summary of the objects contained in the page. The
specified workfile must be open. If no workfile is specified, wfstats will display results for
the active workfile.

Examples
wfstats

displays the statistics view for the active workfile.

wfstats wf2

displays the statistics for the open workfile WF2.

Cross-references
See “Workfile Summary View” on page 75 of the User’s Guide I for a description of the
workfile statistics and summary view.

wfunlink Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Break links in all link objects and auto-updating series (formulae) in the active workfile.

You should use some caution with this command as you will not be prompted before the
links and auto-updating series are converted.

Syntax
wfunlink

Examples
wfunlink

breaks links in all pages of the active workfile

534—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Cross-references
See Chapter 8. “Series Links,” on page 223 of User’s Guide I for a description of link objects,
and “Auto-Updating Series” on page 193 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of auto-updating
series.

See also Link::link (p. 352) and Link::linkto (p. 353) in the Object Reference.

See also pageunlink (p. 450) and unlink (p. 501) for page and object based unlinking,
respectively.

wfuse Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Activates a workfile. If the workfile is currently open in EViews, then it is selected to

become the default workfile. If the workfile is not currently open, it is opened.

Syntax
wfuse [path\]workfile_name[.wf1][\page_name]

The name of the workfile is specified as the argument to wfopen and may be followed by an
optional page name to specify a specific page in the workfile. If the workfile is not located in
the current default directory, and is not currently open in EViews, you should specify the
path of the workfile along with its name. If you do specify a path, you should also include
the .WF1 extension.

Examples
wfuse basics

activates the BASICS workfile. If BASICS is not currently open in EViews and is not located
in the current default directory, wfuse will error.
wfuse c:\mydata\basics.wf1

activates the BASICS workfile located in “c:\mydata”.

wfuse c:\mydata\basics.wf1\page1

activates the page named PAGE1 in the BASICS workfile located in “C:\MYDATA”.

Cross-references
See Chapter 3. “Workfile Basics,” on page 41 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of work-
files.

See also wfopen (p. 515) and wfsave (p. 529).

 write—535

workfile Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Create or change workfiles.

No longer supported; provided for backward compatibility. This command has been
replaced by wfcreate (p. 510) and pageselect (p. 444).

write Object Container, Data, and File Commands

Write EViews data to a text (ASCII), Excel, or Lotus file on disk.

Creates a foreign format disk file containing EViews data. May be used to export EViews
data to another program.

Unless you need to write your workfile data in transposed form, we recommend that you
use the more powerful command for writing a workfile page documented in pagesave
(p. 442).

Syntax
write(options) [path\]filename arg1 [arg2 arg3 …]

Follow the keyword by a name for the output file and list the series to be written. The
optional path name may be on the local machine, or may point to a network drive. If the
path name contains spaces, enclose the entire expression in double quotation marks.

Note that EViews cannot, at present, write into an existing file. The file that you select will,
if it exists, be replaced.

Options
Options are specified in parentheses after the keyword and are used to specify the format of
the output file.

prompt Force the dialog to appear from within a program.

File type
t=dat, txt ASCII (plain text) files.
t=wk1, wk3 Lotus spreadsheet files.
t=xls Excel spreadsheet files.

If you omit the “t=” option, EViews will determine the type based on the file extension.
Unrecognized extensions will be treated as ASCII files. For Lotus and Excel spreadsheet files
536—Chapter 12. Command Reference

specified without the “t=” option, EViews will automatically append the appropriate exten-
sion if it is not otherwise specified.
ASCII text files
na=string Specify text string for NAs. Default is “NA”.
names (default) / [Write / Do not write] series names.
nonames
dates / nodates [Write / Do not write] dates/obs. “Dates” is the default
unless the “t” option for writing by series is used, in which
case “nodates” is the default.
d=arg Specify delimiter (default is tab): “s” (space), “c”
(comma).
t Write by series. Default is to write by obs with series in col-
umns.

Spreadsheet (Lotus, Excel) files

letter_number Coordinate of the upper-left cell containing data.
names (default) / [Write / Do not write] series names.
nonames
dates (default) / [Write / Do not write] dates/obs.
nodates
dates=arg Excel format for writing date: “first” (convert to the first
day of the corresponding observation if necessary), “last”
(convert to the last day of the corresponding observation).
t Write by series. Default is to write by obs with series in col-
umns.

Examples
write(t=txt,na=.,d=c,dates) a:\dat1.csv hat1 hat_se1

Writes the two series HAT1 and HAT_SE1 into an ASCII file named DAT1.CSV on the A
drive. The data file is listed by observations, NAs are coded as “.” (dot), each series is sepa-
rated by a comma, and the date/observation numbers are written together with the series
names.
write(t=txt,na=.,d=c,dates) dat1.csv hat1 hat_se1

writes the same file in the default directory.

Cross-references
See “Exporting to a Spreadsheet or Text File” on page 154 of User’s Guide I for a discussion.
See pagesave (p. 442) for a superior method of exporting workfile pages to foreign formats.
 xget—537

See also read (p. 458).

xclose External Interface Commands

Close an open connection to an external application.

Syntax
xclose

xclose is used to close an open COM session with an external application.

Examples
xclose

closes the open connection.

Cross-references
See “EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R),” beginning on page 177 for
discussion.

See also xopen (p. 540), xget (p. 537), xput (p. 542), xrun (p. 544), and xlog (p. 540).

xget External Interface Commands

Retrieve data from an external application into an EViews object.

Syntax
xget(options) object @smpl sample

xget is used to retrieve data from an external COM application (support is currently pro-
vided for MATLAB and R). An existing connection to the external application must have
already been opened using xopen (p. 540). The xget command should be followed by the
name of the object to retrieve, followed by an optional @smpl keyword and a sample speci-
fication, or the name of a sample object. Including @smpl lets you specify the observations
into which the data will be retrieved.

Options
name=arg Specify the name of the object to be created in EViews. If
the name option is not specified, the created object will
have the same name as the external application object that
is being retrieved.
538—Chapter 12. Command Reference

wf=arg Specify the workfile into which the retrieved objects will be
placed. The specified workfile must be currently open
inside EViews. If the wf option is not specified, the objects
will be put into the current default workfile.
page=arg Specify the workfile page into which the retrieved objects
will be placed. If the page option is not specified, the
objects will be put into the current default page.
type=arg Specify the EViews object type to be created. arg can be
“series”, “alpha”, “matrix”, “vector”, “svector”, “coef”,
“sym”, “scalar” or “string”. If the type option is not set,
EViews will automatically decide which object type to cre-
ate.
mode = arg Merge options: “protect” (protect destination – only
(default=“merge”) retrieve values if destination does not already exist),
“merge” (prefer source -– merge only if source value is
non-missing), “mergedest” (prefer destination – merge
only if destination value is missing), “update” (replace all
destination values in the retrieval sample with source val-
ues), “overwrite” (replace all destination values in retrieval
sample with source values, and NAs outside of sample).

R-specific options
fdata=arg When reading a factor object, specifies how to read the fac-
tor data: as numbers (default), as labels (“labels”), as both
numbers and labels (“both”).
If “fdata=both”, the labels will be read into a valmap
object, and the valmap will be attached to the destination
series (the data target must be a series for this setting).
fmap=arg Name of the valmap object to hold the factor labels (when
“fdata=both”).
 xget—539

fmode=arg Specifies settings for reading factor label data into a val-
map: merge with preference to the existing values in the
map (default), merge with preference to the factor map
values (“merge”), overwrite existing valmap definitions
(“overwrite”), do not alter an existing valmap (“protect”).
The default method adds definitions from the factor to an
existing valmap, retaining existing valmap entries that con-
flict with definitions from the factor.
“Merge” adds definitions from the factor to an existing val-
map, replacing conflicting valmap entries with definitions
from the factor.
“Overwrite” replaces an existing valmap specification with
the factor definitions.
“Protect” ensures that an existing valmap is not altered.

MATLAB-specific options
workspace=arg MATLAB environment in which to obtain the data: “base”
(default=“base”) (base workspace), “global” (global workspace).

Examples
xget X

retrieves an object “X” from the current open external application connection, and stores it
into the current default workfile.
xget(type=vector, name=x1) Ymat

retrieves the object named “Ymat” and stores it into the current default workfile as a vector
named X1.
xget(wf=mywf, type=series, name=x2) X @smpl 1990 1999

retrieves X and stores it in the MYWF workfile as a series called X2, where only the observa-
tions between 1990 and 1999 are filled in.

Cross-references
See “EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R),” beginning on page 177 for
discussion.

See also xopen (p. 540), xclose (p. 537), xput (p. 542), xrun (p. 544) and xlog (p. 540).
540—Chapter 12. Command Reference

xlog External Interface Commands

Switch on or off the external application log inside EViews.

Syntax
xlog(arg)

xlog is used to switch on or off the external COM application log window inside EViews.
arg should be either “show” (to switch the log on), or “hide” (to switch it off).

Examples
xlog(hide)

switches off the log.

Cross-references
See “EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R),” beginning on page 177 for
discussion.

See also xopen (p. 540), xclose (p. 537), xget (p. 537), xput (p. 542), and xrun (p. 544).

xopen External Interface Commands

Open a connection to an external application.

Syntax
xopen(options)

xopen is used to start a COM session with an external application, either R or MATLAB.
EViews can only have a single session open at a time; a session must be closed (see xopen
(p. 540)) before a new session can be opened.

Options
type=arg Set the type of connection to be opened. arg may be “r” (R)
or “m” (MATLAB).
progid=arg (optional) Set the version of MATLAB or statconnDCOM
to which EViews connects when opening a session. If
not specified, EViews will use the default ProgID speci-
fied in the global options.
 xopen—541

nolog Do not open a session log window.

case=arg Specify the default case for objects in R or MATLAB using
xput (p. 542). If “case=” is not provided, the default
case specified in the global options will be assumed.
Note that once a connection has been opened, the case
option cannot be changed; you may however, use the
“name=” option when using xput (p. 542) to provide
an explicit name.

Note that the MATLAB ProgIDs may be of particular interest as MATLAB (R2008a and later)
offers several distinct ways in which to connect to the server. The relevant ProgIDs are:
1. “MATLAB.Application”— this ProgID starts a command window version of MAT-
LAB that was most recently used as a server (might not be the latest installed ver-
sion of MATLAB).
2. “MATLAB.Application.Single”— same as (1) but starts a dedicated server so that
other programs looking to use MATLAB cannot connect to your instance.
3. “MATLAB.Autoserver”—starts a command window server using the most recent
version of MATLAB.
4. “MATLAB.Autoserver.Single”—same as (3) but starts a dedicated server.
5. “MATLAB.Desktop.Application”—starts the full desktop MATLAB as a server using
the most recent version of MATLAB.

Each ProgID may be amended to indicate a specific version of MATLAB. For example, using
the ProgID:
MATLAB.Desktop.Application.7.6
instructs EViews to use the full desktop MATLAB GUI for version R2008a (v7.6) as the Auto-
mation server.

Examples
xopen(type=m)

opens a connection to MATLAB.

xopen(type=r, case=lower)

opens a connection to R and sets the default name-case to lower.

xopen(type=m, progid=MATLAB.Desktop.Application.7.9)

opens a connection to MATLAB 7.9 running with the full desktop GUI.
542—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Cross-references
See “EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R),” beginning on page 177 for
discussion. See also “External Program Interface” on page 828 of User’s Guide I for global
options setting.

See xclose (p. 537), xget (p. 537), xput (p. 542), xrun (p. 544), and xlog (p. 540).

xput External Interface Commands

Send an EViews object to an external application.

Syntax
xput(options) ob_list @drop ob1 @smpl sample

xput is used to push data from EViews to an COM external application (either R or MAT-
LAB). An existing connection to the external application must have already been opened,
using xopen.

ob_list should be a space delimited list of EViews objects to push into the application. An
asterisk (*) can be used as a wildcard. Objects that can be pushed include series, alphas,
matrices, syms, vectors, svectors, rowvectors, coefs, scalars and strings. if the object list con-
tains an object you do not wish to be pushed to the external application, you can use @drop
followed by the name of the object.

For series and alphas, you may enter a sample to specify which observations you wish to be
pushed, using @smpl followed by the sample specification or the name of a sample object.

Options
name=arg Specify the name or names of the objects to be created in
the destination application. Multiple names may be speci-
fied using a wildcard or a space-delimited list of names.
Names specified using the name option are case-sensitive
so that destination objects will preserve the case of arg.
If the name option is not specified, the created objects will
have the same name as the EViews objects that are being
pushed, with the case determined by the case established
for the COM connection (see xopen (p. 540)).
mode=arg Merge options: “protect” (protect destination – only put
(default= values if destination does not already exist), “overwrite”
“overwrite”) (replace all destination values with source values, and
resize if necessary).
 xput—543

wf=arg Specify the workfile containing the objects to be pushed.

The specified workfile must be currently open inside
EViews. If the “wf=” option is not specified, the objects
will be taken from the current default workfile.
page=arg Specify the workfile page containing the objects to be
pushed. If the “page=” option is not specified, the objects
will be taken from the current default page.
map Write value-mapped series using map labels instead of
underlying values.

R-specific options
rtype=arg Specify the type of object to be created in R. arg can be
“vector”, “ts”, “data.frame” or “list”.

MATLAB-specific options
mtype =arg Specify the type of object to be created in MATLAB:
“matrix” (matrix object), “cell” (cell object).
workspace=arg MATLAB environment in which to place the data: “base”
(default=“base”) (base workspace), “global” (global workspace).

Examples
xopen(type=m)
xput(name=g) group01

opens a connection to MATLAB and then pushes the group GROUP01 to MATLAB, giving it
the name G.
xopen(type=r)
xput(page=page2, rtype=vector) x @smpl 1990 1999

Opens a connection to R and pushes the series X from page PAGE2 of the current default
workfile into a vector in R. Only the 10 observations for X from 1990 and 1999 are pushed
into R. X will be named in R using the name “X” with the default case specified in the global
options.
xopen(type=r, case=upper)
xput(rtype=data.frame, name=df1) x* @drop x2

Opens a connection to R and puts all objects whose name starts with “X”, apart from the
object X2, into a data frame, named “df1”. The names of the “X*” objects will be uppercased
in R.
544—Chapter 12. Command Reference

Cross-references
See “EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R),” beginning on page 177 for
discussion. See also “External Program Interface” on page 828 of User’s Guide I for global
options setting of the default case for names.

See also @xputnames (p. 650), xopen (p. 540), xclose (p. 537), xget (p. 537), xrun
(p. 544), and xlog (p. 540).

xrun External Interface Commands

Run a command in an external application.

Syntax
xrun command

xrun is used to run a command in an external COM application (either R or MATLAB). An

existing connection to the external application must have already been opened using xopen.
xrun should be followed by the command you wish to run, surrounded in quotes.

Examples
xopen(type=m, case=upper)
xput Y
xput XS
xrun "beta = inv(XS'*XS)*XS'*Y"

opens a connection to MATLAB, sends the series Y and the group XS to MATLAB, then runs
a command which will compute the least squares coefficients from a regression of Y on XS.

The commands
xopen(type=r, case=upper)
xput(rtype=data.frame, name=cancer) age drug2 drug3 studytim
xrun z<-glm(STUDYTIM~AGE+1+DRUG2+DRUG3,
family=Gamma(link=log),data=cancer)

send data to R and estimate GLM model.

Note that the statconnDCOM package does not always automatically capture all of your R
output. Consequently, you may find that using xrun to issue a command that displays out-
put in R may only return a subset of the usual output to your log window. In the most
extreme case, you may see a simple “OK” message displayed in your log window. To instruct
statconnDCOM to show all of the output, you should use enclose your command inside an
explicit print statement in R. Thus, to display the contents of a matrix X, you must issue
the command
 xrun—545

xrun print(X)

instead of the more natural

xrun X

Cross-references
See “EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R),” beginning on page 177 for
a discussion.

See also xopen (p. 540), xclose (p. 537), xget (p. 537), xput (p. 542), and xlog (p. 540).
546—Chapter 12. Command Reference
Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

The reference material in this section describes basic operators and functions that may be
used with series and (in some cases) matrix objects. A general description of the use of
these operators and functions may be found in Chapter 6. “Working with Data,” beginning
on page 169 of User’s Guide I.

This material is divided into several topics:

• Operators.
• Basic mathematical functions.
• Time series functions.
• Financial functions.
• Descriptive statistics.
• Cumulative statistics functions.
• Moving statistics functions.
• Group row functions.
• By-group statistics.
• Additional and special functions.
• Trigonometric functions.
• Statistical distribution functions.
• String functions.
• Date functions.
• Indicator functions.
• Workfile and informational functions.
• Value map functions.

Extensive documentation on libraries of more specialized functions is provided elsewhere:

• For a description of functions related to string and date manipulation, see “String
Function Summary” on page 611 and “Date Function Summary” on page 612.
• For discussion of the workfile functions that provide information about each observa-
tion of a workfile based on information contained in the structure of the workfile, see
Chapter 15. “Workfile Functions,” on page 593.
548—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

• Functions for working with value maps are documented in “Valmap Functions” on
page 218 of the User’s Guide I.
• For a list of functions specific to matrices, see “Matrix Command and Function Sum-
mary” on page 653.

Operators
All of the operators described below may be used in expressions involving series and scalar
values. When applied to a series expression, the operation is performed for each observation
in the current sample. The precedence of evaluation is listed in “Operators” on page 169.
Note that you can enforce order-of-evaluation using parentheses.

Expression Operator Description

+ add x+y adds the contents of X and Y.
– subtract x–y subtracts the contents of Y from X.
* multiply x*y multiplies the contents of X by Y.
/ divide x/y divides the contents of X by Y.
^ raise to the power x^y raises X to the power of Y.
> greater than x>y takes the value 1 if X exceeds Y, and 0 other-
wise.
< less than x<y takes the value 1 if Y exceeds X, and 0 other-
wise.
= equal to x=y takes the value 1 if X and Y are equal, and 0
otherwise.
<> not equal to x<>y takes the value 1 if X and Y are not equal, and
0 if they are equal.
<= less than or equal to x<=y takes the value 1 if X does not exceed Y, and 0
otherwise.
>= greater than or x>=y takes the value 1 if Y does not exceed X, and 0
equal to otherwise.
and logical and x and y takes the value 1 if both X and Y are non-
zero, and 0 otherwise.
or logical or x or y takes the value 1 if either X or Y is nonzero,
and 0 otherwise.

In addition, EViews provides special functions to perform comparisons using special rules
for handling missing values (see “Missing Values” on page 177):
 Basic Mathematical Functions—549

@eqna(x,y) equal to takes the value 1 if X and Y are equal, and 0

otherwise. NAs are treated as ordinary values
for purposes of comparison.
@isna(x) equal to NA takes the value 1 if X is equal to NA and 0
otherwise.
@neqna(x,y) not equal to takes the value 1 if X and Y are not equal, and
0 if they are equal. NAs are treated as ordi-
nary values for purposes of comparison.

Basic Mathematical Functions

The following functions perform basic mathematical operations. When applied to a series,
they return a value for every observation in the current sample. When applied to a matrix
object, they return a value for every element of the matrix object. The functions will return
NA values for observations where the input values are NAs, or where the input values are
not valid. For example, the square-root function @sqrt, will return NAs for all observations
less than zero.

Note: @iff, @inv, and @recode do not work with matrix objects.

Name Function Examples/Description

@abs(x), abs(x) absolute value @abs(-3)=3.
@ceiling(x) smallest integer not less than @ceiling(2.34)=3, @ceiling(4)=4.
x
@exp(x), exp(x) exponential, e @exp(1)=2.71813.
@fact(x) factorial, x! @fact(3)=6, @fact(0)=1.
@factlog(x) natural logarithm of the facto- @factlog(3)=1.79176, @factlog(0)=0.
rial, log e  x! 
@floor(x) largest integer not greater @floor(1.23)=1, @floor(-3.1)=-4.
than
@iff(s,x,y) recode by condition returns x if condition s is true; other-
wise returns y . Note this is the same as
@recode.
@inv(x) reciprocal, 1  x inv(2)=0.5 (For series only; you should
use @einv to obtain the element inverse
of a matrix).
@mod(x,y) floating point remainder returns the remainder of x  y with the
same sign as x . If y  0 the result is
0.
@log(x), log(x) natural logarithm, log e  x  @log(2)=0.693..., log(@exp(1))=1.

@log10(x) base-10 logarithm, log 10  x  @log10(100)=2.

550—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@logx(x,b) base-b logarithm, log b  x  @logx(256,2)=8.

@nan(x,y) recode NAs in X to Y returns x if x<>NA , and y if
x  NA .
@recode(s,x,y) recode by condition returns x if condition s is true; other-
wise returns y .
@round(x) round to the nearest integer @round(-97.5)=-98, @round(3.5)=4.
@sqrt(x), sqr(x) square root @sqrt(9)=3.

Time Series Functions

The following functions facilitate working with time series data. Note that NAs will be
returned for observations for which lagged values are not available. For example, d(x)
returns a missing value for the first observation in the workfile, since the lagged value is not
available.

Name Function Description

d(x) first difference  1 – L X  X – X  – 1 
where L is the lag operator.
d(x,n) n-th order difference n
1 – L X .
d(x,n,s) n-th order difference with a sea- n s
 1 – L   1 – L X .
sonal difference at s
dlog(x) first difference of the logarithm  1 – L  log  X  .
 log  X  – log  X  – 1  
dlog(x,n) n-th order difference of the loga- n
 1 – L  log  X  .
rithm
dlog(x,n,s) n-th order difference of the loga- n s
 1 – L   1 – L  log  X  .
rithm with a seasonal difference
at s
@lag(x, n) n-th order lag (equivalent to X  –n 
“X(-4”) for the series X)
@pc(x) one-period percentage change (in equals @pch(x)*100
percent)
@pch(x) one-period percentage change (in  X – X  – 1    X  – 1  .
decimal)
@pca(x) one-period percentage change— equals @pcha(x)*100
annualized (in percent)
 Financial Functions—551

@pcha(x) one-period percentage change—

@pcha(x)
annualized (in decimal) n
  1  @pch  x   – 1
where n is the lag associated with
one-year ( n  4 ) for quarterly
data, etc.).
@pcy(x) one-year percentage change (in equals @pchy(x)*100
percent)
@pchy(x) one-year percentage change (in  X – X  – n    X  – n  , where n
decimal) is the lag associated with one-year
( n  12 ) for annual data, etc.).

Financial Functions
The following series-only functions permit you to perform calculations commonly employed
in financial analysis. The functions are evaluated for each observation in the workfile sam-
ple.

Name Function Description

@fv(r,n,x[,fv,t]) future value future value of an n -period annu-
ity with rate r , payments x , and
optional final lump sum payment
fv .
A non-zero value for the optional
t indicates that the payments are
made at the beginning of periods
instead of ends.
@nper(r,x,pv[,fv,t]) number of periods number of annuity periods
required to produce the present
value pv with rate r , payments x
and optional final lump sum pay-
ment fv .
A non-zero value for the optional
t indicates that the payments are
made at the beginning of periods.
@pv(r,n,x[,fv,t]) present value present value of an n -period
annuity with rate r , payments x ,
and optional final lump sum pay-
ment fv .
A non-zero value for the optional
t indicates that the payments are
made at the beginning of periods.
552—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@pmt(r,n,pv[,fv,t]) payment amount payment amount for an n -period,

pv present value annuity with rate
r and optional final lump sum
payment fv .
A non-zero value for the optional
t indicates that the payments are
made at the beginning of periods.
@rate(n,x,pv[,fv,t]) interest interest rate for an n period annu-
ity with payments x , present value
pv , and optional final lump sum
payment fv .
A non-zero value for the optional
t indicates that the payments are
made at the beginning of periods.

Descriptive Statistics
These functions compute descriptive statistics for a specified sample, excluding missing val-
ues if necessary. The default sample is the current workfile sample. If you are performing
these computations on a series and placing the results into a series, you can specify a sam-
ple as the last argument of the descriptive statistic function, either as a string (in double
quotes) or using the name of a sample object. For example:
series z = @mean(x, "1945m01 1979m12")

or
w = @var(y, s2)

where S2 is the name of a sample object and W and X are series. Note that you may not use
a sample argument if the results are assigned into a matrix, vector, or scalar object. For
example, the following assignment:
vector(2) a
series x
a(1) = @mean(x, "1945m01 1979m12")

is not valid since the target A(1) is a vector element. To perform this latter computation, you
must explicitly set the global sample prior to performing the calculation performing the
assignment:
smpl 1945:01 1979:12
a(1) = @mean(x)

To determine the number of observations available for a given series, use the @obs function.
Note that where appropriate, EViews will perform casewise exclusion of data with missing
 Descriptive Statistics—553

values. For example, @cov(x,y) and @cor(x,y) will use only observations for which data
on both X and Y are valid.

In the following table, arguments in square brackets [ ] are optional arguments:

• [s]: sample expression in double quotes or name of a sample object. The optional
sample argument may only be used if the result is assigned to a series. For @quantile,
you must provide the method option argument in order to include the optional sample
argument.

If the desired sample expression contains the double quote character, it may be entered
using the double quote as an escape character. Thus, if you wish to use the equivalent of,
smpl if name = "Smith"

in your @MEAN function, you should enter the sample condition as:
series y = @mean(x, "if name=""Smith""")

The pairs of double quotes in the sample expression are treated as a single double quote.

Function Name Description

@cor(x,y[,s]) correlation the correlation between X and Y.
@cov(x,y[,s]) covariance the covariance between X and Y
(division by n ).
@covp(x,y[,s]) population covari- the covariance between X and Y
ance (division by n ).
@covs(x,y[,s]) sample covariance the covariance between X and Y
(division by n – 1 ).
@gmean(x[,s]) geometric mean the geometric mean of X. The geo-
metric mean is calculated as the
exponential of the sum of the logs of
X.
@hmean(x[,s]) harmonic mean computes the harmonic mean of the
values of X. The harmonic mean is
calculated as the reciprocal of the
mean of the reciprocals of X.
@imax(x) maximum index workfile index of the maximum of
the values in X for the current sam-
ple.
@imin(x) minimum index workfile index of the maximum of
the values in X for the current sam-
ple.
@inner(x,y[,s]) inner product the inner product of X and Y.
@kurt(x[,s]) kurtosis kurtosis of values in X.
554—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@mae(x,y[,s]) mean absolute error the mean of the absolute value of

the difference between X and Y.
@mape(x,y[,s]) mean absolute per- 100 multiplied by the mean of the
centage error absolute difference between X and Y,
divided by Y.
@max(x[,s]) maximum maximum of the values in X.
@maxes(x,n[,s]) n-largest numbers maximum n values in X, arranged
largest to smallest, returned in a vec-
tor object. Note this function may
not be used for series generation.
@mean(x[,s]) mean average of the values in X.
@median(x[,s]) median computes the median of the X (uses
the average of middle two observa-
tions if the number of observations
is even).
@min(x[,s]) minimum minimum of the values in X.
@mins(x,n[,s]) n-smallest numbers minimum n values in X, arranged
smallest to largest, returned in a vec-
tor object. Note this function may
not be used for series generation.
@nas(x[,s]) number of NAs the number of missing observations
for X in the current sample.
@prod(x[,s]) product the product of the elements of X
(note this function is prone to
numerical overflows).
@obs(x[,s]) number of observa- the number of non-missing observa-
tions tions for X in the current sample.
@quantile(x,q[,m,s]) quantile the q-th quantile of the series X. m is
an optional string argument for
specifying the quantile method: “b”
(Blom), “r” (Rankit-Cleveland), “o”
(Ordinary), “t” (Tukey), “v” (van
der Waerden), “g” (Gumbel). The
default value is “r”.
 Descriptive Statistics—555

@ranks(x[,o,t,s]) ranks the ranking of each observation in

X.
The order of ranking is set using o:
“a” (ascending - default) or “d”
(descending).
Ties are broken according to the set-
ting of t: “i” (ignore), “f” (first), “l”
(last), “a” (average - default), “r”
randomize.
If you wish to specify tie-handling
options, you must also specify the
order option (e.g. ‘@ranks(x, “a”,
“i”)’).
@rmse(x,y[,s]) root mean square the square root of the mean of the
error squared difference between X and Y.
@skew(x[,s]) skewness skewness of values in X.
@smape(x,y[,s]) symmetric mean 200 multiplied by the mean of the
absolute percentage absolute difference between X and Y
error divided by the sum of the absolute
values of X and Y.
@stdev(x[,s]) standard deviation square root of the unbiased sample
variance (sum-of-squared residuals
divided by n – 1 ).
@stdevp(x[,s]) population standard square root of the population vari-
deviation ance (sum-of-squared residuals
divided by n ).
@stdevs(x[,s]) sample standard square root of the unbiased sample
deviation variance. Note this is the same cal-
culation as @stdev.
@sum(x[,s]) sum the sum of X.
@sumsq(x[,s]) sum-of-squares sum of the squares of X.
@theil(x,y[,s]) Theil inequality coef- the root mean square error divided
ficient by the sum of the square roots of the
means of X squared and Y squared.
@var(x[,s]) variance variance of the values in X (division
by n ).
@varp(x[,s]) population variance variance of the values in X. Note this
is the same calculation as @var.
@vars(x[,s]) sample variance sample variance of the values in X
(division by n – 1 ).
556—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

Cumulative Statistic Functions

These functions perform basic running or cumulative statistics for a series and may be used
as part of a series expression. The functions are split into two types, those that cumulate for-
wards and those that cumulate backwards. The forwards cumulating functions return the
running values of a statistic from the start of the workfile (or optionally a sample) to the cur-
rent observation. The backwards cumulating functions return the running values from the
end of the workfile (or sample) to the current observation.

By default, EViews will use the entire workfile range when computing the statistics. You may
provide the optional sample s as a literal (quoted) sample expression or a named sample.

Missing values, NAs, do not propagate through these functions. Thus the cumulative sums
of the numbers 1, 3, 4, NA, 5 are 1, 4, 8, 8, 13.

Name Function Description

@cumsum(x[,s]) cumulative sum cumulative sum of the values in X from
the start of the workfile/sample.
@cumprod(x[,s]) cumulative product cumulative product of the values in X
from the start of the workfile/sample
(note this function could be subject to
numerical overflows).
@cummean(x[,s]) cumulative mean mean of the values in X from the start of
the workfile/sample to the current
observation.
@cumstdev(x[,s]) cumulative standard devia- sample standard deviation of the values
tion in X from the start of the workfile/sam-
ple to the current observation. Note this
calculation involves division by n – 1 .
@cumstdevp(x[,s]) cumulative population stan- population standard deviation of the
dard deviation values in X from the start of the work-
file/sample to the current observation.
Note this calculation involves division
by n .
@cumstdevs(x[,s]) cumulative sample standard sample standard deviation of the values
deviation in X from the start of the workfile/sam-
ple. Note this performs the same calcu-
lation as @cumstdev.
@cumvar(x[,s]) cumulative variance population variance of the values in X
from the start of the workfile/sample to
the current observation. Note this calcu-
lation involves division by n .
 Cumulative Statistic Functions—557

@cumvarp(x[,s]) cumulative population vari- population variance of the values in X

ance from the start of the workfile/sample to
the current observation. Note this per-
forms the same calculation as @cumvar.
@cumvars(x[,s]) cumulative sample variance sample variance of the values in X from
the start of the workfile/sample to the
current observation. Note this calcula-
tion involves division by n – 1 .
@cummax(x[,s]) cumulative maximum maximum of the values in X from the
start of the workfile/sample to the cur-
rent observation.
@cummin(x[,s]) cumulative minimum minimum of the values in X from the
start of the workfile/sample to the cur-
rent observation.
@cumsumsq(x[,s]) cumulative sum-of-squares sum of squares of the values in X from
the start of the workfile/sample to the
current observation.
@cumobs(x[,s]) cumulative nmber of non- the number of non-missing observations
NA observations in X from the start of the workfile/sam-
ple to the current observation.
@cumnas(x[,s]) cumulative number of NA the number of missing observations in X
observations from the start of the workfile/sample to
the current observation.
@cumquan- cumulative quantile the qth quantile in X computed from the
tile(x,q[,s]) start of the workfile/sample to the cur-
rent observation. Quantiles are com-
puted using the Cleveland definition.
@cummedian(x[,s]) cumulative median the median of X computed from the end
of the workfile/sample to the current
observation.
@cumbsum(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sum cumulative sum of the values in X from
the end of the workfile/sample.
@cumbprod(x[,s]) backwards cumulative cumulative product of the values in X
product from the end of the workfile/sample
(note this function could be subject to
numerical overflows).
@cumbmean(x[,s]) backwards cumulative mean of the values in X from the end of
mean the workfile/sample to the current
observation.
@cumbstdev(x[,s]) backwards cumulative stan- sample standard deviation of the values
dard deviation in X from the end of the workfile/sam-
ple to the current observation. Note this
calculation involves division by n – 1 .
558—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@cumbstdevp(x[,s]) backwards cumulative pop- population standard deviation of the

ulation standard deviation values in X from the end of the work-
file/sample to the current observation.
Note this calculation involves division
by n .
@cumbstdevs(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sam- sample standard deviation of the values
ple standard deviation in X from the end of the workfile/sam-
ple. Note this performs the same calcu-
lation as @cumstdev.
@cumbvar(x[,s]) backwards cumulative vari- population variance of the values in X
ance from the end of the workfile/sample to
the current observation. Note this calcu-
lation involves division by n
@cumbvarp(x[,s]) backwards cumulative pop- population variance of the values in X
ulation variance from the end of the workfile/sample to
the current observation. Note this per-
forms the same calculation as @cumvar.
@cumbvars(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sam- sample variance of the values in X from
ple variance the end of the workfile/sample to the
current observation. Note this calcula-
tion involves division by n – 1 .
@cumbmax(x[,s]) backwards cumulative max- maximum of the values in X from the
imum end of the workfile/sample to the cur-
rent observation.
@cumbmin(x[,s]) backwards cumulative min- minimum of the values in X from the
imum end of the workfile/sample to the cur-
rent observation.
@cumbsumsq(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sum- sum of squares of the values in X from
of-squares the start of the workfile/sample to the
current observation.
@cumbobs(x[,s]) backwards cumulative the number of non-missing observations
nmber of non-NA observa- in X from the end of the workfile/sam-
tions ple to the current observation.
@cumbnas(x[,s]) backwards cumulative the number of missing observations in X
nmber of NA observations from the end of the workfile/sample to
the current observation.
@cumbquan- backwards cumulative the qth quantile in X computed from the
tile(x,q[,s]) quantile end of the workfile/sample to the cur-
rent observation. Quantiles are com-
puted using the Cleveland definition.
@cumbmedian(x[,s]) backwards cumulative the median of X computed from the end
median of the workfile/sample to the current
observation.
 Moving Statistic Functions—559

Moving Statistic Functions

These functions perform basic rolling or moving statistics. They may be used as part of a
series expression.

The moving statistic functions are in two types, those that propagate missing observations
(NAs) and those that don’t. The functions that do not propagate NAs, which start with
“@m”, skip observations which are NA. The functions that do propagate NAs will return
NA when an NA is encountered.

For example if the series X contains {1, 3, 4, NA, 5, 3, 2} then “@movav(x,2)” will give
{NA, 2, 3.5, NA, NA, 4, 2.5}, whereas “@mav(x,2)” will give {1, 2, 3.5, 4, 5, 4, 2.5}.

Name Function Description

@movsum(x,n) n-period backward moving sum @movsum(x,3) .
  X  X  –1   X  –2  

NAs are propagated.

@movav(x,n) n-period backward moving aver- @movav(x, 3)
age   X  X  –1   X  –2    3

NAs are propagated.

@movavc(x,n) n-period centered moving aver- centered moving average of X.
age Note if n is even then the window
length is increased by one and the
two endpoints are weighted by 0.5.
NAs are propagated.
@movstdev(x,n) n-period backwards moving stan- sample standard deviation (divi-
dard deviation sion by n – 1 ) of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are propagated.
@movstdevs(x,n) n-period backwards moving sam- sample standard deviation (divi-
ple standard deviation sion by n – 1 ) of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
Note this is the same calculation as
@movstdev. NAs are propagated.
@movstdevp(x,n) n-period backwards moving pop- population standard deviation
ulation standard deviation (division by n ) of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are propagated.
@movvar(x,n) n-period backwards moving vari- population variance (division by
ance n ) of X for the for the current and
previous n – 1 observations. NAs
are propagated.
560—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@movvars(x,n) n-period backwards moving sam- sample variance (division by

ple variance n – 1 ) of X for the current and
previous n – 1 observations. NAs
are propagated.
@movvarp(x,n) n-period backwards moving pop- population variance (division by
ulation variance n ).of X for the current and previ-
ous n – 1 observations. Note this
is the same calculation as @mov-
var. NAs are propagated.
@movcov(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving population covariance (division by
covariance n ) between X and Y of the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are propagated.
@movcovs(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving sam- sample covariance (division by
ple covariance n – 1 ) between X and Y of the
current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are propagated.
@movcovp(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving pop- population covariance (division by
ulation covariance n ) between X and Y of the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
Note this is the same calculation as
@movcov. NAs are propagated.
@movcor(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving cor- correlation between X and Y of the
relation current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are propagated. NAs
are propagated.
@movmax(x,n) n-period backwards moving max- the maximum of X for the current
imum and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are propagated.
@movmin(x,n) n-period backwards moving min- the minimum of X for the current
imum and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are propagated.
@movsumsq(x,n) n-period backwards sum-of- the sum-of-squares of X for the
squares current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are propagated.
@movskew(x,n) n-period backwards skewness the skewness of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are propagated.
@movkurt(x,n) n-period backwards kurtosis the kurtosis of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are propagated.
 Moving Statistic Functions—561

@movobs(x,n) n-period backwards nmber of the number of non-missing obser-

non-NA observations vations in X for the current and
previous n – 1 observations. Note
this function always returns the
same value as @mobs.
@movnas(x,n) n-period backwards nmber of NA the number of missing observa-
observations tions in X for the current and previ-
ous n-1 observations. Note this
function always returns the same
value as @mnas.
@movinner(x,y,n) n-period backwards inner prod- inner product of X and Y for the
uct of X and Y current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are propagated.
@msum(x,n) n-period backward moving sum @msum(x,3)
  X  X  –1   X  –2  

NAs are not propagated.

@mav(x,n) n-period backward moving aver- @mav(x, 3)
age   X  X  –1   X  –2    3

NAs are not propagated.

@mavc(x,n) n-period centered moving aver- centered moving average of X.
age Note if n is even then the window
length is increased by one and the
two endpoints are weighted by 0.5.
NAs are not propagated.
@mstdev(x,n) n-period backwards moving stan- sample standard deviation (divi-
dard deviation sion by n – 1 ) of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are not propagated.
@mstdevs(x,n) n-period backwards moving sam- sample standard deviation (divi-
ple standard deviation sion by n – 1 ) of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
Note this is the same calculation as
@movstdev. NAs are not propa-
gated.
@mstdevp(x,n) n-period backwards moving pop- population standard deviation
ulation standard deviation (division by n ) of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are not propagated.
@mvar(x,n) n-period backwards moving vari- population variance (division by
ance n ) of X for the for the current and
previous n – 1 observations. NAs
are not propagated.
562—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@mvars(x,n) n-period backwards moving sam- sample variance (division by

ple variance n – 1 ) of X for the current and
previous n – 1 observations. NAs
are not propagated.
@mvarp(x,n) n-period backwards moving pop- population variance (division by
ulation variance n ) of X for the current and previ-
ous n – 1 observations. Note this
is the same calculation as @mov-
var. NAs are not propagated.
@mcov(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving population covariance (division by
covariance n ) between X and Y of the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are not propagated.
@mcovs(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving sam- sample covariance (division by
ple covariance n – 1 ) between X and Y of the
current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are not propagated.
@mcovp(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving pop- population covariance (division by
ulation covariance n ) between X and Y of the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
Note this is the same calculation as
@movcov. NAs are not propagated.
@mcor(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving cor- correlation between X and Y of the
relation current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are not propagated.
@mmax(x,n) n-period backwards moving max- the maximum of X for the current
imum and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are not propagated.
@mmin(x,n) n-period backwards moving min- the minimum of X for the current
imum and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are not propagated.
@msumsq(x,n) n-period backwards sum-of- the sum-of-squares of X for the
squares current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are not propagated.
@mskew(x,n) n-period backwards skewness the skewness of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are not propagated.
@mkurt(x,n) n-period backwards kurtosis the kurtosis of X for the current
and previous n – 1 observations.
NAs are not propagated.
 Group Row Functions—563

@mobs(x,n) n-period backwards number of the number of non-missing obser-

non-NA observations vations in X for the current and
previous n – 1 observations. Note
this function always returns the
same value as @movobs.
@mnas(x,n) n-period backwards number of the number of missing observa-
NA observations tions in X for the current and previ-
ous n – 1 observations. Note this
function always returns the same
value as @movnas.
@minner(x,y,n) n-period backwards inner prod- inner product of X and Y for the
uct of X and Y current and previous n – 1 obser-
vations. NAs are not propagated.

Group Row Functions

These functions work on a group object. They may be used to create a new series where
each row of that series is a function of the corresponding row of a group. Thus, if group G
contains the series X, Y and Z, the @rmean function will return (X+Y+Z)/3.

These functions do not propagate NAs, i.e., they generate data based upon the observations
within the group row that are non-NA.

As an example, the @rsum function will return a series where each row is equal to the sum
of the non-NA elements in the row of a group.

Note that in the following descriptions, G is a named group in your workfile.

Name Function Description

@columns(g) number of columns. returns the number of columns in
G. Note this is the same as
“G.@count”, and will return the
same number for every row.
@rnas(g) row-wise number of NAs. the number of missing observa-
tions in the rows of G.
@robs(g) row-wise number of non-NAs. the number of non-missing obser-
vations in the rows of G.
@rvalcount(g,v) row-wise count of observations the number of observations with a
matching v. value equal to v in the rows of G.
Note v can be a scalar or a series
@rsum(g) row-wise sum. the sum of the rows of G.
@rmean(g) row-wise mean. the mean of the rows of G.
564—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@rstdev(g) row-wise standard deviation. the sample standard deviation of

the rows of G. Note division is by
n – 1.
@rstdevp(g) row-wise population standard the population standard deviation
deviation. of the rows of G. Note division is
by n .
@rstdevs(g) row-wise sample standard devia- the sample standard deviation of
tion. the rows of G. Note division is by
n – 1 , and this calculation is the
same as @rstdev.
@rvar(g) row-wise variance. the population variance of the
rows of G. Note division is by n .
@rvarp(g) row-wise population variance the population variance of the
rows of G. Note division is by n ,
and this calculation is the same as
@rvar.
@rvars(g) row-wise sample variance. the sample variance of the rows of
G. Note division is by n – 1 .
@rsumsq(g) row-wise sum-of-squares. the sum of the squares of the rows
of G.
@rfirst(g) row-wise first non-NA value. the value of the first non-missing
observation in the rows of G.
@rifirst(g) row-wise first non-NA index. the index (i.e., column number) of
the first non-missing observation
in the rows of G.
@rilast(g) row-wise last non-NA index. the index (i.e., column number) of
the last non-missing observation in
the rows of G.
@rimax(g) row-wise maximum index. the index (i.e., column number) of
the maximum observation in the
rows of G. In the case of ties, the
first matching index is given.
@rimin(g) row-wise minimum index. the index (i.e., column number) of
the minimum observation in the
rows of G. In the case of ties, the
first matching index is given.
@rlast(g) row-wise last non-NA value. the value of the last non-missing
observation in the rows of G
@rmax(g) row-wise maximum value. the value of the maximum obser-
vation in the rows of G.
@rmin(g) row-wise minimum value. the value of the minimum observa-
tion in the rows of G.
 By-Group Statistics—565

By-Group Statistics
The following “by group”-statistics are available in EViews. They may be used as part of a
series expression statements to compute the statistic for subgroups, and to assign the value
of the relevant statistic to each observation.

The functions take a series expression arg1 for which we wish to compute group statistics
and one or more series expressions arg2, defining the groups over which we wish to com-
pute the statistics. In the leading case, you will provide a single series expression containing
categories. More generally, you can provide several series expressions separated by commas
(arg2, arg3, ...) that jointly define the categories. For brevity, the table entries below only
depict a single categorical variable arg2.

Function Description
@obsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Number of non-NA arg1 observations for each arg2
group.
@nasby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Number of arg1 NA values for each arg2 group.
@sumsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Sum of arg1 observations for each arg2 group.
@meansby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Mean of arg1 observations for each arg2 group.
@minsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Minimum value of arg1 observations for each arg2
group.
@maxsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Maximum value of arg1 observations for each arg2
group.
@mediansby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Median of arg1 observations for each arg2 group.
@varsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Variance of arg1 observations for each arg2 group
(division by n ).
@varssby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Sample variance of arg1 observations for each arg2
group (division by n – 1 ).
@varpsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Variance of arg1 observations for each arg2 group
(division by n ).
@stdevsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Sample standard deviation of arg1 observations for
each arg2 group (division by n – 1 ).
@stdevssby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Sample standard deviation of arg1 observations for
each arg2 group (division by n – 1 ).
@stdevpsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Standard deviation of arg1 observations for each
arg2 group (division by n ).
@sumsqsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Sum of squares of arg1 observations for each arg2
group.
@quantilesby(arg1, arg2, Quantiles of arg1 observations for each arg2 group
arg3[, s]) where arg1 is the desired quantile.
566—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@skewsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Skewness of arg1 observations for each arg2 group.
@kurtsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Kurtosis of arg1 observations for each arg2 group.
@firstsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) First non-missing value in arg1 for each arg2 group
@lastsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Last non-missing value in arg1 for each arg2 group

With the exception of @quantileby, all of the functions take the form:
@STATBY(arg1, arg2[, arg3, arg4, ..., argn, s])

where @STATBY is one of the by-group function keyword names, arg1 is a series expression,
arg2 and the optional arg3 to argn are numeric or alpha series expression identifying the
subgroups, and s is an optional sample literal (a quoted sample expression) or a named sam-
ple. With the exception of @obsby, arg1 must be a numeric series.

By default, EViews will use the workfile sample when computing the descriptive statistics.
You may provide the optional sample s as a literal (quoted) sample expression or a named
sample.

The @quantileby function requires an additional argument for the quantile value that you
wish to compute:
@quantileby(arg1, arg2[, arg3, arg4, ..., argn], q[, s])

For example, to compute the first quartile, you should use the q value of 0.25.

There are two related functions of note,

@groupid(arg1[, arg2, arg3, arg4, ..., argn, smpl]])

returns an integer indexing the group ID for each observation of the series or alpha expres-
sion arg.

Special Functions
EViews provides a number of special functions used in evaluating the properties of various
statistical distributions or for returning special mathematical values such as Euler’s con-
stant. For further details on special functions, see the extensive discussions in Temme
(1996), Abramowitz and Stegun (1964), and Press, et al. (1992).

Function Description
@beta(a,b) beta integral (Euler integral of the second kind):
1 a–1 b–1 G  a G  b 
B  a, b   0 t 1 – t dt  ------------------------
Ga  b
for a, b  0 .
 Special Functions—567

@betainc(x,a,b) incomplete beta integral:

1 x a–1 b–1
------------------  t 1 – t dt
B  a, b  0
for 0  x  1 and a, b  0 .
@betaincder(x,a,b,s) derivative of the incomplete beta integral:
evaluates the derivatives of the incomplete beta integral
B  x, a, b  , where s is an integer from 1 to 9 correspond-
ing to the desired derivative:

B B B
------- ------- -------
x a b
1 2 3 2
 B  B  B
2 2

4 5 6  ---------2- ------------- ------------

x xa xb
7 8 9 2 2 2
 B  B  B
---------2- ------------- ---------2-
a ab b
@betaincinv(p,a,b) inverse of the incomplete beta integral: returns an x satis-
fying:
1 x a–1 b–1
p  ------------------  t 1 – t dt
B  a, b  0
for 0  p  1 and a, b  0 .
@betalog(a,b) natural logarithm of the beta integral:
log B  a, b   log G  a   log G  b  – log G  a  b  .
@binom(n,x) binomial coefficient:
n!
 n  ------------------------
-
 x x!  n – x !
for n and x positive integers, 0  x  n .
@binomlog(n,x) natural logarithm of the binomial coefficient:
log  n!  – log  x!  – log   n – x ! 
@cloglog(x) complementary log-log function:
log  – log  1 – x  
See also @qextreme.
@digamma(x), @psi(x) first derivative of the log gamma function:
d log G  x  1 dG  x 
w  x   -----------------------  ----------- ---------------
dx G  x  dx
568—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@erf(x) error function:

2 x –t2
erf  x   -------  e dt
p 0
for x  0 .
@erfc(x) complementary error function:
2  –t2
erfc  x   -------  e dt  1 – erf  x  .
p x
for x  0 .
@gamma(x) (complete) gamma function:
 –t x – 1
Gx  0 e t dt

for x  0 .
@gammader(x) first derivative of the gamma function:
G  x   dG  x    dx 
Note: Euler’s constant, g  0.5772 , may be evaluated as
g  – @gammader(1) . See also @digamma and @tri-
gamma.
@gammainc(x,a) incomplete gamma function:
1 x –t a – 1
G  x, a   ------------  e t dt
Ga 0
for x  0 and a  0 .
@gammaincder(x,a,n) derivative of the incomplete gamma function:
Evaluates the derivatives of the incomplete gamma integral
G  x, a  , where n is an integer from 1 to 5 corresponding
to the desired derivative:

G G
-------- -------- -
1 2 - x a
 2 2 2
3 4 5  G  G  G
---------2- ------------- ---------2-
x xa a
@gammaincinv(p,a) inverse of the incomplete gamma function: find the value
of x satisfying:
1 x –t a – 1
p  G  x, a   ------------  e t dt
Ga 0
for 0  p  1 and a  0 .
 Statistical Distribution Functions—569

@gammalog(x) logarithm of the gamma function: log G  x  . For deriva-

tives of this function see @digamma and @trigamma.
@logit(x) logistic transform:
x
1 e
-  --------------x
----------------
–x
1e 1e
@psi(x) see @digamma.
@trigamma(x) second derivative of the log gamma function:
2
d log G  x 
w  x   -------------------------
2
-
dx

Trigonometric Functions
When applied to a series, all of the trigonometric functions operate on every observation in
the current sample and return a value for every observation. Where relevant, the input and
results should/will be expressed in radians. All results are real valued—complex values will
return NAs.

Function Name Examples/Description

@acos(x) arc cosine (real results in radians) @acos(-1)  p
@asin(x) arc sine (real results in radians) @asin(-1)  p  2
@atan(x) arc tangent (results in radians) @atan(1)  p  4
@cos(x) cosine (argument in radians) @cos(3.14159)  – 1
@sin(x) sine (argument in radians) @sin(3.14159)  0
@tan(x) tangent (argument in radians) @tan(1)  1.5574

Statistical Distribution Functions

The following functions provide access to the density or probability functions, cumulative
distribution, quantile functions, and random number generators for a number of standard
statistical distributions.

There are four functions associated with each distribution. The first character of each func-
tion name identifies the type of function:

Function Type Beginning of Name

Cumulative distribution (CDF) @c
Density or probability @d
Quantile (inverse CDF) @q
570—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

Random number generator @r

The remainder of the function name identifies the distribution. For example, the functions
for the beta distribution are @cbeta, @dbeta, @qbeta and @rbeta.

When used with series arguments, EViews will evaluate the function for each observation in
the current sample. As with other functions, NA or invalid inputs will yield NA values. For
values outside of the support, the functions will return zero.

Note that the CDFs are assumed to be right-continuous: F X  k   Pr  X  k  . The quantile

functions will return the smallest value where the CDF evaluated at the value equals or
exceeds the probability of interest: q X  p   q , where F X  q   p . The inequalities are
only relevant for discrete distributions.

The information provided below should be sufficient to identify the meaning of the parame-
ters for each distribution.

Distribution Functions Density/Probability Function

Beta @cbeta(x,a,b), a–1 b–1
x 1 – x
@dbeta(x,a,b), f  x, a, b   --------------------------------------
@qbeta(p,a,b), B  a, b 
@rbeta(a,b) for 0  p  1 and for a, b  0 , where B is
the @beta function.
Binomial @cbinom(x,n,p), n x
Pr  x, n, p     p  1 – p 
n–x
@dbinom(x,n,p),  x
@qbinom(s,n,p),
if x  0, 1, , n,  , and 0 otherwise, for
@rbinom(n,p)
0  p  1.
Chi-square @cchisq(x,v), 1 v  2 – 1 –x  2
@dchisq(x,v), f  x, v   -----------------------------
v2
-x e
@qchisq(p,v), 2 Gv  2
@rchisq(v) where x  0 , and v  0 . Note that the degrees
of freedom parameter v need not be an integer.
In addition, the @chisq(x,v) function may be
used to obtain the p-values directly.
Exponential @cexp(x,m), 1 –x  m
@dexp(x,m), f  x, m   ----e
m
@qexp(p,m),
for x  0 , and m  0 .
@rexp(m)
Extreme Value @cextreme(x), x
@dextreme(x),
f  x   exp  x – e 
(Type I-minimum)
@qextreme(p), for –   x   .
@cloglog(p),
@rextreme
 Statistical Distribution Functions—571

F-distribution @cfdist(x,v1,v2), v 2 v 2
@dfdist(x,v1,v2), v 11 v 22
f  x, v 1, v 2   -------------------------------------
-
@qfdist(p,v1,v2), B  v 1  2, v 2  2 
@rfdist(v1,v1)
 v1 – 2   2 – v1  v2   2
x  v2  v1 x 

where x  0 , and v 1, v 2  0 . Note that the

functions allow for fractional degrees of free-
dom parameters v 1 and v 2 .
Gamma @cgamma(x,b,r), –r r – 1 –x  b
@dgamma(x,b,r),
f  x, b, r   b x e  Gr
@qgamma(p,b,r), where x  0 , and b, r  0 .
@rgamma(b,r)
Generalized Error @cged(x,r), 12 r2
3  G  3--- 
rG  ---  
@dged(x,r),  r  r   r  
@qged(p,r), f  x, r   -----------------------
- exp  – x  ------------- 
@rged(r)  1 3  2   G  1---  
2G ---    r  
 r
where –   x   , and r  0 .
Laplace @claplace(x), 1 –x
@dlaplace(x), f  x   --- e
2
@qlaplace(x),
@rlaplace for –   x   .

Logistic @clogistic(x), x
1 e
@dlogistic(x), f  x   ----------------
–x
-  --------------x
@qlogistic(p), 1e 1e
@rlogistic for –   x   .
Log-normal @clognorm(x,m,s), 1 2 2
–  log x – m    2s 
@dlognorm(x,m,s), f  x, m, s   -------------------e
2
@qlognorm(p,m,s), x 2ps
@rlognorm(m,s) x  0 , 0  m   , and s  0 .
Negative Binomial @cnegbin(x,n,p), Gx  n n x
@dnegbin(x,n,p), Pr  x, n, p   ----------------------------------p  1 – p 
G  x  1 G  n 
@qnegbin(s,n,p),
@rnegbin(n,p) if x  0, 1, , n,  , and 0 otherwise, for
0  x  1.
Normal (Gaussian) @cnorm(x), –1  2 –x  2
2

@dnorm(x), f  x    2p  e
@qnorm(p), for –   x   .
@rnorm, nrnd
Poisson @cpoisson(x,m), x –m
@dpoisson(x,m),
Pr  x, m   m e  x!
@qpoisson(p,m), if x  0, 1, , n,  , and 0 otherwise, for
@rpoisson(m) m  0.
572—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

Pareto @cpareto(x,k,a), a a1

@dpareto(x,k,a),
f  x, k, a    ak   x
@qpareto(p,k,a), for location parameter 0  k  x and shape
@rpareto(k,a) parameter a  0 .
Student's @ctdist(x,v), v1
t -distribution @dtdist(x,v), G  ------------ – v  1 
2 --------------------
 2  x 2
@qtdist(p,v), f  x, v   ---------------------------  1   ----- 
@rtdist(v)
1
---   v 
v
 vp  G  ---
2
 2
for –   x   , and v  0 . Note that v  1 ,
yields the Cauchy distribution.
Uniform @cunif(x,a,b), 1
@dunif(x,a,b), f  x   ------------
b–a
@qunif(p,a,b),
for a  x  b and b  a .
@runif(a,b), rnd
Weibull @cweib(x,m,a), –a a – 1 – x  m 
a

@dweib(x,m,a), f  x, m, a   am x e
@qweib(p,m,a), where 0  x   , and m, a  0 .
@rweib(m,a)

Additional Distribution Related Functions

The following utility functions were designed to facilitate the computation of p-values for
common statistical tests. While these results may be derived using the distributional func-
tions above, they are retained for convenience and backward compatibility.

Function Distribution Description

@chisq(x,v) Chi-square Returns the probability that a Chi-squared sta-
tistic with v degrees of freedom exceeds x :
@chisq(x,v)=1–@cchisq(x,d)
@fdist(x,v1,v2) F-distribution Probability that an F-statistic with v 1 numer-
ator degrees of freedom and v 2 denominator
degrees of freedom exceeds x :
@fdist(x,v1,v2)=1–@cfdist(x,v1,v2)
@tdist(x,v) t-distribution Probability that a t-statistic with v degrees of
freedom exceeds x in absolute value (two-
sided p-value):
@tdist(x,v)=2*(1–@ctdist(@abs(x),v))
 Workfile & Informational Functions—573

String Functions
EViews offers an extensive library of functions for working with strings. For a complete list
of relevant functions, see “String Function Summary,” on page 611. For discussion, see
“Strings,” on page 77.

Date Functions
EViews provides a powerful collection of functions for working with dates. For a list of func-
tions see “Date Function Summary,” on page 612. For discussion, see “Dates,” on page 94.

Indicator Functions
These functions produce indicators for whether each observation satisfies a specific condi-
tion:

Function Description
@inlist(series, "list") Creates a dummy variable equal to 1 for observa-
tions where series is equal to one of the values
specified in list, and 0 otherwise. list should be a
quoted, space delimited list of values. This function
works on both numerical and alpha series.
@between(series, val1, Creates a dummy variable equal to 1 for observa-
val2) tions where series is greater than or equal to val1
and less than or equal to val2.

Workfile & Informational Functions

The following list summarizes the utility functions that are designed to provide information
about the currently active workfile and the EViews environment. These functions are
described in greater detail in Chapter 15. “Workfile Functions,” on page 593.

General Information

Function Name Description

@env(str) environment variables returns a string containing the value
of the Windows environment vari-
able str.
For example @env(“username”)
returns the user-name of the current
logged in user. @env(“computer-
name”) returns the name of the
computer.
574—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

@fileexist(str) file exist returns a 0 or 1 depending on

whether the filename specified by
str exists on disk.
@folderex- folder exist returns a binary scalar, equal to 1 if
ist(str) the folder specified by str exists on
disk, and 0 otherwise.
@table- table/sheet names returns a space delimited string con-
names(str) taining the names of the table names
of a foreign file. str should be the
name (and path) of the foreign file,
enclosed in quotes. For an Excel file,
the names of the Excel sheets will be
returned.
@getnext- get next name returns a string containing the next
name(str) available variable name in the work-
file, starting with str. e.g. entering
“result” will return “result01” unless
there is already a RESULT01, in
which case it will return “result02”.
@vernum version number returns a scalar containing the
EViews version number.
@verstr version string returns a string containing the
EViews version string (e.g. “EViews
Enterprise Edition”).
@wdir(str) directory listing returns a string list containing a list
of all of the files in the directory str.
@wquery(“data- database query returns a string list containing the
base”, “search_ex- attribute_list of all objects in data-
pression”, base that match the query given by
“attribute_list”) search_expression (see @wquery
(p. 737) for details).

Element Information

Function Name Description

@elem(x,"v") element returns the value of a series at an
observation or date. The observation
or date should be entered in double
quotes.
@first(x) first element returns the value of the first non-
missing value in the series for the
current sample.
 Workfile & Informational Functions—575

@ifirst(x) index of first element returns the workfile index of the first
non-missing value in the series for
the current sample.
@ilast(x) last element returns the workfile index of the last
non-missing value in the series for
the current sample.
@last(x) index of last element returns the value of the last non-
missing value in the series for the
current sample.

Basic Workfile Functions

Function Name Description

@ispanel panel workfile returns a 0 or 1 depending on
whether the workfile is panel struc-
tured.
@obsrange observations in range returns the number of observations
in the workfile range.
@obssmpl observations in sample returns the number of observations
in the workfile sample.
@pagecount page count returns a scalar containing the num-
ber of pages in the current workfile.
@pageexist(str) page exists returns a 0 or 1 depending on
whether the page specified by str
exists in the current workfile.
@pagefreq page frequency returns a string containing the fre-
quency of the active page.
@pageids workfile page identifiers returns a string containing a space
delimited list of the id series for the
current workfile page.
@pagelist page names list returns a space delimited string con-
taining the names of all the pages in
the current active workfile.
@pagename page name returns a string containing the name
of the active page.
@pagesmpl workfile page sample returns a string containing the cur-
rent sample for the active page.
@wfname workfile name returns a string containing the cur-
rent default workfile name.
@wfpath workfile path returns a string containing the cur-
rent default workfile path.
576—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

Dated Workfile Information

The following functions return information about each observation in the workfile. They are
used to generate new series.

Function Name Description

@after(arg1) date is after creates a dummy variable equal to 1
if the observation is after or on the
date given by arg1. arg1 should be
enclosed in quotes.
@before(arg1) date is before creates a dummy variable equal to 1
if the observation is before the date
given by arg1. arg1 should be
enclosed in quotes.
@date date returns the date value.
@day day of month returns the day of the month.
@during(arg1 date is during creates a dummy variable equal to 1
if the observation lies between the
dates given by the date pair con-
tained in arg1, and 0 otherwise. arg1
should be given in quotes.
@enddate observations in range returns the end date of the period
of time associated with the obser-
vation in the workfile.
@event(arg1[, event proportion proportion of a one-off event that
basis]) lies in each observation.
@holiday(arg1[, holiday proportion proportion of an annual event that
basis]) lies in each observation.
@hour hour returns the hour of each observation
as an integer.
@hourf hour floating point returns the hour of each observation
as a floating point number (e.g., 9:30
a.m. returns 9.5, and 5:15 p.m.
returns 17.25).
@isperiod(x) period dummy returns a dummy variable for
whether the observation is in the
specified period.
@minute minutes returns the minute of each observa-
tion as an integer.
@month month returns the month of an observation.
@quarter quarter returns the quarter of an observa-
tion.
 Valmap Functions—577

@seas(x) seasonal dummy returns a seasonal dummy variable.

@second seconds returns the second of each observa-
tion as an integer.
@strdate(x) string dates returns a string representing the date
for every observation.
@trend([x]) time trend returns a time trend using the work-
file calendar.
@trendc([x]) calendar time trend returns a time trend where the trend
uses calendar time.
@weekday day of the week returns the day of the week.
@year year returns the year

Panel Workfile Functions

Function Name Description

@cellid element returns the inner dimension identi-
fier index.
@crossid observations in range returns the cross-section identifier
index.
@obsid cross-section observation returns the observation number
number within each panel cross section.
@trend time trend returns a time trend for each cross-
section using the observed dates in
the panel.
@trendc calendar time trend returns a time trend for each cross-
section where the trend uses calen-
dar time.

Valmap Functions
The following utility functions were designed to facilitate working with value mapped series.
Additional detail is provided in “Valmap Functions” on page 218 of the User’s Guide I

Function Name Description

@map(x[, mapname]) mapped value returns the mapped values of a
series.
@unmap(x, mapname) unmapped numeric returns the numeric values associ-
value ated with a set of string value labels.
@unmaptxt(x, mapname) unmapped text value returns the string values associated
with a set of string value labels.
578—Chapter 13. Operator and Function Reference

References
Abramowitz, M. and I. A. Stegun (1964). Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs,
and Mathematical Tables, New York: Dover Publications.
Press, W. H., S. A. Teukolsky, W. T. Vetterling, and B. P. Flannery (1992). Numerical Recipes in C, 2nd edi-
tion, Cambridge University Press.
Temme, Nico M. (1996). Special Functions: An Introduction to the Classical Functions of Mathematical
Physics, New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

The following reference is an alphabetical listing of operators and functions which may be
used in series assignment and generation, and in many cases, in matrix operations or ele-
ment evaluation. Additional details on these operators and functions is provided in
Chapter 13. “Operator and Function Reference,” on page 547.

Operator / Function Description

+ add
– subtract
* multiply
/ divide
^ raise to the power
< less than
<= less than or equal to
<> not equal to
= equal to
> greater than
>= greater than or equal to
@abs(x), abs(x) absolute value
@acos(x) arc cosine (real results in radians)
@after(arg1) Creates a dummy variable equal to 1 if the observation is after
or on the date given by arg1. arg1 should be enclosed in
quotes.
and logical and
@asin(x) arc sine (real results in radians)
@atan(x) arc tangent (results in radians)
@before(arg1) Creates a dummy variable equal to 1 if the observation is
before the date given by arg1. arg1 should be enclosed in
quotes.
@beta(a,b) beta integral
@betainc(x,a,b) incomplete beta integral
@betaincder(x,a,b,s) derivative of the incomplete beta integral
@betaincinv(p,a,b) inverse of the incomplete beta integral
@betalog(a,b) natural logarithm of the beta integral
580—Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

Operator / Function Description

@between(x, val1, val2) Creates a dummy variable equal to 1 for observations where
the series is greater than or equal to val1 and less than or
equal to val2.
@binom(n,x) binomial coefficient
@binomlog(n,x) natural logarithm of the binomial coefficient
@cbeta(x,a,b) beta cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cbinom(x,n,p) binomial cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cchisq(x,v) chi-square cumulative distribution (CDF)
@ceiling(x) smallest integer not less than
@cellid element
@cexp(x,m) exponential cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cextreme(x) extreme value cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cfdist(x,v1,v2) F-distribution cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cgamma(x,b,r) gamma cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cged(x,r) generalized error cumulative distribution (CDF)
@chisq(x,v) chi-square p-value
@claplace(x) Laplace cumulative distribution (CDF)
@clogistic(x) logistic cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cloglog(x) complementary log-log function
@clognorm(x,m,s) log normal cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cnegbin(x,n,p) negative binomial cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cnorm(x) normal cumulative distribution (CDF)
@columns(g) number of columns.
@cor(x,y[,s]) correlation
@cos(x) cosine (argument in radians)
@cov(x,y[,s]) population covariance
@covp(x,y[,s]) population covariance
@covs(x,y[,s]) sample covariance
@cpareto(x,a,k) Pareto cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cpoisson(x,m) Poisson cumulative distribution (CDF)
@crossid observations in range
@ctdist(x,v) Student’s t-distribution cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cumbmax(x[,s]) backwards cumulative maximum
@cumbmean(x[,s]) backwards cumulative mean
 —581

Operator / Function Description

@cumbmin(x[,s]) backwards cumulative minimum
@cumbnas(x[,s]) backwards cumulative nmber of NA observations
@cumbobs(x[,s]) backwards cumulative nmber of non-NA observations
@cumbprod(x[,s]) backwards cumulative product
@cumbstdev(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sample standard deviation
@cumbstdevp(x[,s]) backwards cumulative population standard deviation
@cumbstdevs(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sample standard deviation
@cumbsum(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sum
@cumbsumsq(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sum-of-squares
@cumbvar(x[,s]) backwards cumulative population variance
@cumbvarp(x[,s]) backwards cumulative population variance
@cumbvars(x[,s]) backwards cumulative sample variance
@cummax(x[,s]) cumulative maximum
@cummean(x[,s]) cumulative mean
@cummin(x[,s]) cumulative minimum
@cumnas(x[,s]) cumulative nmber of NA observations
@cumobs(x[,s]) cumulative nmber of non-NA observations
@cumprod(x[,s]) cumulative product
@cumstdev(x[,s]) cumulative sample standard deviation
@cumstdevp(x[,s]) cumulative population standard deviation
@cumstdevs(x[,s]) cumulative sample standard deviation
@cumsum(x[,s]) cumulative sum
@cumsumsq(x[,s]) cumulative sum-of-squares
@cumvar(x[,s]) cumulative population variance
@cumvarp(x[,s]) cumulative population variance
@cumvars(x[,s]) cumulative sample variance
@cunif(x,a,b) uniform cumulative distribution (CDF)
@cweib(x,m,a) Weibull cumulative distribution (CDF)
d(x) first difference
d(x,n) n-th order difference
d(x,n,s) n-th order difference with a seasonal difference at s
@date element
@dateadd(d, offset[,u]) calculates date number offsets
@datediff(d1,d2[,u]) difference between two dates
582—Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

Operator / Function Description

@datefloor(d1, u[, step]) calculates a date floor
@datepart(d1, u) calculates the date part of a number
@datestr(d[, fmt]) converts date to string
@dateval(str1[, fmt]) converts string to date
@day day of month
@dbeta(x,a,b) beta density function
@dbinom(x,n,p) binomial density function
@dchisq(x,v) chi-square density function
@dexp(x,m) exponential density function
@dextreme(x) extreme value density function
@dfdist(x,v1,v2) F-distribution density function
@dgamma(x,b,r) gamma density function
@dged(x,r) generalized error density function
@digamma(x), @psi(x) first derivative of the log gamma function
@dlaplace(xb) Laplace density function
dlog(x) first difference of the logarithm
dlog(x,n) n-th order difference of the logarithm
dlog(x,n,s) n-th order difference of the logarithm with a seasonal differ-
ence at s
@dlogistic(x) logistic density function
@dlognorm(x,m,s) log normal density function
@dnegbin(x,n,p) negative binomial density function
@dnorm(x) normal density function
@dpareto(x,a,k) Pareto density function
@dpoisson(x,m) Poisson density function
@dtdist(x,v) Student’s t-distribution density function
@dtoo(str) converts string to observation number
@dunif(x,a,b) uniform density function
@during(arg1) Creates a dummy variable equal to 1 if the observation lies
between the dates given by the date pair contained in arg1,
and 0 otherwise. arg1 should be given in quotes.
@dweib(x,m,a) Weibull density function
@elem(x,"v") element
@enddate observations in range
 —583

Operator / Function Description

@env(str) returns a string containing the value of the Windows environ-
ment variable str.
@eqna(str1, str2) test for equality of strings
@eqna(x,y) equal to
@erf(x) error function
@erfc(x) complementary error function
@event(arg1[, basis]) Proportion of a one-off event that lies in each observation.
x
@exp(x), exp(x) exponential, e
@fact(x) factorial, x!
@factlog(x) natural logarithm of the factorial, log e  x! 
@fdist(x,v1,v2) F-distribution p-value
@fileexist(str) returns a 0 or 1 depending on whether the filename specified
by str exists on disk.
@first(x) returns the value of the first non-missing value in the series for
the current sample.
@firstsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) First non-missing value in arg1 for each arg2 group.
@floor(x) largest integer not greater than.
@folderexist(str) returns a binary scalar, equal to 1 if the folder specified by str
exists on disk, and 0 otherwise.
@fv(r,n,x[,fv,t]) future value.
@gamma(x) (complete) gamma function
@gammader(x) first derivative of the gamma function
@gammainc(x,a) incomplete gamma function
@gammaincder(x,a,n) derivative of the incomplete gamma function
@gammaincinv(p,a) inverse of the incomplete gamma function
@gammalog(x) logarithm of the gamma function
@getnextname(str) returns a string containing the next available variable name in
the workfile, starting with str. e.g. entering “result” will return
“result01” unless there is already a RESULT01, in which case it
will return “result02”.
@gmean(x[,s]) geometric mean
@groupid(arg1[, arg2, ..., argn, group index for the groups defined by arg1 to argn.
s])
@hmean(x[.s]) harmonic mean
@holiday(arg1[, basis]) Proportion of an annual event that lies in each observation.
@hour returns the hour of each observation as an integer.
584—Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

Operator / Function Description

@hourf returns the hour of each observation as a floating point num-
ber.
@iff(s,x,y) recode by condition
@ifirst(x) returns the workfile index of the first non-missing value in the
series for the current sample.
@ilast(x) returns the workfile index of the last non-missing value in the
series for the current sample.
@imax(x) returns the workfile index of the maximum value in the series
for the current sample.
@imin(x) returns the workfile index of the minimum value in the series
for the current sample.
@inlist(x, “list”) Creates a dummy variable equal to 1 for observations where
the series is equal to one of the values specified in list, and 0
otherwise. list should be a quoted, space delimited list of val-
ues. This function works on both numerical and alpha series.
@inner(x,y[,s]) inner product
@insert(str1, str2, n]) string insertion
@instr(str1, str2[, n]) string location
@inv(x) reciprocal, 1  x
@isempty(str) tests for blank strings
@isna(x) equal to NA
@ispanel returns indicator for whether the workfile is panel structured.
@isperiod(x) period dummy
@kurt(x[,s]) kurtosis
@kurtsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, kurtosis of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn, s]) group.
@lag(x[, n]) n-th order lag (equivalent to “X(-4”) for the series X)
@last(x) returns the value of the last non-missing value in the series for
the current sample.
@lastsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) Last non-missing value in arg1 for each arg2 group.
@left(str, n) returns the left part of a string
@len(str) length of a string
@length(str) length of a string
@log(x), log(x) natural logarithm, log e  x 

@log10(x) base-10 logarithm, log 10  x 

@logit(x) logistic transform
 —585

Operator / Function Description

@logx(x,b) base-b logarithm, log b  x 
@lower(str) lowercases a string
@ltrim(str) removes spaces from a string
@makedate(arg1[,arg2[,arg3]], converts number to date
fmt])
@map(x[, mapname]) mapped value
@mav(x,n) n-period backward moving average. NAs are not propagated.
@mavc(x,n) n-period centered moving average. NAs are not propagated.
@max(x[,s]) maximum
@maxes(x,n) n-maximum values, returned largest to smallest in a vector
object.
@maxsby((arg1, arg2[, arg3, maximum value of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn
arg4..., argn, s) group.
@mcor(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving correlation. NAs are not propa-
gated.
@mcov(x,y,n) n-period backwards population moving covariance. NAs are
not propagated.
@mcovp(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving population covariance. NAs are
not propagated.
@mcovs(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving sample covariance. NAs are not
propagated.
@mean(x[,s]) mean
@meansby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, mean of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn, s]) group.
@median(x[,s]) median
@mediansby(arg1, arg2[, arg3, median of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn, s]) group
@mid(str, n1[, n2]) returns the middle part of a string
@min(x[,s]) minimum
@minner(x,y,n) n-period backwards inner product of X and Y. NAs are not
propagated.
@mins(x,n) n-minimum values, returned smallest to largest in a vector
object.
@minsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, minimum value of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn
arg4..., argn, s]) defined group.
@minute returns the minute of each observation as an integer.
@mkurt(x,n) n-period backwards kurtosis. NAs are not propagated.
586—Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

Operator / Function Description

@mmax(x,n) n-period backwards moving maximum. NAs are not propa-
gated.
@mmin(x,n) n-period backwards moving minimum. NAs are not propa-
gated.
@mnas(x,n) n-period backwards number of NA observations. NAs are not
propagated.
@mobs(x,n) n-period backwards number of non-NA observations. NAs are
not propagated.
@mod(x,y) floating point remainder
@month month
@movav(x,n) n-period backward moving average. NAs are propagated.
@movavc(x,n) n-period centered moving average. NAs are propagated.
@movcor(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving correlation. NAs are propagated.
@movcov(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving population covariance. NAs are
propagated.
@movcovp(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving population covariance. NAs are
propagated.
@movcovs(x,y,n) n-period backwards moving sample covariance. NAs are prop-
agated.
@movinner(x,y,n) n-period backwards inner product of X and Y. NAs are propa-
gated.
@movkurt(x,n) n-period backwards kurtosis. NAs are propagated.
@movmax(x,n) n-period backwards moving maximum. NAs are propagated.
@movmin(x,n) n-period backwards moving minimum. NAs are propagated.
@movnas(x,n) n-period backwards nmber of NA observations
@movobs(x,n) n-period backwards nmber of non-NA observations
@movskew(x,n) n-period backwards skewness. NAs are propagated.
@movstdev(x,n) n-period backwards moving sample standard deviation. NAs
are propagated.
@movstdevp(x,n) n-period backwards moving population standard deviation.
NAs are propagated.
@movstdevs(x,n) n-period backwards moving sample standard deviation. NAs
are propagated.
@movsum(x,n) n-period backward moving sum. NAs are propagated.
@movsumsq(x,n) n-period backwards sum-of-squares. NAs are propagated.
@movvar(x,n) n-period backwards moving population variance. NAs are
propagated.
 —587

Operator / Function Description

@movvarp(x,n) n-period backwards moving population variance. NAs are
propagated.
@movvars(x,n) n-period backwards moving sample variance. NAs are propa-
gated.
@mskew(x,n) n-period backwards skewness. NAs are not propagated.
@mstdev(x,n) n-period backwards moving sample standard deviation. NAs
are not propagated.
@mstdevp(x,n) n-period backwards moving population standard deviation.
NAs are not propagated.
@mstdevs(x,n) n-period backwards moving sample standard deviation. NAs
are not propagated.
@msum(x,n) n-period backward moving sum. NAs are not propagated.
@msumsq(x,n) n-period backwards sum-of-squares. NAs are not propagated.
@mvar(x,n) n-period backwards moving population variance. NAs are not
propagated.
@mvarp(x,n) n-period backwards moving population variance. NAs are not
propagated.
@mvars(x,n) n-period backwards moving sample variance. NAs are not
propagated.
@nan(x,y) recode NAs in X to Y
@nas(x[,s]) number of NAs
@nasby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, number of arg1 NA values for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn, s]) group.
@neqna(str1, str2) tests for inequality of strings
@neqna(x,y) not equal to
@now returns current time
@nper(r,x,pv[,fv,t]) annuity number of periods
nrnd normal random number generator
@obs(x[,s]) number of observations
@obsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, number of non-NA arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn
arg4..., argn, s]) defined group.
@obsid cross-section observation number
@obsrange observations in range
@obssmpl observations in sample
or logical or
@otod(n) converts observation number to string
588—Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

Operator / Function Description

@otods(n) converts sample observation number to string
@pagecount returns a scalar containing the number of pages in the current
workfile.
@pageexist(str) returns a 0 or 1 depending on whether the page specified by
str exists in the current workfile.
@pagefreq returns a string containing the current page’s frequency.
@pageids returns a string containing a space delimited list of the id
series for the current workfile page.
@pagelist returns a space delimited string containing the names of all the
pages in the current active workfile.
@pagename returns a string containing the current default page name.
@pagesmpl returns a string containing the current sample for the active
page.
@pc(x) one-period percentage change (in percent)
@pca(x) one-period percentage change—annualized (in percent)
@pch(x) one-period percentage change (in decimal)
@pcha(x) one-period percentage change—annualized (in decimal)
@pchy(x) one-year percentage change (in decimal)
@pcy(x) one-year percentage change (in percent)
@pmt(r,n,pv[,fv,t]) payment amount
@prod(x[,s]) product
@psi(x) see @digamma
@pv(r,n,x[,fv,t]) present value
@qbeta(s,a,b) beta quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qbinom(s,n,p) binomial quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qchisq(p,v) chi-square quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qexp(p,m) exponential quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qextreme(p) extreme value quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qfdist(p,v1,v2) F-distribution quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qgamma(p,b,r) gamma quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qged(p,r) generalized error quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qlaplace(x) Laplace quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qlogistic(p) logistic quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qlognorm(p,m,s) log normal quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qnegbin(s,n,p) negative binomial quantile function (inverse CDF)
 —589

Operator / Function Description

@qnorm(p) normal quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qpareto(p,a,k) Pareto quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qpoisson(p,m) Poisson quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qtdist(p,v) Student’s t-distribution quantile function (inverse CDF)
@quantile(x,q[,m,s]) quantile
@quantilesby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, q-quantiles of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn], q[, s]) group.
@quarter quarter of the year in a dated workfile
@qunif(p,a,b) uniform quantile function (inverse CDF)
@qweib(p,m,a) Weibull quantile function (inverse CDF)
@ranks(x[,o,t,s]) rank
@rate(n,x,pv[,fv,t]) interest
@rbeta(a,b) beta random number generator
@rbinom(a,b) binomial random number generator
@rchisq(v) chi-square random number generator
@recode(s,x,y) recode by condition
@replace(str1, str2, str3[,n]) replaces a string with another
@rexp(m) exponential random number generator
@rextreme(p) extreme value random number generator
@rfdist(v1,v2) F-distribution random number generator
@rfirst(g) row-wise first non-NA value.
@rgamma(b,r) gamma random number generator
@rged(r) generalised error random number generator
@right(str,n) returns the right parts of a string
@rifirst(g) row-wise first non-NA index.
@rilast(g) row-wise last non-NA index.
@rimax(g) row-wise maximum index.
@rimin(g) row-wise minimum index.
@rlaplace Laplace random number generator
@rlast(g) row-wise last non-NA value.
@rlogistic logistic random number generator
@rlognorm(m,s) log normal random number generator
@rmax(g) row-wise maximum value.
@rmean(g) row-wise mean.
590—Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

Operator / Function Description

@rmin(g) row-wise minimum value.
@rnas(g) row-wise number of NAs.
@rnegbin(n,p) negative binomial random number generator
@rnorm normal random number generator
@robs(g) row-wise number of non-NAs.
@round(x) round to the nearest integer
@rpareto(a,k) Pareto random number generator
@rpoisson(m) Poisson random number generator
@rstdev(g) row-wise sample standard deviation.
@rstdevp(g) row-wise population standard deviation.
@rstdevs(g) row-wise sample standard deviation.
@rsum(g) row-wise sum.
@rsumsq(g) row-wise sum-of-squares.
@rtdist(v) Student’s t-distribution random number generator
@rtrim(str) removes spaces from a string
@runif(a,b) uniform random number generator
@rvalcount(g,v) row-wise count of observations matching v.
@rvar(g) row-wise population variance.
@rvarp(g) row-wise population variance
@rvars(g) row-wise sample variance.
@rweib(m,a) Weibull random number generator
@seas(x) seasonal dummy
@second returns the second of each observation as an integer.
@sin(x) sine (argument in radians)
@skew(x[,s]) skewness
@skewsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, skewness of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn, s) group.
@smape(x,y[,s]) symmetric mean absolute percentage error
@sqrt(x), sqr(x) square root
@stdev(x[,s]) standard deviation
@stdevp(x[,s]) population standard deviation
@stdevs(x[,s]) sample standard deviation
@stdevpsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, standard deviation of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn
arg4..., argn, s]) defined group (division by n ).
 —591

Operator / Function Description

@stdevsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, sample standard deviation of arg1 observations for each arg2
arg4..., argn, s]) to argn defined group (division by n – 1 ).
@stdevssby((arg1, arg2[,arg3, sample standard deviation of arg1 observations for each arg2
arg4..., argn, s]) to argn defined group (division by n – 1 ).
@str(d,[fmt]) converts a number to a string
@strdate(fmt) string corresponding to each element in workfile
@strdate(x) string dates
@strlen(str) length of a string
@strnow(fmt) returns current time as a string
@sum(x[,s]) sum
@sumsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) sum of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined group.
@sumsq(x[,s]) sum-of-squares
@sumsqsby(arg1, arg2[, s]) sum of squares of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn
defined group.
@tablenames(str) returns a space delimited string containing the names of the
table names of a foreign file.
@tan(x) tangent (argument in radians)
@tdist(x,v) t-distribution p-value
@trend time trend
@trend([x]) time trend
@trendc calendar time trend
@trendc([x]) calendar time trend
@trigamma(x) second derivative of the log gamma function
@trim(str) removes spaces from a string
@unmap(x, mapname) unmapped numeric value
@unmaptxt(x, mapname) unmapped text value
@upper(str) uppercases a string
@val(str[, fmt]) converts a string to a number
@var(x[,s]) population variance
@varp(x[,s]) population variance
@varpsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, variance of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn, s]) group (division by n ).
@vars(x[,s]) sample variance
@varsby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, variance of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn defined
arg4..., argn, s]) group (division by n ).
592—Chapter 14. Operator and Function Listing

Operator / Function Description

@varssby(arg1, arg2[,arg3, sample variance of arg1 observations for each arg2 to argn
arg4..., argn, s]) defined group (division by n – 1 ).
@vernum returns a scalar containing the EViews version number.
@verstr returns a string containing the EViews version string (EViews
Enterprise Edition).
@wdir(str) returns a string list containing a list of all of the files in the
directory str.
@weekday day of the week
@wfname returns a string containing the current default workfile name.
@wfpath returns a string containing the current default workfile path.
@wquery("database", returns a string list containing the attribute_list of all objects in
"search_expression", database that match the query given by search_expression .
"attribute_list")
@year year
Chapter 15. Workfile Functions

EViews workfile functions provide information about each observation of a workfile based
on the structure of the workfile.

These functions may be viewed in two ways. First, they may be thought of as virtual series
available within each workfile that can be used wherever a regular series may be used.
Alternatively, they may be thought of as special functions that depend on two implicit argu-
ments: the workfile within which the function is being used, and the observation number
within this workfile for which to return a value.

Since workfile functions are based on the structure of a workfile, they may only be used in
operations where a workfile is involved. Workfile functions may be used in statements that
generate series in a workfile, in statements that set the workfile sample, and in expressions
used in estimating an equation using data in a workfile. These functions may not be used
when manipulating scalar variables or vectors and matrices in EViews programs.

Basic Workfile Information

The @obsnum function provides information on observation numbering for the workfile:
• @obsnum: returns the observation number of the current observation in the workfile.

The observation number starts at one for the first observation in the workfile, and incre-
ments by one for each subsequent observation.

For example:
series idnum = @obsnum

creates a series IDNUM that contains sequential values from one to the number of observa-
tions in the workfile.

Other functions return scalar values associated with the workfile and default workfile sam-
ple:
• @elem(x, "arg"): returns the value of the series x at observation or date arg. If the
workfile is undated, arg should be an integer corresponding to the observation ID as
given in @obsnum. If the workfile is dated, arg should be a string representation of a
date in the workfile. In both cases, the argument must be enclosed in double quotes.
Note that @elem is not available in panel structured workfiles.
• @ispanel: returns indicator for whether the workfile is panel structured (0 if no work-
file in memory).
• @obsrange: returns number of observations in the current active workfile range (0 if
no workfile in memory).
594—Chapter 15. Workfile Functions

• @obssmpl: returns number of observations in the current active workfile sample (0 if

no workfile in memory).
• @pagecount: returns the number of pages in the current active workfile (0 if no
workfile in memory)
• @pageexist: returns a 0 or 1 depending on whether the page specified by str exists
in the current workfile.

The following functions return a string value associated with the current workfile:
• @pagefreq: returns the frequency of the active page.
• @pagename: returns the name of the active page.
• @pagelist: returns a space delimited string containing the names of all the pages in the
current active workfile.

• @pagesmpl: returns the current sample for the active page.

• @pageids: returns the id series for the current active page. If the page is a regular dated
page, “@date” is returned. If the page is irregular, or structured by an id series, names of
the id series are returned. If the page is completely unstructured, empty string is
returned. In a panel it returns the cross-section identifiers followed by the date identifier.

• @wfname: returns the current default workfile name.

• @wfpath: returns the current default workfile path.

Dated Workfile Information

Basic Date Functions
EViews offers a set of functions that provide information about the dates in your dated
workfiles. The first two functions return the start and end date of the period of time (inter-
val) associated with each observation in the workfile:
• @date: returns the start date of the period of time of each observation of the workfile.
• @enddate: returns the end date of the period of time associated with each observa-
tion of the workfile.

Each date is returned in a number using standard EViews date representation (fractional
days since 1st Jan A.D. 1; see “Dates,” beginning on page 94).

A period is considered to end during the last millisecond contained within the period. In a
regular frequency workfile, each period will end immediately before the start of the next
period. In an irregular workfile there may be gaps between the end of one period and the
start of the following period due to observations that were omitted in the workfile.
 Dated Workfile Information—595

The @date and @enddate functions may be combined with EViews date manipulation func-
tions to provide a wide variety of calendar information about a dated workfile.

For example, if we had a monthly workfile containing sales data for a product, we might
expect the total sales that occurred in a given month to be related to the number of business
days (Mondays to Fridays) that occurred within the month. We could create a new series in
the workfile containing the number of business days in each month by using:
series busdays = @datediff(@date(+1), @date, "B")

If the workfile contained irregular data, we would need to use a more complicated expres-
sion since in this case we cannot assume that the start of the next period occurs immediately
after the end of the current period. For a monthly irregular file, we could use:
series busdays = @datediff(@dateadd(@date, 1, "M"), @date, "B")

Similarly, when working with a workfile containing daily share price data, we might be
interested in whether price volatility is different in the days surrounding a holiday for which
the market is closed. We may use the first formula given above to determine the number of
business days between adjacent observations in the workfile, then use this result to create
two dummy variables that indicate whether each observation is before or after a holiday
day.
series before_holiday = (busdays > 1)
series after_holiday = (busdays(-1) > 1)

We could then use these dummy variables as exogenous regressors in the variance equation
of a GARCH estimation to estimate the impact of holidays on price volatility.

In many cases, you may wish to transform the date numbers returned by @date so that the
information is contained in an alternate format. EViews provides workfile functions that
bundle common translations of date numbers to usable information. These functions
include:
• @year: returns the four digit year in which each observation begins. It is equivalent to
“@datepart(@date, "YYYY")”.
• @quarter: returns the quarter of the year in which each observation begins. It is
equivalent to “@datepart(@date, "Q")”.
• @month: returns the month of the year in which each observation begins. It is equiva-
lent to “@datepart(@date, "MM")”.
• @day: returns the day of the month in which each observation begins. It is equivalent
to “@datepart(@date, "DD")”.
• @weekday: returns the day of the week in which each observation begins, where
Monday is given the number 1 and Sunday is given the number 7. It is equivalent to
“@datepart(@date, "W")”.
596—Chapter 15. Workfile Functions

• @hour: returns the hour associated with each observation as an integer. For example,
9:30AM returns 9, and 5:15PM returns 17.
• @minute: returns the minute associated with each observation as an integer. For
example, 9:30PM returns 30.
• @second: returns the second associated with each observation as an integer.
• @hourf: returns the time associated with observation as a floating point hour. For
example, 9:30AM returns 9.5, and 5:15PM returns 17.25.
• @strdate(fmt): returns the set of observation dates as strings, using the date format
string fmt. See “Date Formats” on page 97 for a discussion of date format strings.
• @seas(season_number): returns dummy variables based on the period within the cur-
rent year in which each observation occurs, where the year is divided up according to
the workfile frequency. For example, in a quarterly file, “@seas(1)”, “@seas(2)”,
“@seas(3)”, and “@seas(4)” correspond to the set of dummy variables for the four
quarters of the year. these expressions are equivalent (in the quarterly workfile) to
“@quarter=1”, “@quarter=2”, “@quarter=3”, and “@quarter=4”, respectively.
• @isperiod(arg): returns dummy variables for whether each observation is in the
specified period, where arg is a double quoted date or period number. Note that in
dated workfiles, arg is rounded down to the workfile frequency prior to computation.

Additional information on working with dates is provided in “Dates,” beginning on page 94.

Trend Functions
One common task in time series analysis is the creation of variables that represent time
trends. EViews provides two distinct functions for this purpose:
• @trend(["base_date"]): returns a time trend that increases by one for each observa-
tion of the workfile. The optional base_date may be provided to indicate the starting
date for the trend.
• @trendc(["base_date"]): returns a calendar time trend that increases based on the
number of calendar periods between successive observations. The optional base_date
may be provided to indicate the starting date for the trend.

The functions @trend and @trendc are used to represent two different types of time trends
that differ in some circumstances:
• In a regular frequency workfile, @trend and @trendc both return a simple trend that
increases by one for each observation of the workfile.
• In an irregular workfile, @trend provides an observation-based trend as before, but
@trendc now returns a calendar trend that increases based on the number of calen-
dar periods between adjacent observations. For example, in a daily irregular file
 Dated Workfile Information—597

where a Thursday has been omitted because it was a holiday, the @trendc value
would increase by two between the Wednesday before and the Friday after the holi-
day, while the @trend will increase by only one.

Both @trend and @trendc functions may be used with an argument consisting of a string
containing the date at which the trend has the value of zero. If this argument is omitted, the
first observation in the workfile will be given the value of zero.

The choice of which type of time trend is appropriate in a particular context should be based
on what role the time trend is playing in the analysis. When used in estimation, a time trend
is usually used to represent some sort of omitted variable. If the omitted variable is some-
thing that continues to increase independently of whether the workfile data is observed or
not, then the appropriate trend would be the calendar trend. If the omitted variable is some-
thing that increases only during periods when the workfile data is observed, then the appro-
priate trend would be the observation trend.

An example of the former sort of variable would be where the trend is used to represent
population growth, which continues to increase whether, for example, financial markets are
open on a particular day or not. An example of the second sort of variable might be some
type of learning effect, where learning only occurs when the activity is actually undertaken.

Note that while these two trends are provided as built in functions, other types of trends
may also be generated based on the calendar data of the workfile. For example, in a file con-
taining monthly sales data, a trend based on either the number of days in the month or the
number of business days in the month might be more appropriate than a trend that incre-
ments by one for each observation.

These sorts of trends can be readily generated using @date and the @datediff functions.
For example, to generate a trend based on the number of days elapsed between the start date
of the current observation and the base date of 1st Jan 2000, we can use:
series daytrend = @datediff(@date, @dateval("1/1/2000"), "d")

When used in a monthly file, this series would provide a trend that adjusts for the fact that
some months contain more days than others.

Note that trends in panel structured workfiles follow special rules. See “Panel Trend Func-
tions” on page 600 for details.

Event Functions
These functions return information about each observation’s relationship with a specified
date, or date range:
• @daycount([“weekday_range”]): Returns the number of calendar days within each
observation of the workfile. The optional weekday_range argument lets you specify
certain days of the week to count.
598—Chapter 15. Workfile Functions

If only one weekday is provided, @daycount returns the number of times that partic-
ular weekday occurs within the observation. If two weekdays are provided, @day-
count returns the number of times that any weekday between (and including) the
two weekdays occurs within the observation.
• @before("date"): returns a dummy variable with a value of 1 for each observation
prior to date, and zero for every other observation. If an observation is partially before
date (for example if you have a monthly workfile and specify a day as date), the frac-
tion of the observation before date is returned.
• @after("date"): returns a dummy variable with a value of 1 for each observation
after, and including, date, and zero for every other observation. If an observation is
partially before date (for example if you have a monthly workfile and specify a day as
date), the fraction of the observation after and including date is returned.
• @during("date1 date2"): returns a dummy variable with a value of 1 for each obser-
vation between date1 and date2 (inclusive), and zero for every other observation. If
an observation partially covers the specified dates (for example if you have a monthly
workfile and specify a pair of days in the same month), the fraction is returned.
• @event("date1 [date2]", [basis]): returns a variable containing the proportion of a
one-off event covered by each observation. The event can be specified by a single
date, or by a pair of dates to denote a date range.
If the workfile has a regular frequency and spans the entire event, the returned series
will sum to one over all observations. If the workfile is irregular or does not span the
entire event, the series may sum to less than one due to the observations that have
been omitted.
The optional argument, basis, may be used to specify that only certain days of the
week, or times of the day should be included as part of the holiday event. basis
should be enclosed in quotes and should follow a syntax of “start_weekday-end_week-
day, start_time-end_time”. eg. use “Mon-Fri” to indicate that only days from Monday
to Friday (inclusive) should be counted when proportioning up the event between
observations.
• @holiday("date1 [date2]", [basis]): returns a variable containing the proportion of
an annual event covered by each observation. The event can be specified by a single
date, a date pair to denote a date range. When specifying a date, you may use one of
the following special terms:
Day in a month eg. “Dec25”.
Day in a month, with Saturday moved back to Friday and Sunday moved forward
to Monday (by using “~” after the day) e.g., “Dec25~”.
N-th weekday within a month (using negative values for last weekday in month).
e.g., “Nov4Thu” for the fourth Thursday in November, and “May-1Mon” for
 Panel Workfile Functions—599

the last Monday in May.

A specific holiday name: “Easter”, “Christmas”, “Thanksgiving”, “cny” (Chinese
New Year).
You may optionally supply an offset to the specified holiday by including a number in
parenthesis after the holiday. For example to specify a holiday of a range of dates cov-
ering three days before Easter to four days after Easter each year, use “Easter(-3) Eas-
ter(4).
The optional argument, basis, may be used In the @event and @holiday functions to
specify that only certain days of the week, or times of the day should be included as
part of the holiday event. basis should be enclosed in quotes and should follow a syn-
tax of “start_weekday-end_weekday, start_time-end_time”. eg. use “Mon-Fri” to indi-
cate that only days from Monday to Friday (inclusive) should be counted when
proportioning up the event between observations.

Indicator Functions
These functions produce indicators for whether each observation satisfies a specific condi-
tion:
• @inlist(series, “list”): returns a dummy variable with a value of 1 for each observa-
tion of series equal to one of the values specified in list. list should be a quoted, space
delimited list of values. For example, @inlist(name, “John Jack Susan”)
returns a dummy variable equal to 1 for each observation where name matches either
“John”, “Jack” or “Susan”.
• @between(series, val1, val2): returns dummy variable equal to 1 for observations
where series is greater than or equal to val1 and less than or equal to val2. For exam-
ple, @between(X, 0.4, 0.6) returns a dummy variable equal to 1 for each observa-
tion of X satisfying 0.4  X  0.6 .

Panel Workfile Functions

Panel Identifier Functions
Additional information is available in panel structured workfiles. EViews provides workfile
functions that provide information about the cross-section, cell, and observation IDs associ-
ated with each observation in a panel workfile:
• @crossid: returns the cross-section index (cross-section number) of each observa-
tion.
• @cellid: returns the inner dimension index value for each observation. The index
numbers identify the unique values of the inner dimension observed across all cross-
sections. Thus, if the first cross-section has annual observations for 1990, 1992, 1994,
600—Chapter 15. Workfile Functions

and 1995, and the second cross-section has observations for 1990, 1995, and 1997,
the corresponding @cellid values will be (1, 2, 3, 4) and (1, 4, 5), respectively.
• @obsid: returns the observation number within each panel cross section for each
observation. @obsid is similar to @obsnum except that it resets to one whenever it
crosses the seam between two adjacent cross sections.

See “Identifier Indices” on page 836 of the User’s Guide II for additional discussion.

Panel Trend Functions

Central to the notion of a panel trend is the notion that the trend values are initialized at the
start of a cross-section, increase for successive observations in the specific cross-section, and
are reset at the start of the next-cross section.

Beyond that, there are several notions of a time trend that may be employed. EViews pro-
vides four different functions that may be used to create a trend series: @obsid, @trendc,
@cellid, and @trend.

The @obsid function may be used to obtain the simplest notion of a trend in which the val-
ues for each cross-section begin at one and increase by one for successive observations in
the cross-section. To begin your trends at zero, simply use the expression “@OBSID-1”. Note
that such a trend does not use information about the cell ID values in determining the value
increment.

The calendar trend function, @trendc, computes trends in which values for observations
with the earliest observed date are normalized to zero, and successive observations are
incremented based on the calendar for the workfile frequency.

Lastly, @cellid and @trend compute trends using the observed dates in the panel:
• @cellid, which returns an index into the unique values of the cell ID, returns a form
of time trend in which the values increase based on the number of cell ID values
between successive observations.
• @trend function is equivalent to “@cellid-1”.

In fully balanced workfiles (workfiles with the same set of cell identifier in each cross-sec-
tion), the expressions “@obsid-1”, “@cellid-1”, and “@trend” all return the same values.
Additionally, if the workfile follows a regular frequency, then the @trendc function returns
the same values as @trend.

Note that because of the way they employ information computed across cross-sections,
@trend and @trendc may not take the optional base_date argument in panel structured
workfiles (see “Trend Functions” on page 596).
Chapter 16. Special Expression Reference

The following reference is an alphabetical listing of special expressions that may be used in
series assignment and generation, or as terms in estimation specifications.

Special Expression Summary

ar..........................autoregressive error specification (p. 601).
d...........................fractional difference specification (p. 602).
@expand ..............automatic dummy variables (p. 603).
ma ........................moving average error specification (p. 604).
na .........................not available (missing value) code (p. 605).
nrnd .....................normal random number generation (p. 606).
pdl........................polynomial distributed lag specification (p. 607).
rnd .......................uniform random number generation (p. 608).
sar ........................seasonal autoregressive error specification (p. 608).
sma.......................seasonal moving average error specification (p. 609).
@wexpand............automatic dummy variables from strings.

Special Expression Entries

The following section provides an alphabetical listing of the commands and functions asso-
ciated with the EViews programming language. Each entry outlines the basic syntax and
provides examples and cross references.

ar Special Expression

Autoregressive error specification.

The AR specification can appear in an ls (p. 410) or tsls (p. 496) specification to indicate
an autoregressive component. ar(1) indicates the first order component, ar(2) indicates
the second order component, and so on.

You may express a range of AR terms using the “to” keyword between a starting and ending
integer.

Examples
The command:
602—Chapter 16. Special Expression Reference

ls m1 c tb3 tb3(-1) ar(1) ar(4)

regresses M1 on a constant, TB3, and TB3 lagged once with a first order and fourth order
autoregressive component. The command:
tsls sale c adv ar(1) ar(2) ar(3) ar(4) @ c gdp

performs two-stage least squares of SALE on a constant and ADV with up to fourth order
autoregressive components using a constant and GDP as instruments.
tsls sale c adv ar(1 to 4) @ c gdp

estimates an equivalent specification.

Cross-references
See Chapter 22. “Time Series Regression,” on page 87 of User’s Guide II for details on ARMA
and seasonal ARMA modeling.

See also sar (p. 608), ma (p. 604), and sma (p. 609).

d Special Expression

Fractional difference specification.

The D specification can appear in an ls (p. 410) equation specification to indicate that the
equation should be estimated with fractional differencing (typically as part of an ARFIMA
model).

Examples
The command:
ls m1 c tb3 tb3(-1) ar(1) ar(4) d

regresses M1 on a constant, TB3, and TB3 lagged once with a first order and fourth order
autoregressive component and fractional differencing.

Cross-references
See Chapter 22. “Time Series Regression,” on page 87 of User’s Guide II for details on ARMA
and seasonal ARMA modeling.

See also sar (p. 608), ma (p. 604), and sma (p. 609).
 @expand—603

@expand Special Expression

Automatic dummy variables.

The @expand expression may be added in estimation to indicate the use of one or more
automatically created dummy variables.

Syntax
@expand(ser1[, ser2, ser3, ...][, drop_spec])

creates a set of dummy variables that span the unique values of the input series ser1, ser2,
etc.

The optional drop_spec may be used to drop one or more of the dummy variables. drop_spec
may contain the keyword @dropfirst (indicating that you wish to drop the first category),
@droplast (to drop the last category), or a description of an explicit category, using the syn-
tax:
@drop(val1[, val2, val3,...])

where each argument corresponds to a category in @expand. You may use the wild card “*”
to indicate all values of a corresponding category.

Example
For example, consider the following two variables:
• SEX is a numeric series which takes the values 1 and 0.
• REGION is an alpha series which takes the values “North”, “South”, “East”, and
“West”.

The command:
eq.ls income @expand(sex) age

regresses INCOME on two dummy variables, one for “SEX=0” and one for “SEX=1” as well
as the simple regressor AGE.

The @EXPAND statement in,

eq.ls income @expand(sex, region) age

creates 8 dummy variables corresponding to:

sex=0, region="North"
sex=0, region="South"
sex=0, region="East"
604—Chapter 16. Special Expression Reference

sex=0, region="West"
sex=1, region="North"
sex=1, region="South"
sex=1, region="East"
sex=1, region="West"

The expression:
@expand(sex, region, @dropfirst)

creates the set of dummy variables defined above, but no dummy is created for “SEX=0,
REGION="North"”. In the expression:
@expand(sex, region, @droplast)

no dummy is created for “SEX=1, REGION="WEST"”.

The expression:
@expand(sex, region, @drop(0,"West"), @drop(1,"North")

creates a set of dummy variables from SEX and REGION pairs, but no dummy is created for
“SEX=0, REGION="West"” and “SEX=1, REGION="North"”.
@expand(sex, region, @drop(1,*))

specifies that dummy variables for all values of REGION where “SEX=1” should be
dropped.
eq.ls income @expand(sex)*age

regresses INCOME on regressor AGE with category specific slopes, one for “SEX=0” and
one for “SEX=1”.

Cross-references
See “Automatic Categorical Dummy Variables” on page 28 of User’s Guide II for further dis-
cussion.

ma Special Expression

Moving average error specification.

The ma specification may be added in an ls (p. 410) or tsls (p. 496) specification to indi-
cate a moving average error component. ma(1) indicates the first order component, ma(2)
indicates the second order component, and so on.

You may express a range of MA terms using the “to” keyword between a starting and ending
integer.
 na—605

Examples
ls(z) m1 c tb3 tb3(-1) ma(1) ma(2)

regresses M1 on a constant, TB3, and TB3 lagged once with first order and second order
moving average error components. The “z” option turns off backcasting in estimation.
ls(z) m1 c tb3 tb3(-1) ma(1 to 4)

estimates the same model but with MA terms from 1 to 4.

Cross-references
See “Time Series Regression” on page 87 of User’s Guide II for details on ARMA and sea-
sonal ARMA modeling.

See also sma (p. 609), ar (p. 601), and sar (p. 608).

na Special Expression

Not available code. “NA” is used to represent missing observations.

Examples
smpl if y >= 0
series z = y
smpl if y < 0
z = na

generates a series Z containing the contents of Y, but with all negative values of Y set to
“NA”.

NA values will also be generated by mathematical operations that are undefined:

series y = nrnd
y = log(y)

will replace all positive value of Y with log(Y) and all negative values with “NA”.
series test = (yt <> na)

creates the series TEST which takes the value one for nonmissing observations of the series
YT. A zero value of TEST indicates missing values of the series YT.

Note that the behavior of missing values has changed since EViews 2. Previously, NA values
were coded as 1e-37. This implied that in EViews 2, you could use the expression:
series z = (y>=0)*x + (y<0)*na

to return the value of Y for non-negative values of Y and “NA” for negative values of Y. This
expression will now generate the value “NA” for all values of Y, since mathematical expres-
606—Chapter 16. Special Expression Reference

sions involving missing values always return “NA”. You must now use the smpl statement as
in the first example above, or the @recode or @nan function.

Cross-references
See “Missing Values” on page 177 of User’s Guide I for a discussion of working with missing
values in EViews.

nrnd Special Expression

Normal random number generator.

When used in a series expression, nrnd generates (pseudo) random draws from a normal
distribution with zero mean and unit variance.

Examples
smpl @first @first
series y = 0
smpl @first+1 @last
series y = .6*y(-1)+.5*nrnd

generates a Y series that follows an AR(1) process with initial value zero. The innovations
are normally distributed with mean zero and standard deviation 0.5.
series u = 10+@sqr(3)*nrnd
series z = u+.5*u(-1)

generates a Z series that follows an MA(1) process. The innovations are normally distributed
with mean 10 and variance 3.
series x = nrnd^2+nrnd^2+nrnd^2

generates an X series as the sum of squares of three independent standard normal random
2
variables, which has a x  3  distribution. Note that adding the sum of the three series is
not the same as issuing the command:
series x=3*nrnd^2

since the latter involves the generation of a single random variable.

The command:
series x=@qchisq(rnd,3)
2
provides an alternative method of simulating random draws from a x  3  distribution.
 pdl—607

Cross-references
See “Statistical Distribution Functions” on page 569 for a list of other random number gen-
erating functions from various distributions.

See also rnd (p. 608), rndint (p. 462) and rndseed (p. 463).

pdl Special Expression

Polynomial distributed lag specification.

This expression allows you to estimate polynomial distributed lag specifications in ls or

tsls estimation. pdl forces the coefficients of a distributed lag to lie on a polynomial. The
expression can only be used in estimation by list.

Syntax
pdl(series_name, lags, order[,options])

Options
The PDL specification must be provided in parentheses after the keyword pdl in the follow-
ing order: the name of the series to which to fit a polynomial lag, the number of lags to
include, the order (degree) of polynomial to fit, and an option number to constrain the PDL.
By default, EViews does not constrain the endpoints of the PDL.

The constraint options are:

1 Constrain the near end of the distribution to zero.
2 Constrain the far end of the distribution to zero.
3 Constrain both the near and far end of the distribution
to zero.

Examples
ls sale c pdl(order,8,3) ar(1) ar(2)

fits a third degree polynomial to the coefficients of eight lags of the regressor ORDER.
tsls sale c pdl(order,12,3,2) @ c pdl(rain,12,6)

fits a third degree polynomial to the coefficients of twelve lags of ORDER, constraining the
far end to be zero. Estimation is by two-stage least squares, using a constant and a sixth
degree polynomial fit to twelve lags of RAIN.
tsls y c x1 x2 pdl(z,12,3,2) @ c pdl(*) z2 z3 z4

When the PDL variable is exogenous in 2SLS, you may use “pdl(*)” in the instrument list
instead of repeating the full PDL specification.
608—Chapter 16. Special Expression Reference

Cross-references
See “Polynomial Distributed Lags (PDLs)” on page 23 of User’s Guide II for further discus-
sion.

rnd Special Expression

Uniform random number generator.

Generates (pseudo) random draws from a uniform distribution on (0,1). The expression may
be included in a series expression or in an equation to be used in solve.

Examples
series u=5+(12-5)*rnd

generates a U series drawn from a uniform distribution on (5, 12).

Cross-references
See the list of available random number generators in “Statistical Distribution Functions” on
page 569.

See also nrnd (p. 606), rndint (p. 462) and rndseed (p. 463).

sar Special Expression

Seasonal autoregressive error specification.

sar can be included in ls or tsls specification to specify a multiplicative seasonal autore-

gressive term. A sar(p) term can be included in your equation specification to represent a
seasonal autoregressive term with lag p . The lag polynomial used in estimation is the prod-
uct of that specified by the ar terms and that specified by the sar terms. The purpose of the
sar expression is to allow you to form the product of lag polynomials.

Examples
ls tb3 c ar(1) ar(2) sar(4)

TB3 is modeled as a second order autoregressive process with a multiplicative seasonal

autoregressive term at lag four.
tsls sale c adv ar(1) sar(12) sar(24) @ c gdp

In this two-stage least squares specification, the error term is a first order autoregressive pro-
cess with multiplicative seasonal autoregressive terms at lags 12 and 24.
 @wexpand—609

Cross-references
See “Background,” beginning on page 87 of User’s Guide II for details on ARMA and sea-
sonal ARMA modeling.

See also sma (p. 609), ar (p. 601), and ma (p. 604).

sma Special Expression

Seasonal moving average error specification.

sma can be included in a ls or tsls specification to specify a multiplicative seasonal mov-

ing average term. A sma(p) term can be included in your equation specification to represent
a seasonal moving average term of order p . The lag polynomial used in estimation is the
product of that specified by the ma terms and that specified by the sma terms. The purpose
of the sma expression is to allow you to form the product of lag polynomials.

Examples
ls tb3 c ma(1) ma(2) sma(4)

TB3 is modeled as a second order moving average process with a multiplicative seasonal
moving average term at lag four.
tsls(z) sale c adv ma(1) sma(12) sma(24) @ c gdp

In this two-stage least squares specification, the error term is a first order moving average
process with multiplicative seasonal moving average terms at lags 12 and 24. The “z” option
turns off backcasting.

Cross-references
See “Background,” beginning on page 87 of User’s Guide II for details on ARMA and sea-
sonal ARMA modeling.

See also sar (p. 608), ar (p. 601), and ma (p. 604).

@wexpand Special Expression

String list containing automatic dummy variable expressions.

Return the string list associated with automatically created dummy variables from numeric
or alpha series.

Syntax
@wexpand(ser1[, ser2, ser3, ...][, “sample string”]))
610—Chapter 16. Special Expression Reference

returns the string corresponding to the set of dummy variables that span the unique values
of the input series ser1, ser2, etc. These may be numerical series with integer only values,
alpha series or links.

Example
For example, consider the following two variables:

• SEX is a numeric series which takes the values 1 and 0.

• REGION is an alpha series which takes the values “North”, “South”, “East”, and
“West”.

The command:
string slist = @wexpand(sex)

yields the string SEXLIST containing “SEX=0 SEX=1”.

The @wexpand statement in,

series sregion = @wexpand(sex, region)

yields a space delimited string list SREGION with elements:

“SEX=0 AND REGION=""North""”
“SEX=0 AND REGION=""South""”
“SEX=0 AND REGION=""East""”
“SEX=0 AND REGION=""West""”
“SEX=1 AND REGION=""North""”
“SEX=1 AND REGION=""South""”
“SEX=1 AND REGION=""East""”
“SEX=1 AND REGION=""West""”

Cross-references
See “Automatic Categorical Dummy Variables” on page 28 of User’s Guide II for further dis-
cussion.
Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

EViews provides a full library of string and date functions for use with alphanumeric and
date values. Chapter 5. “Strings and Dates,” on page 77 contains a discussion of the use of
strings and dates in EViews, and provides a description of the string and date functions.

String Function Summary

String Functions
@addquotes ..........returns string with quotation marks added to ends (p. 613).
@asc.....................return ASCII code for first character of string (p. 614).
@chr ....................return character string for given integer ASCII code (p. 614).
@datestr ...............converts a date number into a string (p. 618).
@dateval...............converts a string into a date number (p. 618).
@dtoo...................returns observation number corresponding to the date specified by
a string (p. 619).
@eqna ..................tests for equality of string values treating empty strings as ordinary
blank values (p. 619).
@insert.................inserts string into another string (p. 620).
@instr ..................finds the starting position of the target string in a string (p. 620).
@isempty .............tests string against empty string (p. 621).
@left ....................returns the leftmost characters string (p. 621).
@len, @length......finds the length of a string (p. 621).
@lower.................returns the lowercase representation of a string (p. 622).
@ltrim ..................returns the string with spaces trimmed from the left end (p. 623).
@mid ...................returns a substring from a string (p. 624).
@neqna ................tests for inequality of string values treating empty strings as ordi-
nary blank values (p. 624).
@otod...................returns a string associated with a date or observation value in the
workfile (p. 625).
@otods .................returns a string associated with a date or observation value in the
current workfile sample (p. 625).
@replace...............replaces substring in a string (p. 626).
@right ..................returns the rightmost characters of a string (p. 626).
@rtrim..................returns the string with spaces trimmed from the right end (p. 627).
@str .....................returns a string representing the given number (p. 627).
@strdate ...............returns string corresponding to each element in workfile (p. 632).
@stripcommas ......returns string with commas removed (p. 632).
612—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@stripparens ........ returns string with parentheses removed (p. 633).

@stripquotes ........ returns string with quotation marks removed (p. 633).
@strlen ................ finds the length of a string (p. 634).
@strnow .............. returns a string representation of the current date (p. 634).
@trim .................. returns the string with spaces trimmed from the both ends (p. 634).
@upper................ returns the uppercase representation of a string (p. 637).
@val .................... returns the number that a string represents (p. 638).
@wcount ............. returns the number of elements in a string list (p. 640).
@wcross .............. returns the cross of two string lists (p. 640).
@wdelim ............. replaces delimiters in a string list (p. 641).
@wdrop ............... drops elements from a string list (p. 641).
@wfind ................ finds string in string list (p. 642).
@wfindnc ............ finds string in string list, ignoring case (p. 642).
@winterleave ....... interleaves two string lists (p. 643).
@wintersect ......... intersects two string lists (p. 643).
@wjoin ................ return a space delimited string list containing the contents of an
svector (p. 644).
@wkeep............... keeps elements in a string list (p. 644).
@wleft ................. returns the leftmost elements in a string list (p. 645).
@wmid ................ returns a substring from a string list (p. 645).
@wnotin .............. returns parts of a string list not found in another string list (p. 646).
@word ................. returns the i-th element from a string list (p. 646).
@wordq ............... returns the i-th element from a string list, preserving quotes
(p. 647).
@wread ............... returns a string containing the contents of the specified text file on
disk. (p. 647).
@wreplace ........... replaces parts of a string based on patterns (p. 647).
@wright............... returns the rightmost elements in a string list (p. 648).
@wsort ................ sorts a string list (p. 648).
@wsplit ............... returns an svector containing elements of a string list (p. 649).
@wunion ............. returns the union of two string lists (p. 649).
@wunique ........... returns a string list with duplicate elements removed (p. 650).
@xputnames ........ returns a space delimited list containing the names of objects cre-
ated in a foreign application using the last xput command (p. 650).

Date Function Summary

Date Functions
@dateadd............. add to a date (p. 615).
@datediff ............. computes difference between dates (p. 616).
 @addquotes—613

@datefloor ............rounds date down to start of period(p. 616).

@datepart .............extracts part of date (p. 617).
@datestr ...............converts a date number into a string (p. 618).
@dateval...............converts a string into a date number (p. 618).
@dtoo...................returns observation number corresponding to the date specified by
a string (p. 619).
@localt .................returns the local time zone representation of a point in time input in
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) (p. 622).
@makedate...........converts numeric values into a date number (p. 623).
@now...................returns the date number associated with the current time (p. 625).
@otod...................returns a string associated with a the date or observation value
(p. 625).
@strdate ...............returns string corresponding to each element in workfile (p. 632).
@strnow ...............returns a string representation of the current date (p. 634).
@tz ......................converts a point in time from the source time zone into the destina-
tion time zone (p. 635).
@tzlist ..................converts a point in time from the source time zone into the destina-
tion time zone (p. 635).
@tzspec ................returns time zone information for the first time zone whose descrip-
tion contains the piece of text (p. 636).
@utc.....................returns the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) value for a point in
time input using a local time zone value (p. 637).

Date and String Entries

The following is an alphabetical listing of the functions used when working with strings and
dates in EViews.

@addquotes String Functions

Syntax: @addquotes(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the string str with quotation marks added to both the left and the right.

Example:
@addquotes(ss1)

Say the string SS1 contains text without quotes: Chicken Marsala. This command returns
SS1 with quotes added to each end: “Chicken Marsala”.
614—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

See also @stripquotes (p. 633).

@asc String Functions

Syntax: @asc(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: integer

Returns the integer ASCII value for the first character in the string str.

Example:
scalar s1 = @asc("C")
scalar s2 = @asc("c")

returns the scalars S1=67 and S2=99.

See also @chr (p. 614).

@chr String Functions

Syntax: @chr(i)
Argument: integer, i
Return: string

Returns the character string corresponding to the ASCII value i.

Valid inputs are integers running from 0 to 255. Any integer higher than 255 will return the
same thing as 0 (i.e. an empty string).

Example:
string s1 = @chr(67)
string s2 = @chr(99)

returns the strings S1=“C” and S2=“c”.

See also @asc (p. 614).

 @dateadd—615

@dateadd Date Functions

Syntax: @dateadd(d, offset, u]

Argument 1: date number, d
Argument 2: number of time units, offset
Argument 3: time unit, u
Return: date number

Returns the date number given by d offset by offset time units as specified by the time unit
string u.

The valid time unit string values are: “A” or “Y” (annual), “S” (semi-annual), “Q” (quar-
ters), “MM” (months), “WW” (weeks), “DD” (days), “B” (business days), “HH” (hours),
“MI” (minutes), “SS” (seconds).

Example:

Suppose that the value of d is 730088.0 (midnight, December 1, 1999). Then we can add
and subtract 10 days from the date by using the functions
@dateadd(730088.0, 10, "dd")
@dateadd(730088.0, -10, "dd")

which return 730098.0 (December 11, 1999) and (730078.0) (November 21, 1999). Note that
these results could have been obtained by taking the original numeric value plus or minus
10.

To add 5 weeks to the existing date, simply specify “W” or “WW” as the time unit string:
@dateadd(730088.0, 5, "ww")

returns 730123.0 (January 5, 2000).

The valid time unit string values are: “A” or “Y” (annual), “S” (semi-annual), “Q” (quar-
ters), “MM” (months), “WW” (weeks), “DD” (days), “B” (business days), “HH” (hours),
“MI” (minutes), “SS” (seconds).
616—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@datediff Date Functions

Syntax: @datediff(d1, d2, u)

Argument 1: date number, d1
Argument 2: date number, d2
Argument 3: time unit, u
Return: date number

Returns the difference between two date numbers d1 and d2, measured by time units speci-
fied by the time unit string u.

The valid time unit string values are: “A” or “Y” (annual), “S” (semi-annual), “Q” (quar-
ters), “MM” (months), “WW” (weeks), “DD” (days), “B” (business days), “HH” (hours),
“MI” (minutes), “SS” (seconds).

Example:

Suppose that date1 is 730088.0 (December 1, 1999) and date2 is 729754.0 (January 1, 1999),
then,
@datediff(730088.0, 729754.0, "dd")

returns 334 for the number of days between the two dates. Note that this is result is simply
the difference between the two numbers.

The following expressions calculate differences in months and weeks:

@datediff(730088.0, 729754.0, "mm")
@datediff(730088.0, 729754.0, "ww")

return 11 and 47 for the number of months and weeks between the dates.

@datefloor Date Functions

Syntax: @datefloor(d1, u[, step])

Argument 1: date number, d1
Argument 2: time unit, u
Argument 3: step, step
Return: date number

Finds the first possible date number defined by d1 in the regular frequency defined by the
given time unit u and optional step step. The frequency is defined relative to the basedate of
Midnight, January 2001.
 @datepart—617

The valid time unit string values are: “A” or “Y” (annual), “S” (semi-annual), “Q” (quar-
ters), “MM” (months), “WW” (weeks), “DD” (days), “B” (business days), “HH” (hours),
“MI” (minutes), “SS” (seconds).

If step is omitted, the frequency will use a step of 1 so that by default, @datefloor will find
the beginning of the period defined by the time unit.

Example:

Suppose that date1 is 730110.8 (7 PM, December 23, 1999). Then the @datefloor values
@datefloor(730110.8, "dd")
@datefloor(730110.8, "mm")

yield 730110.0 (midnight, December 23, 1999) and 730088.0 (midnight, December 1, 1999),
the date numbers for the beginning of the day and month associated with 730110.8, respec-
tively.
@datefloor(730110.8, "hh", 6)
@datefloor(730110.8, "hh", 12)

return 730110.75 (6 PM, December 23, 1999), and 730110.5 (Noon, December 23, 1999).
which are the earliest date numbers for 6 and 12 hour regular frequencies anchored at Mid-
night, January 1, 2001.

@datepart Date Functions

Syntax: @datepart(d1, fmt)

Argument 1: date number, d1
Argument 2: date format string, fmt
Return: number

Returns a numeric part of a date number given by fmt, where fmt is a date format string
component.

Example:

Consider the d1 date value 730110.5 (noon, December 23, 1999). The @datepart values for
@datepart(730110.5, "dd")
@datepart(730110.5, "w")
@datepart(730110.5, "ww")
@datepart(730110.5, "mm")
@datepart(730110.5, "yy")

are 23 (day of the month), 1 (day of the week), 52 (week in the year), 12 (month in the
year), and 99 (year), respectively).
618—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

See “Dates” on page 94 and “Date Formats” on page 97 for additional details on date num-
bers and date format strings.

@datestr Date Functions | String Functions

Syntax: @datestr(d[, fmt])

Argument 1: date number, d
Argument 2: date format string, fmt
Return: string

Convert the numeric date value, d, into a string representation of a date, str, using the
optional format string fmt.

Example:
@datestr(730088,"mm/dd/yy")

will return “12/1/99”,

@datestr(730088,"DD/mm/yyyy")

will return “01/12/1999”, and

@datestr(730088,"Month dd, yyyy")

will return “December 1, 1999”, and

@datestr(730088,"w")

will produce the string “3”, representing the weekday number for December 1, 1999. See
“Dates” on page 94 and “Date Formats” on page 97 for additional details on date numbers
and date format strings. See also @strdate (p. 632).

@dateval Date Functions | String Functions

Syntax: @dateval(str1[, fmt])

Argument 1: string, str1
Argument 2: date format string, fmt
Return: date number

Convert the string representation of a date, str, into a date number using the optional format
string fmt.

Example:
@dateval("12/1/1999", "mm/dd/yyyy")
 @eqna—619

will return the date number for December 1, 1999 (730088) while
@dateval("12/1/1999", "dd/mm/yyyy")

will return the date number for January 12, 1999 (729765).

See “Dates” on page 94 and “Date Formats” on page 97 for additional details on date num-
bers and date format strings. See also @strdate (p. 632).

@dtoo Date Functions | String Functions

Syntax: @dtoo(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: integer

Date-TO-Observation. Returns the observation number corresponding to the date contained

in the string. The observation number is relative to the start of the current workfile range,
not the current sample. Observation numbers may be used to select a particular element in a
vector that has been converted from a series, provided that NAs are preserved (see stomna
(p. 693)).

Examples:
scalar obnum = @dtoo("1994:01")
vec1(1) = gdp(@dtoo("1955:01")+10)

Suppose that the workfile contains quarterly data. Then the second example places the
1957:02 value of the GDP series in the first element of VEC1.

Note that @dtoo will generate an error if used in a panel structured workfile.

See also @otod (p. 625).

@eqna String Functions

Syntax: @eqna(str1, str2)

Argument 1: string, str1
Argument 2: string, str2
Return: integer

Tests for equality of str1 and str2, treating null strings as ordinary blank strings, and not as
missing values. Strings which test as equal return a 1, and 0 otherwise.

Example:
@eqna("abc", "abc")
620—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

returns a 1, while
@eqna("", "def")

returns a 0.

See also @isempty (p. 621) and @neqna (p. 624).

@insert String Functions

Syntax: @insert(str1, str2, n)

Argument 1: string, str1
Argument 2: string, str2
Argument 3: integer, n
Return: string

Inserts the string str2 into the base string str1 at the position given by the integer n.

Example:
@insert("I believe it can be done", "not ", 16)

returns “I believe it cannot be done”.

See also @replace (p. 626), @instr (p. 620) and @mid (p. 624).

@instr String Functions

Syntax: @instr(str1, str2[, n])

Argument 1: string, str1
Argument 2: string, str2
Argument 3: integer, n
Return: string

Finds the starting position of the target string str2 in the base string str1. By default, the
function returns the location of the first occurrence of str2 in str1. You may provide an
optional integer n to change the occurrence. If the occurrence of the target string is not
found, @INSTR will return a 0.

Example:
@instr("1.23415", "34")

return the value 4, since the substring “34” appears beginning in the fourth character of the
base string.
 @len, @length—621

See also @mid (p. 624).

@isempty String Functions

Syntax: @isempty(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: integer

Tests for whether str is a blank string, returning a 1 if str is a null string, and 0 otherwise.

Example:
@isempty("1.23415")

returns a 0, while
@isempty("")

return the value 1.

See also @len, @length (p. 621).

@left String Functions

Syntax: @left(str, n)
Argument 1: string, str
Argument 2: integer, n
Return: string

Returns a string containing n characters from the left end of str. If the string is shorter than n
characters, this function returns all of the characters in the source string.

Example:
scalar sc1 = @left("I did not do it",5)

returns “I did”.

See also @right (p. 626), and @mid (p. 624).

@len, @length String Functions

Syntax: @len(str), @length(str)

Argument: string, str
Return: integer
622—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

Returns an integer value for the length of the string str.

Example:
@length("I did not do it")

returns the value 15.

See also @mid (p. 624).

@localt Date Functions

Syntax: @localt(localtime[, timezone])

Argument 1: date, localtime
Argument 2: string, timezone
Return: date

Returns the local time zone representation of a point in time input in Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC).

If timezone is not provided, the current Windows time zone setting is used as the local time
zone to convert to.

If timezone is provided, the timezone string can either contain raw time zone information in
the format returned by @tzlist or it can contain search text (such as a city name) that can
be found within one of the time zone descriptions returned by the function @tzspec.

Example:
series localtime = @utc(utctime, "Tokyo")

converts a series containing UTC time values into equivalent local time values in Tokyo.

See “Dates,” on page 94 and “Event Functions,” on page 597 for related discussion.

See also the related time zone functions @utc (p. 637), @tz (p. 635), @tzlist (p. 635), and
@tzspec (p. 636).

@lower String Functions

Syntax: @lower(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the lowercase representation of the string str.

 @makedate—623

Example:
@lower("I did NOT do it")

returns the string “i did not do it”.

See also @upper (p. 637).

@ltrim String Functions

Syntax: @ltrim(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the string str with spaces trimmed from the left.

Example:
@ltrim(" I doubt that I did it. ")

returns “I doubt that I did it. ”. Note that the spaces on the right remain.

See also @rtrim (p. 627) and @trim (p. 634).

@makedate Date Functions

Syntax: @makedate(arg1[, arg2[,arg3]], fmt)

Argument 1: number, arg1
Argument 2: number(s) arg2, arg3
Argument 3: date format, fmt
Return: date number

Takes the numeric values given by the arguments arg1, and optionally, arg2, etc. and returns
a date number using the required format string, fmt.

Example:

The expressions,
@makedate(1999, "yyyy")
@makedate(99, "yy")

both return the date number 729754.0 corresponding to 12 midnight on January 1, 1999.
@makedate(199003, "yyyymm")
@makedate(1990.3, "yyyy.mm")
@makedate(1031990, "ddmmyyyy")
624—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@makedate(30190, "mmddyy")

all return the value 726526.0, representing March 1, 1990.

See “Date Formats” on page 97 and “Translating Ordinary Numbers into Date Numbers” on
page 106 for additional details. See also @strdate (p. 632).

@mid String Functions

Syntax: @mid(str, n1[, n2])

Argument 1: string, str
Argument 2: integer, n1
Argument 3: integer, n2
Return: string

Returns n2 characters from str, starting at location n1 and continuing to the right. If you
omit n2, it will return all of the remaining characters in the string.

Example:
%1 = @mid("I doubt it", 9, 2)
%2 = @mid("I doubt it", 9)

See also @left (p. 621) and @right (p. 626).

@neqna String Functions

Syntax: @neqna(str1, str2)

Argument 1: string, str1
Argument 2: string, str2
Return: integer

Tests for inequality of str1 and str2, treating null strings as ordinary blank strings, and not as
missing values. Strings which test as equal return a 0, and 1 otherwise.

Example:
@neqna("abc", "abc")

returns a 0, while
@neqna("", "def")

returns a 1.

See also @isempty (p. 621) and @eqna (p. 619).

 @otods—625

@now Date Functions

Syntax: @now
Return: date number

Returns the date number associated with the current time.

@otod Date Functions | String Functions

Syntax: @otod(n)
Argument: integer, n
Return: string

Observation-TO-Date. Returns a string containing the date or observation corresponding to

observation number n, counted from the beginning of the current workfile. For example,
consider the string assignment
%1 = @otod(5)

For an annual workfile dated 1991–2000, %1 will contain the string “1995”. For a quarterly
workfile dated 1970:1–2000:4, %1 will contain the string “1971:1”. Note that @otod(1)
returns the date or observation label for the start of the workfile.

See also @otods (p. 625) and @dtoo (p. 619).

@otods Date Functions | String Functions

Syntax: @otods(n)
Argument: integer, n
Return: string

Observation-TO-Date in Sample. Returns a string containing the date or observation corre-

sponding to observation number n, counted from the beginning of the current workfile sam-
ple. Thus
@otods(2)

will return the date associated with the second observation in the current sample. Note that
if n is negative, or is greater than the number of observations in the current sample, an
empty string will be returned.

See also @otod (p. 625) and @dtoo (p. 619).

626—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@replace String Functions

Syntax: @replace(str1, str2, str3[,n])

Argument 1: string, str1
Argument 2: string, str2
Argument 3: string, str3
Argument 4: integer, n
Return: string

Returns the base string str1, with the replacement str3 substituted for the target string str2.
By default, all occurrences of str2 will be replaced, but you may provide an optional integer
n to specify the number of occurrences to be replaced.

Example:
@replace("Do you think that you can do it?", "you", "I")

returns the string “Do I think that I can do it?”, while

@replace("Do you think that you can do it?", "you", "I", 1)

returns “Do I think that you can do it?”.

See also @insert (p. 620) and @mid (p. 624).

@right String Functions

Syntax: @right(str, n)
Argument 1: string, str
Argument 2: integer, n
Return: same as source

Returns a string containing n characters from the right end of str. If the source is shorter
than n, the entire string is returned. Example:
%1 = @right("I doubt it",8)

returns the string “doubt it”.

See also @left (p. 621), @mid (p. 624).

 @str—627

@rows String Functions

Syntax: @rows(str_vector)
Argument: string vector, str_vector
Return: integer

Returns the number of rows in string vector str_vector.

Example:
@rows(SV1)

returns the integer 3 if the string vector SV1 contains three rows.

@rtrim String Functions

Syntax: @rtrim(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the string str with spaces trimmed from the right.

Example:
@rtrim(" I doubt that I did it. ")

returns the string “ I doubt that I did it.”. Note that the spaces on the left remain.

See also @ltrim (p. 623) and @trim (p. 634).

@str String Functions

Syntax: @str(d[, fmt])

Argument 1: scalar, d
Argument 2: numeric format string, fmt
Return: string

Returns a string representing the given number. You may provide an optional format string.
(See also @val (p. 638) to convert a string into a number.)

EViews offers a variety of ways to write your number as a string. By default, EViews will for-
mat the number string using 10 significant digits, with no leading or trailing characters, no
thousands separators, and an explicit decimal point.
628—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

(The default conversion is equivalent to using @str with the format “g.10” as described
below.)

If you wish to write your number in a different fashion, you must provide an explicit format
string. A numeric format string has the format:
[type][t][+][(][$][#][<|=|>][0][width][[.|..]precision][%][)]
There are a large number of syntax elements in this format but we may simplify matters
greatly by dividing them into four basic categories:
• format: [type]
• width: [<|=|>][width]
• precision: [precision]
• advanced modifiers: the remaining elements (leading and trailing characters, padding
and truncation modifiers, separators, display of negative numbers)

The type, width, and precision components are the basic components of the format so we
will focus on them first. We describe the advanced modifiers in “Modified Formats” on
page 630.

Basic Formats
EViews offers formats designed for both real-valued and integer data.

Basic Real-Value Formats

The basic real-value format is:
[type][<|=|>][width][.][precision]
The type component is a single character indicating the basic type and the width and preci-
sion arguments are numbers indicating the number of output characters and the precision at
which the numbers should be written. If specified, the precision should be separated from
the type and width portion of the format by a “.” character (or “..” as we will see in “Modi-
fied Formats” on page 630).

If you specify a format with neither width nor precision, EViews will format the number at
full precision with matching string width.

The following types are for use with real-valued data:

g significant digits
z significant digits with trailing zeros
c fixed characters with single leading space for posi-
tive numbers
f fixed decimal places
 @str—629

e scientific/float
p percentage (same as “f” but values are multiplied
by 100)
s suppressed decimal point format
r ratio, e.g., “30 1/5”

The type character may be followed by a width specification, consisting of a width indicat-
ing the number of output characters, optionally preceded by a “>”, “=” or “<” modifier.
• If no width is provided, the number will be rendered in a string of the exact length
required to represent the value (e.g., the number 1.23450 will return “1.2345”, a
string of length 6).
• If an unmodified width or one with the “>” modifier is provided, the specified num-
ber places a lower-bound on the width of the string: the output will be left-padded to
the specified width, if necessary, otherwise the string will be lengthened to accommo-
date the full output. By default, padding will use spaces, but you may elect to use 0’s
by providing an advanced modifier (“Modified Formats” on page 630).
• If the“<” modifier is provided along with width, the width places an upper-bound on
the width of the string: the output will not be padded to the specified width. If the
number of output characters exceeds the width, EViews will return a width-length
string filled with the “#” character.
• If the“=” modifier is provided along with width, the width provides an exact-bound
for the width of the string: the output will be padded to specified width, if necessary.
If the number of characters exceeds the width, EViews will return a width-length
string filled with the “#” character.

If you specify a precision, the interpretation of the value will vary depending on the format
type. For example, precision represents the number of significant digits in the “g” and “z”
formats, the number of characters in the “c” format, and the number of digits to the right of
the decimal in the “f”, “e”, “p”, and “s” formats. For the “r” format, the precision determines
maximum denominator for the fractional portion (as a power-of-10).

The following guidelines are used to determine the precision implied by a number format:
• If you specify a format with only a precision specification, the precision will implicitly
determine the width at which your numbers are written.
• If you specify a format with only a width specification, the width will implicitly deter-
mine the precision at which your numbers are written. Bear in mind that only the
modified width specifications “=width” and “<width” impose binding restrictions
on the precision.
630—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

• If you specify a format using both width and precision, the precision at which your
numbers are written will be determined by whichever setting is most restrictive (i.e.,
“f=4.8” and “f=4.2” both imply a formatted number with two digits to the right of
the decimal).)

Basic Integer Formats

The basic integer format is:
[type][<|=|>][width]
The type component is a single character indicating the basic type. The following types are
for use with integer data:

i integer
h hexidecimal
o octal
b binary

If one of the integer formats is used with real-valued data, the non-integer portion of the
number will be ignored. You may specify a width using the syntax and rules described in
“Basic Real-Value Formats” on page 628.

Modified Formats
Recall that the syntax of a numeric format string is given by:
[type][t][+][(][$][#][<|=|>][0][width][[.|..]precision][%][)]
In addition to the basic type, width, and precision specifiers, the formats take a set of modifi-
ers which provide you with additional control over the appearance of your output string:
• You may combine any of the real-value format characters (“g”, “e”, “f”, etc.) with the
letter “t” (“gt”, “et”, “ft”, etc.) to display a thousands separator (“1,234.56”). By
default, the separator will be a comma “,”, but the character may be changed to a “.”
using the “..” format as described below.
• You may add a “+” symbol after the format character (“g+”, “et+”, “i+”) to display
positive numbers with a leading “+”.
• To display negative numbers within parentheses, you should enclose the remaining
portion of the format in parentheses “ft+($8.2)”.
• Add “$” to the format to display a leading “$” currency character.
• You should include a “#” to display a trailing point in scientific notation (e.g.,
“3.e+34”).
 @str—631

• The width argument should include a leading zero (“0”) if you wish padded numbers
to display leading zeros instead of spaces (“g08.2”, “i05”).
• If you added a “t” character to your real-value format type, you may replace the usual
“.” width-precision separator with “..” (“ft<08..2”, “e=7..”, “g..9”, etc.) to reverse the
thousands and decimal separators so that thousands will be separated by a “.” and
decimal portion by a “,” (“1.234,56”).
• Adding a “%” character to the end of the format adds the “%” character to the end of
the resulting string.
Examples
string num = @str(1.23)

assigns to the string NUM the text “1.23”.

alpha alpha1 = @str(-123.88)

assigns the string “-123.88” to the alpha series ALPHA1.

string num = @str(123456,”z.9”)

returns a string formatted to 9 significant digits with trailing zeros: “123456.000”.

string num = @str(123456,”z.4”)

returns a string formatted to 4 significant digits with trailing zeros: “1.235e+05”. Note that
since the input number has more than 4 significant digits, no trailing zeros are added and
the resulting string is identical to one that would have been produced with a “g.4” format.
string num = @str(126.543,”c.7%”)

returns a string with exactly 7 characters, including a leading space, and a trailing percent
sign: “ 126.5%”.
string num = @str(126.543,"p.7")

converts the number 126.543 into a percentage with 7 decimal places and returns
“12654.3000000”. Note no percent sign is included in the string.
string num = @str(1.83542,"f$5.4")

returns “$1.8354”. The width selection of “5” with an implicit “>” modifier is irrelevant,
since the precision setting of “4”, coupled with the insertion of the “$” symbol yields a
string with more characters than “5”.
string num = @str(1.83542,"f$8.4")

returns “ $1.8354”. Here the width selection is binding, and a leading space has been added
to the string.
string num = @str(1.83542,"f$=5.4")
632—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

returns “ $1.84”. The explicit “=” width modifier causes the width setting of “5” to be bind-
ing.
string num = @str(524.784,"r")

converts the number 524.784 into a ratio representation: “524 98/125”.

string num = @str(1784.321,"r=3")

will return “###”, since there is no way to represent 1784.321 as a string with only 3 charac-
ters.
string num = @str(543,"b")

converts the number 543 into a binary representation: “1000011111”.

See also @val (p. 638) to convert a string into a number.

@strdate Date Functions | String Functions

Syntax: @strdate(fmt)
Argument: date format string, fmt
Return: string corresponding to each element in workfile

Return the set of workfile row dates as strings, using the date format string fmt.

See also @datestr (p. 618) and @strnow (p. 634). See “Date Formats” on page 97 for addi-
tional detail.

@stripcommas String Functions

Syntax: @stripcommas(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the string str with leading and trailing commas stripped.

Example:
string ss1 = ", lettuce, tomato, onion, broccoli, "
ss1 = @stripcommas(ss1)

The first line creates the string SS1 and sets it equal to “, lettuce, tomato, onion, broccoli,”.
The second command removes the commas resulting in: “lettuce, tomato, onion, broccoli”.

Cross-references
See also @stripparens (p. 633) and @stripquotes (p. 633).
 @stripquotes—633

@stripparens String Functions

Syntax: @stripparens(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the string str with parentheses stripped from both the left and the right.

Example:
string ss1 = "(I don’t know)"
ss1 = @stripparens(ss1)

The first line creates the string SS1 and sets it equal to “(I don’t know)”. The second com-
mand removes the parentheses from both ends, resulting in: “I don’t know”.

Cross-references
See also @stripcommas (p. 632) and @stripquotes (p. 633).

@stripquotes String Functions

Syntax: @stripquotes(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the string str with quotation marks stripped from both the left and the right.

Example:
@stripquotes(ss1)

If the string SS1 initially contains the text “Chicken Marsala” in quotes, then this command
strips the quotes from each end, returning:
Chicken Marsala

Cross-references
See also @addquotes (p. 613), @stripcommas (p. 632), and @stripparens (p. 633).
634—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@strlen String Functions

Syntax: @strlen(s)
Argument: string, s
Return: number n

Same as @len, @length (p. 621).

@strnow Date Function | String Functions

Syntax: @strnow(fmt)
Argument: date format string, fmt
Return: string

Returns a string representation of the current date number (at the moment the function is
evaluated) using the date format string, fmt.

Example:
@strnow("DD/mm/yyyy")

returns the date associated with the current time in string form with 2-digit days, months,
and 4-digit years separated by a slash, “24/12/2003”.

See also @strdate (p. 632) and @datestr (p. 618). See “Date Formats” on page 97 for
additional detail.

@trim String Functions

Syntax: @trim(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the string str with spaces trimmed from both the left and the right.

Example:
@trim(" I doubt that I did it. ")

returns the string “I doubt that I did it.”.

See also @ltrim (p. 623) and @rtrim (p. 627).

 @tzlist—635

@tz Date Functions

Syntax: @tz(sourcetime[, sourcetz, desttz])

Argument 1: date, sourcetime
Argument 2: string, sourcetz
Argument 3: string, desttz
Return: date

Converts a point in time from the source time zone into the destination time zone.

The sourcetz and desttz strings can either contain raw time zone information in the format
returned by @tzlist or it can contain search text (such as a city name) that can be found
within one of the time zone descriptions returned by the function @tzspec.

Example:
series localtime = @tz(utctime, "London", "Sydney")

converts a series containing time values in London local time into equivalent local time val-
ues in Sydney.

See “Dates,” on page 94 and “Event Functions,” on page 597 for related discussion.

See also the related time zone functions @utc (p. 637), @localt (p. 622), @tzlist
(p. 635), and @tzspec (p. 636).

@tzlist Date Functions

Syntax: @tzlist
Return: string

Returns a space delimited list of descriptions of all the time zones for which information is
available on the current machine.

See “Strings,” on page 77 and “Event Functions,” on page 597 for related discussion.

See also the related time zone functions @utc (p. 637), @localt (p. 622), @tz (p. 635), and
@tzspec (p. 636).
636—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@tzspec Date Functions

Syntax: @tzspec(tzsearch)
Argument: string, tzsearch
Return: string

Returns time zone information for the first time zone whose description contains the piece
of text passed in as tzsearch. For example, tzsearch can be a city name such as “London” or
“Tokyo” or any other word from the description such as “Eastern” for the U.S. Eastern Time
Zone.

Time zone information specifications have the format:

standard_utc_bias [daylight_offset daylight_start_rule
daylight_end_rule]

where:

standard_utc_bias is the offset (in +-hh:mi format) of local time from UTC when day-
light time is not in effect.

daylight_offset is the additional adjustment (in +-hi:mi format) to the standard UTC
bias when daylight time is in effect.

daylight_start_rule is the day/time when the daylight time adjustment begins. This
can be an explicit date or a date rule.

daylight_end_rule is the day/time when the daylight time adjustment ends. This can be
an explicit date or a date rule.

If there have been historical changes to the time zone rule, each era is returned beginning
with an “@” symbol followed by the year in which the new rule took effect. The year may
be dropped to indicate that the rule should be applied to all earlier dates.

For example, a historical description of the US Pacific Time Zone (valid from 1987 onwards)
has the specification:
@2007 -08:00 +01:00 Mar2Sun 2AM to Nov1Sun 2AM
@ -08:00 +01:00 Apr1Sun 2AM to Oct-1Sun 2AM

The standard offset of the Pacific Time Zone from UTC is -8 hours. The daylight rule after
2007 has been to move clocks forward by one hour at 2AM on the second Sunday of March
and move them back at 2AM on the first Sunday in November. Before 2007 the rule was to
move clocks forward by one hour at 2AM on the first Sunday of April, and move them back
at 2AM on the last Sunday in October.

See “Dates,” on page 94 and “Event Functions,” on page 597 for related discussion.
 @utc—637

See also the related time zone functions @utc (p. 637), @localt (p. 622), @tz (p. 635), and
@tzlist (p. 635).

@upper String Functions

Syntax: @upper(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string

Returns the uppercase representation of the string str.

Example:
@upper("I did not do it")

returns the string “I DID NOT DO IT”.

See also @lower (p. 622).

@utc Date Functions

Syntax: @utc(localtime[, timezone])

Argument 1: date, localtime
Argument 2: string, timezone
Return: date

Returns the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) value for a point in time input using a local
time zone value.

If timezone is not provided, the current Windows time zone setting is used as the local time
zone to convert from.

If timezone is provided, the timezone string can either contain raw time zone information in
the format returned by the @tzlist function, or it can contain search text (such as a city
name) that can be found within one of the time zone descriptions returned by the function
@tzspec.

Example:
series utctime = @utc(localtime, "-08:00")

converts a series containing local time values at an 8 hour shift from UTC into a series con-
taining UTC times.
series utctime = @utc(localtime, "Pacific")
638—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

converts a series containing local time values in US Pacific Time Zone (including daylight
time adjustments) into a series containing UTC.

See “Dates,” on page 94 and “Event Functions,” on page 597 for related discussion.

See also the related time zone functions @localt (p. 622), @tz (p. 635), @tzlist (p. 635)
and @tzspec (p. 636).

@val String Functions

Syntax: @val(str[, fmt])

Argument 1: string, str
Argument 2: numeric format string, fmt
Return: scalar

Returns the number that a string str represents. You may provide an optional numeric format
string fmt.

In most cases, EViews will be able to convert your string into the corresponding numeric
value without additional input. If EViews is unable to perform a conversion, it will return a
missing (NA) value.

There are a few important conventions used in the conversion process:

• A leading “$” in the string will be ignored.
• Strings enclosed in “( )” or with a leading “–” will be treated as negative numbers. All
other numeric strings, including those with a leading “+” will be treated as positive
numbers. You may not have a leading “+” or “–” inside of the parentheses.
• A trailing “%” sign instructs EViews to treat the input string as a percentage—the
resulting value will be divided by 100.

There are some situations where you must provide a numeric format string so that EViews
can properly interpret your input. The syntax for the format string depends on the type of
number the string represents.
Real-Value Formats
EViews will properly interpret non-delimited decimal and scientific notation numeric input
strings as numbers.

If your string uses “,” to separate thousands, you should specify the “t” format string to
remove “,” delimiters prior to conversion. If the string uses “.” to separate thousands, you
should use “t..” to instruct EViews to remove “.” delimiters.
 @val—639

If your input string represents a number with suppressed decimal format, you should
include a format string beginning with the letter “s”:

s.precision suppressed decimal point format (precision determines

the number of digits to the right of the decimal)

EViews will divide the resulting number by 10 raised to the power of the specified precision.
The “s” format specification may be followed by a “t.” or a “t..” specification if necessary.
Integer Formats

r ratio (e.g., “30 1/5”).

i integer
h hexidecimal
o octal
b binary

You should use the “r”, “h”, “o”, or “b” formats to indicate that your input is in the speci-
fied format. The “i” format is generally not necessary unless you wish to produce a missing
value for a non-integer input string.
Examples
scalar num = @val("$1.23")

assigns the scalar NUM the numeric value 1.23.

series ser1 = @val("-$123.88")

returns the value -123.88.

scalar sperct = @val("478%")

divides the value by 100, setting the scalar SPERCT to 4.78.

scalar sratio = @val("(321 1/5)", "r")

sets the scalar SRATIO equal to -321.2

scalar shexa = @val("f01a", "h")

treats the string “f01a” as a hexadecimal number, converts it into the decimal equivalent,
61466, and assigns it to the scalar object SHEXA.
scalar sbin = @val("11110101", "b")

interprets the string “11110101” as a binary number, converts it into the decimal equivalent,
245, and assigns it to the scalar SBIN.

To verify that a value is an integer, you may use the “i” option.
scalar sintna = @val("98.32", "i")
640—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

scalar sint = @val("96", "i")

SINTNA will contain a missing value NA since the input represents a non-integer value,
while SINT is set to 96.

See also @str (p. 627).

@wcount String Functions

Syntax: @wcount(str_list)
Argument: string list, str_list
Return: number n

Returns the number of elements in the string list str_list.

Example:
@wcount("I did not do it")

returns the number 5.

@wcross String Functions

Syntax: @wcross(str_list1, str_list2[, "pattern"])

Argument 1: string list, str_list1
Argument 2: string list, str_list2
Argument 3: string, pattern
Return: string list

Returns str_list1 crossed with str_list2, according to the string pattern. The default pattern is
“??”, which indicates that each element of str_list1 should be crossed individually with each
element of str_list2.

Example:
@wcross("A B C", "1 2 3 4")

returns every combination of the elements “A B C” and “1 2 3 4”, using the default pattern
“??”. This produces the string list: “A1 A2 A3 A4 B1 B2 B3 B4 C1 C2 C3 C4”.
@wcross("ABC DEF", "1 2 3", "?-?")

returns the string list “ABC-1 ABC-2 ABC-3 DEF-1 DEF-2 DEF-3”, inserting a dash (“-”)
between each crossed element as the “?-?” pattern indicates.

See also @winterleave (p. 643).

 @wdrop—641

@wdelim String Functions

Syntax: @wdelim(str_list, "src_delim", "dest_delim")

Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: string delimiter, src_delim
Argument 3: string delimiter, dest_delim
Return: string list

Returns a string list, replacing every appearance of the src_delim delimiter in str_list with a
dest_delim delimiter. Delimiters must be single characters.

Note that most other string list functions (those beginning with “@w”) require that the
delimiter be a space (“ ”). Use this function to convert strings with other delimiters into
those which can be used with the string list functions.

Example:
@wdelim("Arizona, California, Washington", ",", "-")

identifies the comma as the source delimiter and replaces each comma with a dash, return-
ing the string “Arizona-California-Washington”.

See also @wreplace (p. 647) and @replace (p. 626).

@wdrop String Functions

Syntax: @wdrop(str_list, "pattern_list")

Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: string pattern list, pattern_list
Return: string list

Returns a string list, dropping elements in str_list that match the string pattern pattern_list.
The pattern_list is space delimited and may be made up of any number of “?” (indicates any
single character) or “*” (indicates any number of characters). The pattern is case-sensitive
and must exactly match the str_list characters to be dropped.

Example:
@wdrop("D D A B C", "B D C")

removes each instant of the elements “B”, “D”, and “C”, returning the string “A”.
@wdrop("ABC DEF GHI JKL", "?B? D?? *I")
642—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

drops the first three elements of the string list, returning the string “JKL”. The string pattern
“?B?” drops “ABC”, the pattern “D??” drops “DEF”, and the pattern “*I” drops “GHI”.

See also @wkeep (p. 644) and @wreplace (p. 647).

@wfind String Functions

Syntax: @wfind(str_list, str_cmp)

Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: string, str_cmp
Return: number n

Looks for the string str_cmp in the string list str_list, and returns the position in the list or 0
if the string is not in the list. This function is case-sensitive; use the @wfindnc (p. 642)
function to ignore case.

Example:
@wfind("I did it", "did")

returns the number 2, indicating the string “did” is second in the list.
@wfind("I did not do it", "i")

This function is case-sensitive and searches for the full string, so “i” will not be found and
the function will return the number 0.

See also @wfindnc (p. 642).

@wfindnc String Functions

Syntax: @wfindnc(str_list, str_cmp)

Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: string, str_cmp
Return: number n

Looks for the string str_cmp in the string list str_list, and returns the position in the list or 0
if the string is not in the list. This is the same as the @wfind (p. 642) function, but is not
case-sensitive.

Example:
@wfindnc("I did it", "DID")

returns the number 2, indicating the caseless string “did” is second in the list.
@wfindnc("I did not do it", "i")
 @wintersect—643

returns the number 1, since the first “i” or “I” encountered was in the first position.

See also @wfind (p. 642).

@winterleave String Functions

Syntax: @winterleave(str_list1, str_list2[, count1, count2])

Argument 1: string list, str_list1
Argument 2: string list, str_list2
Argument 3: number, count1
Argument 4: number, count2
Return: string list

Interleaves str_list1 with str_list2, according to the pattern specified by count1 and count2.
The default uses counts of one.

Example:
@winterleave("A B C", "1 2 3")

interleaves “A B C” with “1 2 3” to produce the string list “A 1 B 2 C 3”.

@winterleave("A B C", "1 2 3 4 5 6")

interleaves “A B C” with “1 2 3 4 5 6”, returning the string list “A 1 B 2 C 3 “” 4”. Since there
are more elements in the second string, empty strings (“”) are inserted when the elements of
the first string run out.

Alternately, you may specify a count pattern to control the spacing of elements:
@winterleave("A B C", "1 2 3 4 5 6", 1, 2)

This command combines one element of the first string for every two elements of the second
string, returning “A 1 2 B 3 4 C 5 6”.

See also @wcross (p. 640).

@wintersect String Functions

Syntax: @wintersect(str_list1, str_list2)

Argument 1: string list, str_list1
Argument 2: string list, str_list2
Return: string list

Returns the intersection of str_list1 and str_list2. This function is case-sensitive.

644—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

Example:
@wintersect("John and Greg won", "Greg won with Mark's help")

returns the string “Greg won”.

Since this function is case-sensitive,

@wintersect("John and Greg won", "greg won with Mark's help")

just returns the string “won”.

See also @wunion (p. 649).

@wjoin String Functions

Syntax: @wjoin(svec)
Argument: svector, svec
Return: string list

Returns a space delimited list containing the elements of svec.

Example:

If svector SVEC has 7 rows with each row being the corresponding letter of the alphabet
(row 1 has “A”, row 2 has “B” and so on), then
@wjoin(svec)

returns a “A B C D E F G”.

See also @wsplit (p. 649).

@wkeep String Functions

Syntax: @wkeep(str_list, pattern_list)

Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: string pattern list, pattern_list
Return: string list

Returns the list of elements in str_list that match the string pattern pattern_list. The pat-
tern_list is space delimited and may be made up of any number of “?” (indicates any single
character) or “*” (indicates any number of characters). The pattern is case-sensitive and
must exactly match the str_list characters to be kept.

Example:
 @wmid—645

@wkeep("D D A B C", "B D C")

returns all matching elements in pattern_list that are found in str_list: “D D B C”.
@wkeep("ABC DEF GHI JKL", "?B? D?? *I")

keeps the first three elements of the string list, returning the string “ABC DEF GHI”. The
string pattern “?B?” keeps “ABC”, the pattern “D??” keeps “DEF”, and the pattern “*I” keeps
“GHI”.

See also @wdrop (p. 641) and @wreplace (p. 647).

@wleft String Functions

Syntax: @wleft(str_list, n)
Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: number, n
Return: string list

Returns a string list containing the left n elements of str_list. If the string list str_list is
shorter than n elements, this function returns all of the elements in the source string.

Example:
@wleft("I did not do it", 2)

returns the left two elements, “I did”.

See also @wright (p. 648) and @wmid (p. 645).

@wmid String Functions

Syntax: @wmid(str_list, n1[, n2])

Argument 1: string list, str
Argument 2: number, n1
Argument 3: number, n2
Return: string list

Returns n2 elements from str_list, starting at element n1 and continuing to the right. If you
omit n2, it will return all of the remaining elements in the string.

Example:
@wmid("I doubt you did it", 2, 3)

starts at the second element of the string list and returns the three elements “doubt you did”.
646—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@wmid("I doubt it", 9)

returns the full string list “I doubt it”.

See also @wleft (p. 645) and @wright (p. 648).

@wnotin String Functions

Syntax: @wnotin(str_list1, str_list2)

Argument 1: string list, str_list1
Argument 2: string list, str_list2
Return: string list

Returns elements of str_list1 that are not in str_list2. This function is case-sensitive.

Example:
string employee1 = @wnotin("Full Name: John Smith", "Full Name:")
string employee2 = @wnotin("Full Name: Mary Jones", "Full Name:")

assigns the string “John Smith” to the string object EMPLOYEE1, and the string “Mary
Jones” to the string object EMPLOYEE2.
@wnotin("John and Greg won", "and Greg")

returns the string “John won”.

See also @wunique (p. 650).

@word String Functions

Syntax: @word(str_list, n)
Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: number, n
Return: string list

Returns the n-th element from the string list str_list.

Example:
@word("I don’t think so", 2)

returns the second element, “don’t”.

See also @wordq (p. 647).

 @wreplace—647

@wordq String Functions

Syntax: @wordq(str_list, n)
Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: number, n
Return: string list

Returns the n-th element from the string list str_list. This function is the same as the @word
(p. 646) function, while preserving quotes.

Example:
@wordq("""Chicken Marsala"" ""Beef Stew""", 2)

returns the second element and includes quotes: “Beef Stew”. The @word (p. 646) function
would return the same elements, but would not include quotation marks in the string.

See also @word (p. 646).

@wread String Functions

Syntax: @wread(“file”)
Argument 1: file name of a text file on disk.
Return: string

Returns a string containing the contents of the specified text file on disk. Note that any line
breaks in the text file will be removed.

Example
@wread(“c:\temp\myfile.txt”)

Returns a string containing the contents of the “c:\temp\myfile.txt”.

@wreplace String Functions

Syntax: @wreplace(str_list, "src_pattern", "replace_pattern")

Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: string pattern, src_pattern
Argument 3: string pattern, replace_pattern
Return: string list
648—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

Replaces instances of src_pattern in str_list with replace_pattern. The pattern lists may be
made up of any number of “?” (indicates any single character) or “*” (indicates any number
of characters). The pattern is case-sensitive and must exactly match the str_list characters to
be replaced.

Example:
@wreplace("ABC AB", "*B*", "*X*")

replaces all instances of “B” with “X”, returning the string “AXC AX”.
@wreplace("ABC DDBC", "??B?", "??X?")

replaces all instances of “B” which have two leading characters and one following character,
returning the string “ABC DDXC”.

See also @wdrop (p. 641) and @wkeep (p. 644).

@wright String Functions

Syntax: @wright(str_list, n)
Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: number, n
Return: string list

Returns a string list containing n elements from the right end of str_list. If the source is
shorter than n, the entire string is returned.

Example:
@wright("I doubt it", 2)

returns the right two elements, “doubt it”.

See also @wleft (p. 645) and @wmid (p. 645).

@wsort String Functions

Syntax: @wsort(str_list[, “d”])

Argument 1: string list, str_list
Argument 2: “d” to sort in descending order
Return: string list

Returns sorted elements of str_list. Use the “d” flag to sort in descending order.

Example:
 @wunion—649

@wsort("expr1 aa1 fr3")

returns the sorted string “aa1 expr1 fr3”

@wsort("fq8 Fq8 xpr1", "d")

sorts the string in descending order: “xpr1 Fq8 fq8”.

@wsplit String Functions

Syntax: @wsplit(str_list)
Argument: string list, str_list
Return: svector

Returns an svector containing the elements of str_list.

Example:

If string list SS01 contains “A B C D E F”, then

@wsplit(ss01)

returns an untitled svector, placing an element of SS01 in each row. For example, row one of
the svector contains “A”, row two contains “B”, etc.

@wunion String Functions

Syntax: @wunion(str_list1, str_list2)

Argument 1: string list, str_list1
Argument 2: string list, str_list2
Return: string list

Returns the union of str_list1 and str_list2. This function is case-sensitive.

Example:

@wunion("ABC DEF", "ABC G H def")

returns the string “ABC DEF G H def”. Each new element is added to the string list, skipping
elements that have already been added to the list.

See also @wintersect (p. 643).

650—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference

@wunique String Functions

Syntax: @wunique(str_list)
Argument: string list, str_list
Return: string list

Returns str_list with duplicate elements removed from the list. This function is case-sensi-
tive.

Example:
@wunique("fr1 fr2 fr1")

returns the string “fr1 fr2”. Note that this function is case-sensitive, such that
@wunique("a A b B c c")

returns the string “a A b B c”.

See also @wnotin (p. 646).

@xputnames String Functions

Syntax: @xputnames
Return: string

returns a space delimited list containing the names of objects created in a foreign application
using the last xput (p. 542) command. In most cases this list will contain EViews object
names, but in cases where the object had a name that was not valid in the foreign applica-
tion, it will return the name that was created.

For example if you issue the commands:

xopen(r)
xput X Y LOG(Z)
string a = @xputnames

The string object A will contain "X Y LOG_Z".

Cross-references
See “EViews COM Automation Client Support (MATLAB and R),” beginning on page 177 for
discussion. See also “External Program Interface” on page 828 of User’s Guide I for global
options setting of the default case for names.

See also xput (p. 542).

@xputnames—651
652—Chapter 17. String and Date Function Reference
Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

The following entries constitute a listing of the functions and commands used in the EViews
matrix language. For a description of the EViews matrix language, see Chapter 11. “Matrix
Language,” on page 257.

Matrix Command and Function Summary

Matrix Utility Commands
colplace ................Places column vector into matrix (p. 662).
matplace ...............Places matrix object in another matrix object (p. 681).
mtos .....................Converts a matrix object to series or group (p. 683).
nrnd .....................Fill the matrix with normal random numbers (p. 684).
rnd .......................Fill the matrix with uniform random numbers (p. 689).
rowplace ...............Places a rowvector in matrix object (p. 690).
stom .....................Converts series or group to vector or matrix after removing observa-
tions with NAs (p. 692).
stomna..................Converts series or group to vector or matrix without removing
observations with NAs (p. 693).
ttom......................Fills a matrix with the numeric contents of a table (p. 695).

Matrix Utility Functions

@capplyranks .......Reorder the rows of the matrix using a vector of ranks (p. 658).
@columnextract ....Extracts column from matrix (p. 662).
@columns ............Number of columns in matrix object (p. 663).
@convert ..............Converts series or group to a vector or matrix after removing NAs
(p. 664).
@explode..............Creates square matrix from a sym matrix object (p. 673).
@fill .....................Create and fill a vector with a list of values (p. 673).
@filledmatrix........Creates matrix filled with scalar value (p. 673).
@filledrowvector...Creates rowvector filled with scalar value (p. 674).
@filledsym............Creates sym filled with scalar value (p. 674).
@filledvector.........Creates vector filled with scalar value (p. 675).
@first ...................Returns the first non-missing value in the vector or series (p. 675).
@getmaindiagonal Extracts main diagonal from matrix (p. 675).
@hcat ...................Horizontally concatenate two matrix objects (p. 676).
@identity..............Creates identity matrix (p. 676).
654—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@ifirst.................. Returns the index of the first non-missing value in the vector or
series (p. 676).
@ilast .................. Returns the index of the last non-missing value in the vector or
series (p. 677).
@implode ............ Creates sym from lower triangle of square matrix (p. 677).
@kronecker.......... Computes the Kronecker product of two matrix objects (p. 679).
@last ................... Returns the last non-missing value in the vector or series (p. 680).
@makediagonal.... Creates a square matrix with ones down a specified diagonal and
zeros elsewhere (p. 680).
@maxes ............... Returns a vector of maximal values of an object, arranged from high
to low (p. 681).
@mins ................. Returns a vector of minimal values of an object, arranged from low
to high (p. 682).
@mnrnd .............. Creates a matrix, sym or vector of normal random numbers
(p. 682).
@mrnd ................ Creates a matrix, sym or vector of uniform random numbers
(p. 682).
@ones.................. Creates a matrix, sym or vector of ones (p. 682).
@permute ............ Permutes the rows of the matrix (p. 685).
@ranks ................ Obtain the ranks of a matrix or vector (p. 687).
@rapplyranks....... Reorder the rows of the matrix using a vector of ranks (p. 688).
@resample ........... Randomly draws from the rows of the matrix (p. 688).
@rowextract......... Extracts rowvector from matrix object (p. 689).
@rows ................. Returns the number of rows in matrix object (p. 690).
@scale ................. Scale the rows or columns of a matrix, or the rows and columns of a
sym matrix (p. 690).
@sort ................... Sorts a matrix or vector (p. 692).
@subextract ......... Extracts submatrix from matrix object (p. 694).
@transpose .......... Transposes matrix object (p. 695).
@uniquevals ........ Returns a vector or svector containing the list of unique values in
the object (series, vector, alpha, matrix) (p. 697).
@unitvector ......... Extracts column from an identity matrix (p. 697).
@unvec................ Unstack vector into a matrix object (p. 698).
@unvech.............. Unstack vector into the lower triangular portion of sym matrix
(p. 698).
@vcat .................. Vertically concatenate two matrix objects (p. 699).
@vec.................... Stacks columns of a matrix object (p. 699).
@vech.................. Stacks the lower triangular portion of matrix by column (p. 699).
 Matrix Command and Function Summary—655

Matrix Algebra Functions

@cholesky ............Computes the Cholesky factorization (p. 659).
@commute ...........Creates the commutation matrix (p. 663).
@cond ..................Calculates the condition number of a square matrix or sym (p. 663).
@det.....................Calculate the determinant of a square matrix or sym (p. 666).
@duplic ................Returns the duplication matrix (p. 666).
@duplicinv ...........Returns the generalized inverse of the duplication matrix (p. 667).
@eigenvalues........Returns a vector containing the eigenvalues of a sym (p. 669).
@eigenvectors.......Returns a square matrix whose columns contain the eigenvectors of
a matrix (p. 669).
@elimin................Returns the elimination matrix (p. 670).
@inner .................Computes the inner product of two vectors or series, or the inner
product of a matrix object (p. 678).
@inverse...............Returns the inverse of a square matrix object or sym (p. 679).
@issingular...........Returns 1 if the square matrix or sym is singular, and 0 otherwise
(p. 679).
@norm .................Computes the norm of a matrix object or series (p. 684).
@outer .................Computes the outer product of two vectors or series, or the outer
product of a matrix object (p. 685).
@pinverse.............Returns the Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse of a square matrix
object or sym (p. 685).
@qform ................Compute the quadratic form of a symmetric matrix and a matrix or
vector (p. 686).
@rank ..................Returns the rank of a matrix object (p. 686).
@solvesystem .......Solves system of linear equations, Mx  v , for x (p. 691).
@svd ....................Performs singular value decomposition (p. 694).
@trace ..................Computes the trace of a square matrix or sym (p. 695).

Matrix Element Functions

@ediv ...................Computes element by element division of two matrices (p. 667).
@eeq ....................Computes element by element equality comparison of two matrices
(p. 667).
@eeqna ................Computes element by element equality comparison of two matrices
with NAs treated as ordinary value for comparison (p. 668).
@ege ....................Computes element by element tests for whether the elements in the
matrix or sym are greater than or equal to corresponding elements
in another matrix or sym (p. 668).
@egt.....................Computes element by element tests for whether the elements in the
matrix or sym are strictly greater than corresponding elements in
another matrix or sym (p. 669).
656—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@einv .................. Computes element by element inversion of a matrix (p. 670).

@ele .................... Computes element by element tests for whether the elements in the
matrix or sym are less than or equal to corresponding elements in
another matrix or sym (p. 670).
@elt..................... Computes element by element tests for whether the elements in the
matrix or sym are strictly less than corresponding elements in
another matrix or sym (p. 671).
@emult ................ Computes element by element multiplication of two matrices
(p. 671).
@eneq ................. Computes element by element inequality comparison of two matri-
ces (p. 671).
@eneqna.............. Computes element by element inequality comparison of two matri-
ces with NAs treated as ordinary value for comparison (p. 672).
@epow................. Raises each element in a matrix to a power (p. 672).

Matrix Descriptive Statistics Functions

You may use any of the descriptive statistics functions that are described in “Descriptive Sta-
tistics” on page 552. These statistics will be applied to the matrix object as a whole so that,
for example, using @mean computes the mean taken over all non NA values in the matrix.

In addition, the following functions have special forms that apply to matrix objects:
@cor .................... Computes correlation between two vectors, or between the columns
of a matrix (p. 664).
@cov ................... Computes covariance between two vectors, or between the columns
of a matrix using n as the divisor (p. 665).
@covp.................. Computes covariance between two vectors, or between the columns
of a matrix using n as the divisor (p. 665).
@covs .................. Computes covariance between two vectors, or between the columns
of a matrix using n – 1 as the divisor (p. 665).
@inner................. Computes the inner product of two vectors or series, or the inner
product of a matrix object (p. 678).

Matrix Column Functions

There are also a handful of column functions that return results computed for each column
of the matrix:
@cfirst ................. Returns the value of the first non-missing value in each column of a
matrix (p. 658).
@cifirst ................ Returns the index of the first non-missing value in each column of a
matrix (p. 659).
@cilast................. Returns the index of the last non-missing value in each column of a
matrix (p. 659).
 Matrix Language Entries—657

@cimax ................Returns the index of the maximal value in each column of a matrix
(p. 660).
@cimin.................Returns the index of the minimal value in each column of a matrix
(p. 660).
@cilast .................Returns the index of the last non-missing value in each column of a
matrix (p. 659).
@clast ..................Returns the value of the last non-missing value in each column of
the matrix (p. 660).
@cmax .................Returns the maximal value in each column of a matrix (p. 661).
@cmean ...............Returns the mean value in each column of a matrix (p. 661).
@cmin..................Returns the minimal value for each column of the matrix (p. 661).
@cnas...................Returns the number of NA values in each column of a matrix
(p. 661).
@cobs...................Returns the number of non-NA values in each column of a matrix
(p. 662).
@csum .................Returns the sum of each column of a matrix (p. 666).

Additional Functions
In addition, EViews also supports matrix element versions of the following categories of
functions:

Category Matrix Element Support

Operators (p. 548) addition, subtraction, multiplica-
tion, and comparison operators
(note that the comparison opera-
tors perform the comparison for
every element of the matrix object
and return a 1 if true for all ele-
ments, and a 0 if the comparison
fails for any element).
Basic Mathematical Functions (p. 549) All, except for “@inv” and
“@recode”.
Special Functions (p. 566) All
Trigonometric Functions (p. 569) All
Statistical Distribution Functions (p. 569) All

Matrix Language Entries

The following section provides an alphabetical listing of the commands and functions asso-
ciated with the EViews matrix language. Each entry outlines the basic syntax and provides
examples and cross references.
658—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@capplyranks Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @capplyranks(m, v[, n])

Argument 1: vector, matrix, or sym, m
Argument 2: vector, v
Argument 3: (optional) integer, n
Return: vector, matrix, or sym

Reorder the rows of a matrix m using the ranks in the vector v. If the optional argument n is
specified, only the rows in column n will be reordered. v should contain unique integers
from 1 to the number of rows of m.
matrix m2 = @capplyranks(m1, v1)

reorders the rows of the matrix M1 using the ranks in V1, while
matrix m3 = @cappyranks(m1, v1, 3)

reorders only the rows of column 3 of M1.

Note that you may use the @ranks function to obtain the ranks of a vector. Obtaining
unique integer ranking for data with ties requires use of the “i” or “r” option in @ranks, as
in
vector y = @ranks(x, "a", "i")

See also @ranks (p. 687), @rapplyranks (p. 688), @sort (p. 692), and @permute (p. 685).

@cfirst Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cfirst(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the first non-missing values of each column of the matrix m.
Example:
vector v1 = @cmax(m1)

See also @cifirst (p. 659), @first (p. 675).

 @cilast—659

@cholesky Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @cholesky(s)
Argument: sym, s
Return: matrix

Returns a matrix containing the Cholesky factorization of s . The Cholesky factorization

finds the lower triangular matrix L such that LL is equal to the symmetric source matrix.
Example:
matrix fact = @cholesky(s1)
matrix orig = fact*@transpose(fact)

@cifirst Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cifirst(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the index (i.e, row number) of the first non-missing value of
each column of the matrix m. Example:
vector v1 = @cifirst(m1)

See also @cfirst (p. 658), @ifirst (p. 676).

@cilast Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cilast(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the index (i.e, row number) of the last non-missing value of
each column of the matrix m. Example:
vector v1 = @cilast(m1)

See also @clast (p. 660), @ilast (p. 677).

660—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@cimax Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cimax(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the index (i.e, row number) of the maximal values of each col-
umn of the matrix m. Example:
vector v1 = @cimax(m1)

See also @cimin (p. 660), @cmax (p. 661), @cmin (p. 661).

@cimin Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cimin(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the index (i.e, row number) of the minimal values of each col-
umn of the matrix m. Example:
vector v1 = @cimin(m1)

See also @cimax (p. 660), @cmax (p. 661), @cmin (p. 661).

@clast Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @clast(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the last non-missing value of each column of the matrix m.
Example:
vector v1 = @clast(m1)

See also @cilast (p. 659), @last (p. 680).

 @cnas—661

@cmax Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cmax(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the maximal values of each column of the matrix m. Example:
vector v1 = @cmax(m1)

See also @cimax (p. 660), @cimin (p. 660), @cmin (p. 661).

@cmean Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cmean(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the mean values of each column of the matrix m. Example:
vector v1 = @cmean(m1)

See also @csum (p. 666).

@cmin Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cmin(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the minimal values of each column of the matrix m. Example:
vector v1 = @cmin(m1)

See also @cimax (p. 660), @cimin (p. 660), @cmax (p. 661).

@cnas Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cnas(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector
662—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

Returns a vector containing the number of missing values in each column of the matrix m.
Example:
vector v1= @cnas(m1)

@cobs Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @cobs(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the number of non-missing values in each column of the matrix
m. Example:
vector v1= @cobs(m1)

colplace Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: colplace(m, v, n)
Argument 1: matrix, m
Argument 2: vector, v
Argument 3: integer, n

Places the column vector v into the matrix m at column n. The number of rows of m and v
must match, and the destination column must already exist within m. Example:
colplace(m1,v1,3)

The third column of M1 will be set equal to the vector V1.

See also rowplace (p. 690).

@columnextract Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @columnextract(m, n)
Argument 1: matrix or sym, m
Argument 2: integer, n
Return: vector

Extract a vector from column n of the matrix object m, where m is a matrix or sym. Exam-
ple:
vector v1 = @columnextract(m1,3)
 @cond—663

Note that while you may extract the first column of a column vector, or any column of a row
vector, the command is more easily executed using simple element or vector assignment in
these cases.

See also @rowextract (p. 689).

@columns Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @columns(o)
Argument: matrix, vector, rowvector, sym, scalar, or series, o
Return: integer

Returns the number of columns in the matrix object o. Example:

scalar sc2 = @columns(m1)
vec1(2) = @columns(s1)

See also @rows (p. 690).

@commute Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @commute(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: matrix

Given the m  n matrix A , returns the mn  mn matrix K , which satisfies

K  vec(A)  vec(A)

See also @duplic (p. 666), @duplicinv (p. 667), and @elimin (p. 670).

@cond Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @cond(o, n)
Argument 1: matrix or sym, o
Argument 2: (optional) scalar n
Return: scalar

Returns the condition number of a square matrix or sym, o. If no norm is specified, the
infinity norm is used to determine the condition number. The condition number is the prod-
uct of the norm of the matrix divided by the norm of the inverse. Possible norms are “-1” for
n
the infinity norm, “0” for the Frobenius norm, and an integer “n” for the L norm. Exam-
ple:
664—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

scalar sc1 = @cond(m1)

mat1(1,4) = @cond(s1,2)

@convert Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @convert(o, smp)

Argument 1: series or group, o
Argument 2: (optional) sample, smp
Return: vector or matrix

If o is a series, @convert returns a vector from the values of o using the optional sample
smp or the current workfile sample. If any observation has the value “NA”, the observation
will be omitted from the vector. Examples:
vector v2 = @convert(ser1)
vector v3 = @convert(ser2, smp1)

If o is a group, @convert returns a matrix from the values of o using the optional sample
object smp or the current workfile sample. The series in o are placed in the columns of the
resulting matrix in the order they appear in the group spreadsheet. If any of the series for a
given observation has the value “NA”, the observation will be omitted for all series. For
example:
matrix m1 = @convert(grp1)
matrix m2 = @convert(grp1, smp1)

For a conversion method that preserves NAs, see stomna (p. 693).

@cor Matrix Descriptive Statistics Functions

Syntax: @cor(v1, v2)

Argument 1: vector, rowvector, or series, v1
Argument 2: vector, rowvector, or series, v2
Return: scalar

Syntax: @cor(o)
Argument: matrix object or group, o
Return: sym

If used with two vector or series objects, v1 and v2, @cor returns the correlation between
the two vectors or series. Examples:
scalar sc1 = @cor(v1,v2)
 @covp—665

s1(1,2) = @cor(v1,r1)

If used with a matrix object or group, o, @cor calculates the correlation matrix between the
columns of the matrix object.
scalar sc2 = @cor(v1,v2)
mat3(4,2) = 100*@cor(r1,v1)

For series and group calculations, EViews will use the current workfile sample. See also
@cov (p. 665). See Group::cor (p. 298) in the Object Reference for more general computa-
tion of correlations.

@cov Matrix Descriptive Statistics Functions

Syntax: @cov(v1, v2)

Argument 1: vector, rowvector, or series, v1
Argument 2: vector, rowvector, or series, v2
Return: scalar

Syntax: @cov(o)
Argument: matrix object or group, o
Return: sym

If used with two vector or series objects, v1 and v2, @cov returns the covariance between
the two vectors or series. Examples:
scalar sc1 = @cov(v1, v2)
s1(1,2) = @cov(v1, r1)

If used with a matrix object or group, o, @cov calculates the covariance matrix between the
columns of the matrix object.
!1 = @cov(v1, v2)
mat3(4,2) = 100*@cov(r1, v1)

For series and group calculations, EViews will use the current workfile sample. See also
@cor (p. 664). See Group::cov (p. 302) in the Object Reference for more general computa-
tion of covariances.

@covp Matrix Descriptive Statistics Functions

Compute covariances using n as the divisor in the moment calculation. Same as @cov
(p. 665). See also @covs (p. 666). See Group::cov (p. 302) in the Object Reference for more
general computation of covariances.
666—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@covs Matrix Descriptive Statistics Functions

Compute covariances using n – 1 as the divisor in the moment calculation. See also @cov
(p. 665) or @covp (p. 665). See also @covs (p. 666). See Group::cov (p. 302) in the Object
Reference for more general computation of covariances.

@csum Matrix Column Functions

Syntax: @csum(m)
Argument: matrix, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the summation of the rows in each column of the matrix m.
Example:
vector v1= @csum(m1)

See also @cmean (p. 661).

@det Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @det(m)
Argument: matrix or sym, m
Return: scalar

Calculate the determinant of the square matrix or sym, m. The determinant is nonzero for a
nonsingular matrix and 0 for a singular matrix. Example:
scalar sc1 = @det(m1)
vec4(2) = @det(s2)

See also @rank (p. 686).

@duplic Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @duplic(s)
Argument: sym, s
Return: matrix
2
Given the m  m sym matrix S , returns the m  m  m  1   2 matrix D , which satisfies
vec(S)  D  vech(S)
 @eeq—667

See also @commute (p. 663), @duplicinv (p. 667), and @elimin (p. 670)

@duplicinv Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @duplicinv(s)
Argument: sym, s
Return: matrix
+ 2
Returns D , the m  m  1   2  m Moore-Penrose inverse of the duplication matrix
where
+ –1
D   DD  D
for D , the duplication matrix satisfying
vec(S)  D  vech(S)

for m  m symmetric matrix S .

See also @commute (p. 663), @duplic (p. 666), and @elimin (p. 670).

@ediv Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @ediv(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns the element by element division of two matrix objects or syms. Each element of the
returned matrix is equal to the corresponding element in m1 divided by the corresponding
element in m2. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimensions. Example:
matrix m3 = @ediv(m1,m2)

See also @einv (p. 670), @emult (p. 671), and @epow (p. 672).

@eeq Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @eeq(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix
668—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

Returns the element by element test of equality between two matrix objects or syms. Each
element of the returned matrix is equal to 1 or 0 depending on whether the corresponding
element in m1 is equal to the corresponding element in m2. Note m1 and m2 must be of
identical dimensions. Example:
matrix m3 = @eeq(m1,m2)

See also @eneq (p. 671), @eeqna (p. 668), and @eneqna (p. 672).

@eeqna Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @eeqna(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns the element by element test of equality between two matrix objects or syms. NAs
are treated as ordinary values for purposes of comparison. Each element of the returned
matrix is equal to 1 or 0 depending on whether the corresponding element in m1 is equal to
the corresponding element in m2. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimensions. Exam-
ple:
matrix m3 = @eeqna(m1,m2)

See also @eneqna (p. 672), @eeq (p. 667), and @eneq (p. 671).

@ege Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @ege(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns a test for whether the elements in the matrix or sym m1 are greater than or equal to
the corresponding elements in m2. Each element of the returned matrix is equal to 1 or 0
depending on the outcome of the comparison. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimen-
sions. Example:
matrix m3 = @egt(m1,m2)

See also @egt (p. 669), @ele (p. 670), and @elt (p. 671).
 @eigenvectors—669

@egt Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @egt(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns a test for whether the elements in the matrix or sym m1 are greater than the corre-
sponding elements in m2. Each element of the returned matrix is equal to 1 or 0 depending
on the outcome of the comparison. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimensions. Exam-
ple:
matrix m3 = @egt(m1,m2)

See also @ege (p. 668), @ele (p. 670), and @elt (p. 671).

@eigenvalues Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @eigenvalues(s)
Argument: sym, s
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the eigenvalues of the sym. The eigenvalues are those scalars l
that satisfy Sx=lx where S is the sym associated with the argument s . Associated with
each eigenvalue is an eigenvector (@eigenvectors (p. 669)). The eigenvalues are arranged
in ascending order.

Example:
vector v1 = @eigenvalues(s1)

@eigenvectors Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @eigenvectors(s)
Argument: sym, s
Return: matrix

Returns a square matrix, of the same dimension as the sym, whose columns are the eigen-
vectors of the source matrix. Each eigenvector v satisfies Sv=nv, where S is the symmetric
matrix given by s, and where n is the eigenvalue associated with the eigenvector v. The
670—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

eigenvalues are arranged in ascending order, and the columns of the eigenvector matrix cor-
respond to the sorted eigenvalues. Example:
matrix m2 = @eigenvectors(s1)

See also the function @eigenvalues (p. 669).

@einv Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @einv(m)
Argument: matrix,m
Return: matrix

Returns the element by element inverse of a matrix object or sym. Each element of the
returned matrix is equal to 1 divided by the corresponding element of the input matrix.
Example:
matrix m2 = @einv(m1)

See also @ediv (p. 667), @emult (p. 671), and @epow (p. 672).

@ele Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @ege(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns a test for whether the elements in the matrix or sym m1 are greater than or equal to
the corresponding elements in m2. Each element of the returned matrix is equal to 1 or 0
depending on the outcome of the comparison. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimen-
sions. Example:
matrix m3 = @ele(m1,m2)

See also @elt (p. 671), @ege (p. 668), and @egt (p. 669).

@elimin Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @elimin(s)
Argument: sym, s
Return: matrix
2
Given the m  m sym matrix S , returns the m  m  1   2  m matrix L , which satisfies
 @eneq—671

vech(S)  L  vec(S)

See also @commute (p. 663), @duplic (p. 666), and @duplicinv (p. 667).

@elt Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @egt(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns a test for whether the elements in the matrix or sym m1 are greater than the corre-
sponding elements in m2. Each element of the returned matrix is equal to 1 or 0 depending
on the outcome of the comparison. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimensions. Exam-
ple:
matrix m3 = @elt(m1,m2)

See also @ele (p. 670), @ege (p. 668), and @egt (p. 669).

@emult Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @emult(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns the element by element multiplication of two matrix objects or syms. Each element
of the returned matrix is equal to the corresponding element in m1 multiplied by the corre-
sponding element in m2. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimensions. Example:
matrix m3 = @emult(m1,m2)

See also @ediv (p. 667), @einv (p. 670), and @epow (p. 672).

@eneq Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @eneq(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix
672—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

Returns the element by element test of inequality between two matrix objects or syms. Each
element of the returned matrix is equal to 1 or 0 depending on whether the corresponding
element in m1 is not equal to the corresponding element in m2. Note m1 and m2 must be of
identical dimensions. Example:
matrix m3 = @eneq(m1,m2)

See also @eeq (p. 667), @eeqna (p. 668), and @eneqna (p. 672).

@eneqna Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @eneqna(m1,m2)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Return: matrix

Returns the element by element test of inequality between two matrix objects or syms. NAs
are treated as ordinary values for purposes of comparison. Each element of the returned
matrix is equal to 1 or 0 depending on whether the corresponding element in m1 is not
equal to the corresponding element in m2. Note m1 and m2 must be of identical dimen-
sions. Example:
matrix m3 = @eneqna(m1,m2)

See also @eeqna (p. 668), @eeq (p. 667), and @eneq (p. 671).

@epow Matrix Element Functions

Syntax: @epow(m1,o)
Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2, scalar or number, n
Return: matrix

Returns a matrix where every element is equal to the corresponding element in m1 raised to
the power n. If the second argument is a matrix, the each element of m1 will be raised to the
power of the corresponding element of m2. Example:
matrix m2 = @epow(m1,3)

See also @ediv (p. 667), @einv (p. 670), and @emult (p. 671).
 @filledmatrix—673

@explode Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @explode(s)
Argument: sym, s
Return: matrix

Creates a square matrix from a sym, s, by duplicating the lower triangle elements into the
upper triangle. Example:
matrix m2 = @explode(s1)

See also @implode (p. 677).

@fill Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @fill(n1, n2, n3, ...)

Arguments: scalar
Return: vector

Returns a vector containing the elements specified by the arguments to the function. The
vector will have length equal to the number of arguments. The maximum number of argu-
ments is 96.

Example
vector v = @fill(1,4,6,21.3)

Will return a 4 element vector, where the first element is set to 1, the second to 4, the third
to 6 and the fourth to 21.3.

See Vector::fill (p. 875), Coef::fill (p. 20), Matrix::fill (p. 389), Rowvec-
tor::fill (p. 505), and Sym::fill (p. 712) for routines to perform general filling of
matrix objects.

@filledmatrix Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @filledmatrix(n1, n2, n3)

Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: integer, n2
Argument 3: scalar, n3
Return: matrix
674—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

Returns a matrix with n1 rows and n2 columns, where each element contains the value n3.
Example:
matrix m2 = @filledmatrix(3,2,7)

creates a 3  2 matrix where each element is set to 7. See also Matrix::fill (p. 389).

See Coef::fill (p. 20), Rowvector::fill (p. 505), Series::fill (p. 561), Sym::fill
(p. 712), and Vector::fill (p. 875) for routines to perform general filling of matrix
objects.

@filledrowvector Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @filledrowvector(n1, n2)

Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: scalar, n2
Return: rowvector

Returns a rowvector of length n1, where each element contains the value n2. Example:
rowvector r1 = @filledrowvector(3,1)

creates a 3 element rowvector where each element is set to 1. See also @fill (p. 673).

See Coef::fill (p. 20), Matrix::fill (p. 389), Sym::fill (p. 712), and Vec-
tor::fill (p. 875) for routines to perform general filling of matrix objects.

@filledsym Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @filledsym(n1, n2)

Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: scalar, n2
Return: sym

Returns an n1  n1 sym, where each element contains n2. Example:

sym s2= @filledsym(3,9)

creates a 3  3 sym where each element is set to 9. See also Sym::fill (p. 712).

See Coef::fill (p. 20), Matrix::fill (p. 389), Rowvector::fill (p. 505), and Vec-
tor::fill (p. 875) for routines to perform general filling of matrix objects.
 @getmaindiagonal—675

@filledvector Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @filledvector(n1, n2)

Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: scalar, n2
Return: vector

Returns a vector of length n1, where each element contains the value n2. Example:
vector r1 = @filledvector(5,6)

creates a 5 element column vector where each element is set to 6. See also @fill (p. 673).

See Vector::fill (p. 875), Coef::fill (p. 20), Matrix::fill (p. 389), Rowvec-
tor::fill (p. 505), and Sym::fill (p. 712) for routines to perform general filling of
matrix objects.

@first Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @first(o)
Argument: vector or series, o
Return: scalar

Returns a vector containing the first non-missing values of the series or vector. The series
version uses the current workfile sample. Example:
scalar s1 = @first(ser1)

See also @ifirst (p. 676), @cfirst (p. 658).

@getmaindiagonal Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @getmaindiagonal(m)
Argument: matrix or sym, m
Return: vector

Returns a vector created from the main diagonal of the matrix or sym object. Example:
vector v1 = @getmaindiagonal(m1)
vector v2 = @getmaindiagonal(s1)
676—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@hcat Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @hcat(m1, m2)

Argument 1: matrix, vector or sym
Argument 2: matrix, vector or sym
Return: matrix

@hcat performs horizontal concatenation of two matrix objects. m1 and m2 must have the
same number of rows. If m1 is a matrix with k rows and m columns, and m2 is a matrix
with k rows and n columns, then @hcat will return a matrix with k rows and (m+n) col-
umns.

See also @vcat (p. 699).

@identity Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @identity(n)
Argument: integer, n
Return: matrix

Returns a square n  n identity matrix. Example:

matrix i1 = @identity(4)

@ifirst Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @ifirst(o)
Argument: vector or series, o
Return: scalar

Returns a scalar containing the index of first non-missing values the series or vector. The
series version uses the current workfile sample. Example:
scalar s1 = @ifirst(ser1)

See also @first (p. 675), @cifirst (p. 659).

 @implode—677

@ilast Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @ilast(o)
Argument: vector or series, o
Return: scalar

Returns a vector containing the first non-missing values the series or vector. The series ver-
sion uses the current workfile sample. Example:
scalar s1 = @ilast(ser1)

See also @last (p. 680), @cilast (p. 659).

@imax Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @imax(o)
Argument: vector or series, o
Return: scalar

Returns a scalar containing the index of the maximum of the series or vector. The series ver-
sion uses the current workfile sample. Example:
scalar s1 = @imax(ser1)

@imin Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @imin(o)
Argument: vector or series, o
Return: scalar

Returns a scalar containing the index of the minimum of the series or vector. The series ver-
sion uses the current workfile sample. Example:
scalar s1 = @imin(ser1)

@implode Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @implode(m)
Argument: square matrix, m
Return: sym
678—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

Forms a sym by copying the lower triangle of a square input matrix, m. Where possible, you
should use a sym in place of a matrix to take advantage of computational efficiencies. Be
sure you know what you are doing if the original matrix is not symmetric—this function
does not check for symmetry. Example:
sym s2 = @implode(m1)

See also @explode (p. 673).

@inner Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @inner(v1, v2, smp)

Argument 1: vector, rowvector, or series, v1
Argument 2: vector, rowvector, or series, v2
Argument 3: (optional) sample, smp
Return: scalar

Syntax: @inner(o, smp)

Argument 1: matrix object or group, o
Argument 2: (optional) sample, smp
Return: sym

If used with two vectors, v1 and v2, @inner returns the dot or inner product of the two vec-
tors. Examples:
scalar sc1 = @inner(v1, v2)
s1(1,2) = @inner(v1, r1)

If used with two series, @inner returns the inner product of the series using observations in
the workfile sample. You may provide an optional sample.

If used with a matrix or sym, o, @inner returns the inner product, or moment matrix, o’o.
Each element of the result is the vector inner product of two columns of the source matrix.
The size of the resulting sym is the number of columns in o. Examples:
scalar sc1 = @inner(v1)
sym sym1 = @inner(m1)

If used with a group, @inner returns the uncentered second moment matrix of the data in
the group, g, using the observations in the sample, smp. If no sample is provided, the work-
file sample is used. Examples:
sym s2 = @inner(gr1)
sym s3 = @inner(gr1, smp1)
 @kronecker—679

See also @outer (p. 685).

@inverse Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @inverse(m)
Argument: square matrix or sym, m
Return: matrix or sym

Returns the inverse of a square matrix object or sym. The inverse has the property that the
product of the source matrix and its inverse is the identity matrix. The inverse of a matrix
returns a matrix, while the inverse of a sym returns a sym. Note that inverting a sym is
much faster than inverting a matrix.

Examples:
matrix m2 = @inverse(m1)
sym s2 = @inverse(s1)
sym s3 = @inverse(@implode(m2))

See @solvesystem (p. 691).

@issingular Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @issingular(o)
Argument: matrix or sym, o
Return: integer

Returns “1” if the square matrix or sym, o, is singular, and “0” otherwise. A singular matrix
has a determinant of 0, and cannot be inverted. Example:
scalar sc1 = @issingular(m1)

@kronecker Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @kronecker(o1, o2)

Argument 1: matrix object, o1
Argument 2: matrix object, o2
Return: matrix

Calculates the Kronecker product of the two matrix objects, o1 and o2. The resulting matrix
has a number of rows equal to the product of the numbers of rows of the two matrix objects
and a number of columns equal to the product of the numbers of columns of the two matrix
680—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

objects. The elements of the resulting matrix consist of submatrices consisting of one ele-
ment of the first matrix object multiplied by the entire second matrix object. Example:
matrix m3 = @kronecker(m1,m2)

@last Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @last(o)
Argument: vector or series, o
Return: scalar

Returns a vector containing the last non-missing value of the series or vector. The series ver-
sion uses the current workfile sample. Example:
scalar s1 = @first(ser1)

See also @ilast (p. 677), @clast (p. 660).

@makediagonal Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @makediagonal(v, k)
Argument 1: vector or rowvector, v
Argument 2: (optional) integer, k
Return: sym or matrix

Creates a square matrix with the specified vector or rowvector, v, in the k-th diagonal rela-
tive to the main diagonal, and zeroes off the diagonal. If no k value is provided or if k is set
to 0, the resulting sym matrix will have the same number of rows and columns as the length
of v, and will have v in the main diagonal. If a value for k is provided, the matrix has the
same number of rows and columns as the number of elements in the vector plus k, and will
place v in the diagonal offset from the main by k.

Examples:
sym s1 = @makediagonal(v1)
matrix m2 = @makediagonal(v1,1)
matrix m4 = @makediagonal(r1,-3)

S1 will contain V1 in the main diagonal; M2 will contain V1 in the diagonal immediately
above the main diagonal; M4 will contain R1 in the diagonal 3 positions below the main
diagonal. Using the optional k parameter may be useful in creating covariance matrices for
AR models. For example, you can create an AR(1) correlation matrix by issuing the com-
mands:
matrix(10,10) m1
 @maxes—681

vector(9) rho = .3
m1 = @makediagonal(rho,-1) + @makediagonal(rho,+1)
m1 = m1 + @identity(10)

Note that to make a diagonal matrix with the same elements on the diagonal, you may use
@identity, multiplied by the scalar value.

See also @identity (p. 676).

matplace Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: matplace(m1, m2, n1, n2)

Argument 1: matrix, m1
Argument 2: matrix, m2
Argument 3: integer, n1
Argument 4: integer, n2

Places the matrix object m2 into m1 at row n1 and column n2. The sizes of the two matrices
do not matter, as long as m1 is large enough to contain all of m2 with the upper left cell of
m2 placed at row n1 and column n2.

Example:
matrix(100,5) m1
matrix(100,2) m2
matplace(m1,m2,1,1)

@maxes Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @maxes(m, n)
Argument 1: matrix, m
Argument 2: integer, n
Return: vector

returns a vector with the n maximal values of the object m, arranged from high to low.
682—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@mins Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @mins(m, n)
Argument 1: matrix, m
Argument 2: integer, n
Return: vector

returns a vector with the n minimal values of the object m, arranged from low to high.

@mnrnd Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @mnrnd(n1,n2)
Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: integer, n2
Return: vector, matrix or sym

Creates a vector, matrix or sym filled with normal random numbers. The size of the created
matrix is given by the integers n1 (number of rows) and n2 (number of columns). Examples:
matrix m1=@mnrnd(3,2)
sym s1=@mnrnd(5,5)
vector v1=@mnrnd(18)

See also @mrnd (p. 682), nrnd (p. 684), and rnd (p. 689).

@mrnd Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @mrnd(n1,n2)
Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: integer, n2
Return: vector, matrix or sym

Creates a vector, matrix or sym filled with uniform random numbers. The size of the created
matrix is given by the integers n1 (number of rows) and n2 (number of columns). Examples:
matrix m1=@mrnd(3,2)
sym s1=@mrnd(5,5)
vector v1=@mrnd(18)

See also @mnrnd (p. 682), nrnd (p. 684), and rnd (p. 689).
 mtos—683

mtos Matrix Utility Commands

Convert matrix to a series or group. Fills a series or group with the data from a vector or
matrix.

Syntax
Vector Proc: mtos(vector, series[, sample])
Matrix Proc: mtos(matrix, group[, sample])

Matrix-TO-Series Object. Include the vector or matrix name in parentheses, followed by a

comma and then the series or group name. The number of included observations in the
sample must match the row size of the matrix to be converted. If no sample is provided, the
matrix is written into the series using the current workfile sample. Example:
mtos(mom,gr1)

converts the first column of the matrix MOM to the first series in the group GR1, the second
column of MOM to the second series in GR1, and so on. The current workfile sample length
must match the row length of the matrix MOM. If GR1 is an existing group object, the num-
ber of series in GR1 must match the number of columns of MOM. If a group object named
GR1 does not exist, EViews creates GR1 with the first series named SER1, the second series
named SER2, and so on.
series col1
series col2
group g1 col1 col2
sample s1 1951 1990
mtos(m1,g1,s1)

The first two lines declare series objects, the third line declares a group object, the fourth
line declares a sample object, and the fifth line converts the columns of the matrix M1 to
series in group G1 using sample S1. This command will generate an error if M1 is not a
40  2 matrix.
Cross-references
See Chapter 11. “Matrix Language,” on page 257 for further discussion and examples of the
use of matrices.

See also stom (p. 692), stomna (p. 693), and @convert (p. 664).
684—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@norm Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @norm(o, n)
Argument 1: matrix, vector, rowvector, sym, scalar, or series, o
Argument 2: (optional) integer, n
Return: scalar

Returns the value of the norm of any matrix object, o. Possible choices for the norm type n
include “–1” for the infinity norm, “0” for the Frobenius norm, and an integer “n” for the
n
L norm. If no norm type is provided, this function returns the infinity norm.
Examples:
scalar sc1 = @norm(m1)
scalar sc2 = @norm(v1,1)

nrnd Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: nrnd(m)
Argument 1: matrix, vector or sym, m

Fill the matrix object m with normal random numbers.

Example:
nrnd(m1)

See also @mnrnd (p. 682), @mrnd (p. 682), and rnd (p. 689).

@ones Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @ones(n1,n2)
Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: integer, n2
Return: vector, matrix or sym

Creates a vector, matrix or sym filled with the value 1. The size of the created matrix is given
by the integers n1 (number of rows) and n2 (number of columns). Example:
matrix m1=@ones(3,2)
sym s1=@ones(5,5)
vector v1=@ones(18)
 @pinverse—685

@outer Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @outer(v1, v2)

Argument 1: vector, rowvector, or series, v1
Argument 2: vector, rowvector, or series, v2
Return: matrix

Calculates the cross product of v1 and v2. Vectors may be either row or column vectors. The
outer product is the product of v1 (treated as a column vector) and v2 (treated as a row vec-
tor), and is a square matrix of every possible product of the elements of the two inputs.
Example:
matrix m1=@outer(v1,v2)
matrix m4=@outer(r1,r2)

See also @inner (p. 678).

@permute Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @permute(m1)
Input: matrix m1
Return: matrix

This function returns a matrix whose rows are randomly drawn without replacement from
rows of the input matrix m1. The output matrix has the same size as the input matrix.
matrix xp = @permute(x)

To draw with replacement from rows of a matrix, use @resample (p. 688).

See also @capplyranks (p. 658) and @rapplyranks (p. 688).

@pinverse Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @inverse(m)
Argument: matrix or sym, m
Return: matrix or sym

Returns the Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse of a matrix object or sym. The pseudoinverse has
the property that both pre-multiplying and post-multiplying the pseudo-inverse by the
source matrix returns the source matrix, and that both pre-multiplying and post-multiplying
the source matrix by the pseudo-inverse will return the inverse. The pseudo-inverse of a
686—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

matrix returns a matrix, while the pseudo-inverse of a sym returns a sym. Note that pseudo-
inverting a sym is much faster than inverting a matrix.

Examples:
matrix m2 = @pinverse(m1)
sym s2 = @pinverse(s1)
sym s3 = @pinverse(@implode(m2))

@qform Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @qform(s, o)
Argument 1: sym
Argument 2: vector
Return: scalar

Syntax: @qform(s, o)
Argument 1: sym
Argument 2: matrix or sym
Return: sym

@qform returns the quadratic form of a symmetric matrix with another matrix, or vector. If S
is the symmetric matrix, and v is a vector, @qform will return v’S*v, which results in a sca-
lar. If S is symmetric matrix, and m is a matrix, then @qform returns m’S*m, which is a
symmetric matrix.

@rank Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @rank(o, n)
Argument 1: vector, rowvector, matrix, sym, or series, o
Argument 2: (optional) integer, n
Return: integer

Returns the rank of the matrix object o. The rank is calculated by counting the number of
singular values of the matrix which are smaller in absolute value than the tolerance, which
is given by the argument n. If n is not provided, EViews uses the value given by the largest
dimension of the matrix multiplied by the norm of the matrix multiplied by machine epsilon
(the smallest representable number).
scalar rank1 = @rank(m1)
scalar rank2 = @rank(s1)
 @ranks—687

See also @svd (p. 694).

(You may use the @ranks function to obtain a ranking of the elements of a matrix or vector.
See “@ranks” on page 687.)

@ranks Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @ranks(o, [order, ties])

Argument 1: vector, matrix, o
Argument 2: (optional) string, order
Argument 3: (optional) string, ties
Return: vector, matrix

Return the ranks of the elements of a matrix object o. The optional arguments control the
behavior of the ranking.

Note that ranking a matrix ranks every element of the matrix and arranges the results by col-
umn to match the elements of the original matrix.

The first option controls the direction of the ranking:

• “a” (ascending - default) or “d” (descending)

The second option controls tie-handling:

• Ties are broken according to the setting of t: “i” (ignore), “f” (first), “l” (last), “a”
(average - default), “r” randomize.

If you wish to specify tie-handling options, you must also specify the order option (e.g.
‘@ranks(x, “a”, “i”)’).

Example:
vector y = @ranks(x, "a", "i")

returns the unique integer ascending ranking for the data in X with ignoring ties.

See also @capplyranks (p. 658), @rapplyranks (p. 688), @sort (p. 692), and @permute
(p. 685).
688—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@rapplyranks Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @rapplyranks(m, v[, n])

Argument 1: vector, matrix, or sym, m
Argument 2: vector, v
Argument 3: (optional) integer, n
Return: vector, matrix, or sym

Reorder the columns of a matrix m using the ranks in the vector v. If the optional argument
n is specified, only the columns in row n will be reordered. v should contain unique integers
from 1 to the number of rows of m.
matrix m2 = @rapplyranks(m1, v1)

reorders the columns of the matrix M1 using the ranks in V1, while
matrix m3 = @rappyranks(m1, v1, 3)

reorders only the columns in row 3 of M1.

Note that you may use the @ranks function to obtain the ranks of a vector. Obtaining
unique integer ranking for data with ties requires use of the “i” or “r” option in @ranks, as
in
vector y = @ranks(x, "a", "i")

See also @ranks (p. 687), @capplyranks (p. 658), @sort (p. 692), @permute (p. 685).

@resample Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @resample(m1, n2, n3, v4)

Input 1: matrix m1
Input 2: (optional) integer n2
Input 3: (optional) positive integer n3
Input 4: (optional) vector v4
Output: matrix

This function returns a matrix whose rows are randomly drawn with replacement from rows
of the input matrix.

n2 represents the number of “extra” rows to be drawn from the matrix. If the input matrix
has r rows and c columns, the output matrix will have r  n2 rows and c columns. By
default, n2=0 .
 @rowextract—689

n3 represents the block size for the resample procedure. If you specify n3  1 , then blocks
of consecutive rows of length n3 will be drawn with replacement from the first
r – n3  1 rows of the input matrix.
You may provide a name for the vector v4 to be used for weighted resampling. The weight-
ing vector must have length r and all elements must be non-missing and non-negative. If
you provide a weighting vector, each row of the input matrix will be drawn with probability
proportional to the weights in the corresponding row of the weighting vector. (The weights
need not sum to 1. EViews will automatically normalize the weights).
matrix xb = @bootstrap(x)

To draw without replacement from rows of a matrix, use @permute (p. 685).

rnd Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: rnd(m)
Argument 1: matrix, vector or sym, m

Fill the matrix object m with uniform random numbers.

Example:
rnd(m1)

See also @mnrnd (p. 682), @mrnd (p. 682), and nrnd (p. 684).

@rowextract Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @rowextract(m, n)
Argument 1: matrix or sym, m
Argument 2: integer, n
Return: rowvector

Extracts a rowvector from row n of the matrix object m. Example:

rowvector r1 = @rowextract(m1,3)

See also @columnextract (p. 662).

690—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

rowplace Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: rowplace(m, r, n)
Argument 1: matrix, m
Argument 2: rowvector, r
Argument 3: integer

Places the rowvector r into the matrix m at row n. The number of columns in m and r must
match, and row n must exist within m. Example:
rowplace(m1,r1,4)

See also colplace (p. 662).

@rows Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @rows(o)
Argument: matrix, vector, rowvector, sym, series, or group, o
Return: scalar

Returns the number of rows in the matrix object, o.

Example:
scalar sc1=@rows(m1)
scalar size=@rows(m1)*@columns(m1)

For series and groups @rows (p. 690) returns the number of observations in the workfile
range. See also @columns (p. 663).

@scale Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @scale(m, v[,p])

Argument 1: matrix or sym, m
Argument 2: vector or rowvector, v
Argument 3: (optional) number, p
Return: matrix or sym

Scale the rows or columns of a matrix, or the rows and columns of a sym matrix.
 @solvesystem—691

• If m is a matrix and v is a vector, the i-th row of m will be scaled by the i-th element
of v, optionally raised to the power p (row scaling). The length v must equal the num-
ber of rows of m.
• If m is a matrix and v is a rowvector, the i-th column of m will be scaled by the i-th
element of v, optionally raised to the power p (column scaling). The length v must
equal the number of columns of m.
• If m is a sym object, then v may either be a vector or a rowvector. The (i,j)-th element
of m will be scaled by both the i-th and j-th elements of v (row and column scaling).
The length v must equal the number of rows (and columns) of m.

Let M be the matrix object, V be the vector or rowvector, and L  diag  V 1, V 2, , V p  be

the diagonal matrix formed from the elements of V. Then @scale(m, v, p) returns:
p
• L M , if M is a matrix and V is a vector.
p
• ML , if M is a matrix and V is a rowvector.
p p
• L ML , if M is a sym matrix.

Example:
sym covmat = @cov(grp1)
vector vars = @getmaindiagonal(covmat)
sym corrmat = @scale(covmat, vars, -0.5)

computes the covariance matrix for the series in the group object GRP1, extracts the vari-
ances to a vector VARS, then uses VARS to obtain a correlation matrix from the covariance
matrix.
matrix covmat1 = covmat
matrix rowscaled = @scale(covmat, vars, -0.5)
matrix colscaled = @scale(covmat, @transpose(vars), -0.5)
sym corrmat1 = colscaled

performs the same scaling in multiple steps. Note that the COLSCALED matrix is square and
symmetric, but not a sym object.

@solvesystem Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @solvesystem(o, v)
Argument 1: matrix or sym, o
Argument 2: vector, v
Return: vector
692—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

Returns the vector x that solves the equation Mx  p where the matrix or sym M is given
by the argument o. Example:
vector v2 = @solvesystem(m1,v1)

See also @inverse (p. 679).

@sort Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @sort(o[, order, ties])

Argument 1: matrix or vector, o
Argument 2: (optional) option, order
Argument 3: (optional) option, ties
Return: matrix, vector

Returns the sorted elements of the matrix or vector object o.

Note that sorting a matrix sorts every element of the matrix and arranges the results by col-
umn, with the first element in the first row of the first column, and the last element in the
last row of the last column.

The first option controls the direction of the ranking:

• “a” (ascending - default) or “d” (descending)

The second option controls tie-handling:

• Ties are broken according to the setting of t: “i” (ignore), “f” (first), “l” (last), “a”
(average - default), “r” randomize.

If you wish to specify tie-handling options, you must also specify the order option (e.g.
‘@sort(x, “a”, “i”)’).

Example:
vector rank1 = @sort(v1,"a","f")

See also @ranks (p. 687), @capplyranks (p. 658), @rapplyranks (p. 688), @permute
(p. 685).

stom Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: stom(o1, o2, smp)

Argument 1: alpha, series or group, o1
Argument 2: svector, vector or matrix, o2
Argument 3: (optional) sample smp
 stomna—693

Series-TO-Matrix Object. If o1 is a series, stom fills the vector o2 with data from the o1 using
the optional sample object smp or the workfile sample. o2 will be resized accordingly. If any
observation has the value “NA”, the observation will be omitted from the vector. Example:
stom(ser1,v1)
stom(ser1,v2,smp1)

If o1 is a group, stom fills the matrix o2 with data from o1 using the optional sample object
smp or the workfile sample. o2 will be resized accordingly. The series in o1 are placed in the
columns of o2 in the order they appear in the group spreadsheet. If any of the series in the
group has the value “NA” for a given observation, the observation will be omitted for all
series. Example:
stom(grp1,m1)
stom(grp1,m2,smp1)

For a conversion method that preserves NAs, see stomna (p. 693). See also and @convert
(p. 664).

If o1 is an alpha-series, stom fills the svector o2 with data from o1 using the optional sample
object smp or the workfile sample. o2 will be resized accordingly.

stomna Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: stomna(o1, o2, smp)

Argument 1: series or group, o1
Argument 2: vector or matrix, o2
Argument 3: (optional) sample smp

Series-TO-Matrix Object with NAs. If o1 is a series, stom fills the vector o2 with data from o1
using the optional sample object smp or the workfile sample. o2 will be resized accordingly.
All “NA” values in the series will be assigned to the corresponding vector elements.

Example:
stom(ser1,v1)
stom(ser1,v2,smp1)

If o1 is a group, stom fills the matrix o2 with data from o1 using the optional sample object
smp or the workfile sample. o2 will be resized accordingly. The series in o1 are placed in the
columns of o2 in the order they appear in the group spreadsheet. All NAs will be assigned to
the corresponding matrix elements. Example:
stomna(grp1,m1)
stomna(grp1,m2,smp1)
694—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

For conversion methods that automatically remove observations with NAs, see @convert
(p. 664) and stom (p. 692).

@subextract Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @subextract(o, n1, n2, n3, n4)

Argument 1: vector, rowvector, matrix or sym, o
Argument 2: integer, n1
Argument 3: integer, n2
Argument 4: (optional) integer, n3
Argument 5: (optional) integer, n4
Return: matrix

Returns a submatrix of a specified matrix, o. n1 is the row and n2 is the column of the upper
left element to be extracted. The optional arguments n3 and n4 provide the row and column
location of the lower right corner of the matrix. Unless n3 and n4 are provided this function
returns a matrix containing all of the elements below and to the right of the starting ele-
ment.

Examples:
matrix m2 = @subextract(m1,5,9,6,11)
matrix m2 = @subextract(m1,5,9)

@svd Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @svd(m1, v1, m2)

Argument 1: matrix or sym, m1
Argument 2: vector, v1
Argument 3: matrix or sym, m2
Return: matrix

Performs a singular value decomposition of the matrix m1. The matrix U is returned by the
function, the vector v1 will be filled (resized if necessary) with the singular values and the
matrix m2 will be assigned (resized if necessary) the other matrix, V , of the decomposition.
The singular value decomposition satisfies:
m1  UWV
(18.1)
UU  VV  I
 ttom—695

where W is a diagonal matrix with the singular values along the diagonal. Singular values
close to zero indicate that the matrix may not be of full rank. See the @rank (p. 686) func-
tion for a related discussion.

Examples:
matrix m2
vector v1
matrix m3 = @svd(m1,v1,m2)

@trace Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @trace(m)
Argument: matrix or sym, m
Return: scalar

Returns the trace (the sum of the diagonal elements) of a square matrix or sym, m. Example:
scalar sc1 = @trace(m1)

@transpose Matrix Algebra Functions

Syntax: @transpose(o)
Argument: matrix, vector, rowvector, or sym, o
Return: matrix, rowvector, vector, or sym

Forms the transpose of a matrix object, o. o may be a vector, rowvector, matrix, or a sym.
The result is a matrix object with a number of rows equal to the number of columns in the
original matrix and number of columns equal to the number of rows in the original matrix.
This function is an identity function for a sym, since a sym by definition is equal to its trans-
pose. Example:
matrix m2 = @transpose(m1)
rowvector r2 = @transpose(v1)

ttom Matrix Utility Commands

Syntax: ttom(o1, o2[, range="cell_range", keepna])

Argument 1: table or object table view, o1
Argument 2: vector or matrix, o2
Argument 3: (optional) string containing a table cell range
Argument 4: (optional) option to keep rows and columns containing all NAs.
696—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

Table-TO-Matrix Object. ttom fills the matrix, m1, with the numerical values contained in
the table o1. m1 will be resized appropriately. o1 may be a table object in the current work-
file, or an object view command that creates a table view from an object.

If the “range=” option is provided, a subset of the cells of the table will be converted,
where cell_range can take one of the following forms:
@all Apply to all cells in the table.
cell Cell identifier. You can identify cells using either the col-
umn letter and row number (e.g., “A1”), or by using “R”
followed by the row number followed by “C” and the col-
umn number (e.g., “R1C2”).
row[,] col Row number, followed by column letter or number (e.g.,
“2,C”, or “2,3”), separated by “,”. Apply to cell.
row Row number (e.g., “2”). Apply to all cells in the row.
col Column letter (e.g., “B”). Apply to all cells in the column.
first_cell[:]last_cell, Top left cell of the selection range (specified in “cell” for-
first_cell[,]last_cell mat), followed by bottom right cell of the selection range
(specified in “cell” format), separated by a “:” or “,” (e.g.,
“A2:C10”, “A2,C10”, or “R2C1:R10C3”, “R2C1,R10C3”).
Apply to all cells in the rectangular region defined by the
first cell and last cell.
first_cell_row[,] Top left cell of the selection range (specified in “row[,] col”
first_cell_col[,] last_- format), followed by bottom right cell of the selection
cell_row[,] last_- range (specified in “row[,] col” format), separated by a “,”
cell_col (e.g., “2,A,10,C” or “2,1,10,3”). Apply to all cells in the
rectangular region defined by the first cell and last cell.

By default any row or column of the table that does not contain any numbers will be
dropped from the matrix. the keepna option disabled this.

Examples
ttom(table1,matrix1)

Creates a matrix object, MATRIX1, containing the numerical data in the table object
TABLE1. Any row or column of the table that contains no numbers (i.e. are blank rows/col-
umns, or only contain text) are skipped in the conversion process.
ttom(table1,matrix1, keepna)

Performs the same conversion, but this time any row or column of the table that contains no
numbers are included in the conversion process as a row/column of NAs.
ttom(eq01.wald c(1)=0.3, matrix1)
 @unitvector—697

Performs a wald test of the restriction C(1)=0.3 from the equation EQ01, and saves the
numerical output from that test in to the matrix object MATRIX1.

@uniquevals Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @uniquevals(arg)
Argument: series, alpha, vector or matrix
Return: vector or svector

Returns a vector or svector containing the list of unique values in the object specified by arg.
If arg is a series, vector or matrix, @uniquevals will return a vector object containing the
unique elements of the series, vector or matrix. If arg is an alpha series, @uniquevals will
return an svector of the unique values in the alpha.

Examples
@uniquevals(X)

returns a vector containing the unique values in X.

@unitvector Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @unitvector(n1, n2)

Argument 1: integer, n1
Argument 2: integer, n2
Return: vector

Creates an n1 element vector with a “1” in the n2-th element, and “0” elsewhere. Example:
vec v1 = @unitvector(8, 5)

creates an 8 element vector with a “1” in the fifth element and “0” for the other 7 elements.
Note: if instead you wish to create a 10-element vector of ones, you should use a declaration
statement of the form:
vector v1=@ones(10)

See also @ones (p. 684).

698—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

@unvec Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @unvec(v, n)
Argument 1: vector, v
Argument 2: integer, n
Return: matrix

Creates an n-row matrix filled with the unstacked elements of the vector v. EViews will
report a size mismatch if the number of elements of v is not evenly divisible by n.

Note that @unvec is the inverse of the @vec function.

Example:
vector v = @mrnd(12)
matrix m1 = @unvec(v1, 3)

creates a 12 element vector of uniform random numbers V1 and unstacks it into a 3  4

matrix M1.

See also @vec (p. 699).

@unvech Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @unvec(v)
Argument: vector, v
Return: sym

Creates a sym matrix with lower triangle filled using the unstacked elements of the vector v.
The sym will be sized automatically. EViews will report a size mismatch if the number of
elements of v does not correspond to a valid sym matrix size (is not a triangular number).

Note that @unvech is the inverse of the @vech function.

Example:
vector v1 = @mnrnd(15)
sym s1 = @unvech(v1)

creates a 15 element vector of normal random numbers V1 and unstacks it into a 5  5 sym
matrix S1.

See also @vech (p. 699).

 @vech—699

@vcat Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @vcat(m1, m2)

Argument 1: matrix, vector, svector or sym
Argument 2: matrix, vector, svector or sym
Return: matrix

@vcat performs vertical concatenation of two matrix objects. m1 and m2 must have the
same number of columns. If m1 is a matrix with m rows and k columns, and m2 is a matrix
with n rows and k columns, then @vcat will return a matrix with (m+n) rows and k col-
umns.

See also @hcat (p. 676).

@vec Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @vec(o)
Argument: matrix, sym, o
Return: vector

Creates a vector from the columns of the given matrix stacked one on top of each other. The
vector will have the same number of elements as the source matrix. Example:
matrix m1 = @mrnd(10, 3)
vector v1 = @vec(m1)

creates a 10  3 matrix of uniform random numbers M1 and stacks it in a 30 element vector

V1.

See also @unvec (p. 698).

@vech Matrix Utility Functions

Syntax: @vech(o)
Argument: matrix, sym, o
Return: vector

Creates a vector from the columns of the lower triangle of the source square matrix o
stacked on top of each another. The vector has the same number of elements as the source
matrix has in its lower triangle. Example:
sym s1 = @mrnd(5,5)
700—Chapter 18. Matrix Language Reference

vector v1 = @vech(m1)

creates a 5  5 sym matrix S1 and stacks its lower triangle in a 15 element vector V1.

See also @unvech (p. 698).

Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

The following reference is an alphabetical listing of the program statements and support
functions used by the EViews programming language.

For details on the EViews programming language, see Chapter 6. “EViews Programming,” on
page 117.

Programming Summary
Program Statements
call .......................calls a subroutine within a program (p. 706).
else .......................denotes start of alternative clause for IF (p. 707).
endif .....................marks end of conditional commands (p. 708).
endsub..................marks end of subroutine definition (p. 708).
exitloop.................exits from current loop (p. 710).
for ........................start of FOR execution loop (p. 711).
if...........................conditional execution statement (p. 713).
include..................include subroutine in programs (p. 713).
next ......................end of FOR loop (p. 717).
return ...................exit subroutine (p. 719).
sleep .....................pause program (p. 722).
step.......................(optional) step size of a FOR loop (p. 722).
stop ......................halts execution of program (p. 723).
subroutine.............declares subroutine (p. 723).
then ......................part of IF statement (p. 724).
to..........................upper limit of FOR loop (p. 725).
wend ....................end of WHILE loop (p. 735).
while ....................start of WHILE loop (p. 736).

Support Commands
addin ....................register a program file as an EViews Add-in (p. 704).
clearerrs ................sets the current program error count to 0 (p. 706).
commandcap.........send text to the command capture window (p. 327).
exec ......................execute a program (p. 710).
logclear.................clears the log window of a program (p. 406).
logmode................sets logging of specified messages (p. 407).
logmsg ..................adds a line of text to the program log (p. 409).
logsave..................saves the program log to a text file (p. 409).
702—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

open..................... opens a program file from disk (p. 717).

output .................. redirects print output to objects or files (p. 428).
poff ...................... turns off automatic printing in programs (p. 718).
pon ...................... turns on automatic printing in programs (p. 718).
program ............... declares a program (p. 455).
run....................... runs a program (p. 719).
saveprgini............. saves program variables in“.ini” file (p. 720).
seterr.................... sets a user-specified execution error (p. 720).
seterrcount ........... sets the current program execution error count (p. 721).
setmaxerrs............ sets the maximum number of errors that a program may encounter
before execution is halted (p. 721).
statusline.............. sends message to the status line (p. 721).
tic ........................ reset the timer (p. 494).
toc ....................... display elapsed time (since timer reset) in seconds (p. 495).
xclose................... close an open connection to an external application (p. 537).
xget...................... retrieve data from an external application into an EViews object
(p. 537).
xlog...................... switch on or off the external application log inside EViews (p. 540).
xopen................... open a connection to an external application (p. 540).
xput ..................... send an EViews object to an external application (p. 542).
xrun..................... run a command in an external application (p. 544).

Support Functions
@addinspath ........ string containing the EViews add-ins directory path (p. 706).
@datapath............ string containing the current EViews data directory (p. 707).
@date .................. string containing the current date (p. 707).
@equaloption....... returns the string to the right of the “=” in the specified option pro-
vided in the exec or run command (p. 712).
@errorcount......... number of errors encountered (p. 709).
@evpath............... string containing the directory path for the EViews executable
(p. 710).
@fileexist ............. checks for existence of a file on disk (p. 711).
@folderexist ......... check for a folder’s existence on disk (p. 711).
@getnextname ..... string containing next available name in the workfile (p. 712).
@getthistype ........ returns the object type of _this (p. 712).
@hasoption.......... returns 1 or 0 for whether the specified option was provided in the
exec or run command (p. 712).
@isobject ............. checks for existence of object (p. 714).
 Programming Summary—703

@isvalidname .......checks for whether a string represents a valid name for an EViews
object (p. 714).
@lasterrnum.........the error number for the previously issued command (p. 714).
@lasterrstr ............string containing the error text for the previously issued command
(p. 715).
@linepath .............string containing the location of the program currently being exe-
cuted (p. 715).
@loadprgini ..........string containing the contents of a specified name in an“.ini” file
(p. 715).
@makevalidname..string containing an uppercased valid EViews name based on the
input (p. 716).
@maxerrcount ......the maximum number of errors that a program may encounter
before execution is halted (p. 716).
@option................returns the i-th option string provided in the exec or run command
(p. 712).
@runpath .............returns a string containing the location of the program currently
being executed (p. 719).
@tablenames ........space delimited string containing the tables names in a foreign file
(p. 724).
@temppath ...........string containing the directory path for EViews temporary files
(p. 724).
@time...................string containing the current time (p. 725).
@toc.....................calculates elapsed time (since timer reset) in seconds (p. 726).
@vernum..............scalar containing the EViews version number (p. 735).
@verstr.................string containing the EViews product name string (p. 735).
@wdir ..................string list of all files in a directory (p. 735).
@wlookup ............string list formed from objects in a workfile or database matching a
pattern (p. 736).
@wquery ..............returns a string list of object attributes for all objects in the database
that satisfy the query (p. 737).
@wread ................returns a string containing the contents of the specified text file on
disk (p. 738).

There is also a set of functions that may be used to obtain information about the active
workfile. See “Basic Workfile Functions” on page 575.

Dialog Display Functions

@uidialog .............display a dialog with multiple controls (p. 726).
@uiedit.................display a dialog with an edit control (p. 729).
@uilist..................display a dialog with a listbox control (p. 731).
@uimlist...............display a dialog with a multiple-select listbox control (p. 732).
704—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

@uiprompt........... display a prompt dialog (p. 733).

@uiradio .............. display a dialog with radio buttons (p. 734).

Programming Language Entries

The following section provides an alphabetical listing of the commands and functions asso-
ciated with the EViews programming language. Each entry outlines the basic syntax and
provides examples and cross references.

addin Support Commands

Register a program file as an EViews Add-in.

Syntax
addin(options) [path\]prog_name

registers the specified program file as an EViews Add-in. Note that the program file should
have a “.PRG” extension, which you need not specify in the prog_name.

If you do not provide the optional path specification, EViews looks for the program file in
the default EViews Add-ins directory.

Explicit path specifications containing “.\” and “..\” (to indicate the current level and one
directory level up) are evaluated relative the directory of the installer program in which the
addin command is specified, or the EViews default directory if addin is run from the com-
mand line.

You may use the special “<addins>”directory keyword in your path specification.
 addin—705

Options
type=arg Specify the Add-ins type, where arg is the name of a
EViews object type. The default is to create a global Add-
in.
Specifying an object-specific Add-in using a matrix object
as in “type=matrix”, “type=vector”, etc. will register the
Add-in for all matrix object types (including coef, rowvec-
tor, and sym objects).
Sample objects do not support object-specific Add-ins so
that “type=sample” is not allowed.
proc=arg User--defined command/procedure name. If omitted, the
Add-in will not have a command form.
menu=arg Text for the Add-in menu entry. If omitted, the Add-in will
not have an associated menu item.
Note that you may use the “&” symbol in the entry text to
indicate that the following character should be used as a
menu shortcut.
desc=arg Brief description of the Add-in that will be displayed in the
Add-ins management dialog.
docs=arg Path and filename for the Add-in documentation. Determi-
nation of the path follows the rules specified above for the
addin filename.

Examples
addin(proc="myaddin", desc=”This is my add-in”) .\myaddin.prg

registers the file “Myaddin.prg” as a global Add-in, with the user-defined global command
myaddin, no menu support, and no assigned documentation file. The description “This is
my add-in” will appear in the main Add-ins management dialog. Note that the “.\” indicates
the directory from which the program containing the addin command was run, or the
EViews default directory if addin is run interactively.
addin(type="graph", menu="Add US Recession Shading",
proc="recshade", docs=".\recession shade.txt", desc="Applies US
recession shading to a graph object.") .\recshade.prg

registers the file “Recshade.prg” as a graph specific Add-in. The Add-in supports the object-
command recshade, has an object-specific menu item “Add US Recession Shading”, and
has a documentation file “Recession shade.txt”.
addin(type=equation, menu="Simple rolling regression", proc=roll,
docs="<addins>\Roll\Roll.pdf", desc="Rolling Regression -
simple version") "<addins>\Roll\roll.prg"
706—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

registers the Add-in file “Roll.prg” as an equation specific Add-in. Note that the documenta-
tion and program files are located in the “Roll” subdirectory of the default Add-ins directory.

Cross-references
See “Registering an Add-in” on page 202 in the Command and Programming Reference for
further details.

@addinspath Support Functions

Syntax: @addinspath
Return: string

Returns a string containing the EViews add-ins directory path.

Examples
If your currently add-ins path is “d:\eviews\add_ins”, then
%y = @addinspath

assigns a string of the form “D:\EVIEWS\ADD_INS”.

Cross-references
See also @evpath (p. 710) and @temppath (p. 724).

call Program Statements

Call a subroutine within a program.

The call statement is used to call a subroutine within a program.

Cross-references
See “Calling Subroutines” on page 151. See also subroutine (p. 723), endsub (p. 708).

clearerrs Support Commands

Set the current error count to 0.

May only be used in programs.

See also @errorcount (p. 709), seterrcount (p. 721), seterr (p. 720), and setmaxerrs
(p. 721).
 else—707

@datapath Support Functions

Syntax: @datapath
Return: string

Returns a string containing the location of the current EViews data directory.

Examples
If your current working directory is d:\data
%y = @datapath

assigns a string of the form “D:\DATA”.

Cross-references
See also @evpath (p. 710) and @temppath (p. 724).

@date Support Functions

Syntax: @date
Return: string

Returns a string containing the current date in “mm/dd/yy” format.

Examples
%y = @date

assigns a string of the form “10/10/00”.

Cross-references
See also @time (p. 725).

else Program Statements

ELSE clause of IF statement in a program.

Starts a sequence of commands to be executed when the IF condition is false. The else key-
word must be terminated with an endif.

Syntax
if [condition] then
[commands to be executed if condition is true]
708—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

else
[commands to be executed if condition is false]
endif

Cross-references
See “IF Statements” on page 139. See also, if (p. 713), endif (p. 708), then (p. 724).

endif Program Statements

End of IF statement. Marks the end of an IF, or an IF-ELSE statement.

Syntax
if [condition] then
[commands if condition true]
endif

Cross-references
See “IF Statements” on page 139. See also, if (p. 713), else (p. 707), then (p. 724).

endsub Program Statements

Mark the end of a subroutine.

Syntax
subroutine name(arguments)
commands
endsub

Cross-references
See “Defining Subroutines,” beginning on page 149. See also, subroutine (p. 723),
return (p. 719).

@env Support Functions

Syntax: @env(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string
 @errorcount—709

Returns a string containing the value of the Windows environment variable given by str. For
a list of common Windows environment variables, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Environment_variable#Examples_from_Microsoft_Windows

or:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/
proddocs/en-us/ntcmds_shelloverview.mspx?mfr=true

Examples
@env("username")

returns the user-name of the current logged in user.

@env("computername")

returns the name of the computer.

@env("userpath")

returns the location of the current logged in user’s user-folder on disk.

@equaloption Support Functions

Syntax: @equaloption("option_keyword")
Syntax: @equaloption(string)
Return: string

returns the text to the right of the “option_keyword=” option provided in the exec (p. 350)
or run (p. 467) command. If the option keyword is not found, the function will return an
empty string. For example, if you specify the option “kernel=tri” in your exec command,
string opt = @equaloption("kernel")

will return the string “TRI”.

Cross-references
See exec (p. 350) and run (p. 719).

@errorcount Support Functions

Syntax: @errorcount
Argument: none
Return: integer
710—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

Number of errors encountered in a program. Returns a scalar containing the number of

errors encountered during program execution.

Cross-references
See also @maxerrcount (p. 716), setmaxerrs (p. 721), clearerrs (p. 706), seterr
(p. 720), and seterrcount (p. 721).

@evpath Support Functions

Syntax: @evpath
Return: string

Returns a string containing the directory path for the EViews executable.

Examples
If your currently executing copy of EViews is installed in “d:\eviews”, then
%y = @evpath

assigns a string of the form “D:\EVIEWS”.

Cross-references
See also cd (p. 305), @addinspath (p. 706), and @temppath (p. 724).

exec Support Commands

Execute a program. The exec command executes a program. The program may be located
in memory or stored in a program file on disk.

See exec (p. 350).

exitloop Program Statements

Exit from current loop in programs.

exitloop causes the program to break out of the current FOR or WHILE loop.

Syntax
Command: exitloop

Examples
for !i=1 to 107
 for—711

if !i>6 then exitloop

next

Cross-references
See “The FOR Loop” on page 141. See also, stop (p. 723), return (p. 719), for (p. 711),
next (p. 717), step (p. 722).

@fileexist Support Functions

Syntax: @fileexist(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: integer

Check for an file’s existence. str should contain the full path and file name of the file you
want to check for. Returns a “1” if the file exists, and a “0” if it does not exist.

Cross-references
See also @wdir (p. 735) and @folderexist (p. 711)

@folderexist Support Functions

Syntax: @folderexist(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: integer

Check for a folder’s existence. str should contain the full path of the folder you want to
check for. Returns a “1” if the file exists, and a “0” if it does not exist.

Cross-references
See also @wdir (p. 735) and @fileexist (p. 711).

for Program Statements

FOR loop in a program.

The for statement is the beginning of a FOR...NEXT loop in a program.

Syntax
for counter=start to end [step stepsize]
[commands]
712—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

next

Cross-references
See “The FOR Loop” on page 141. See also, exitloop (p. 710), next (p. 717), step
(p. 722).

@getnextname Support Functions

Syntax: @getnextname(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string, name

Returns a string containing the next available variable name in the workfile, starting with str
(i.e. entering “result” will return “RESULT01” unless there is already a RESULT01, in which
case it will return “RESULT02”).

Cross-references
See also @isobject (p. 714) and @makevalidname (p. 716).

@getthistype Support Functions

Syntax: @getthistype
Return: string

Returns the object type of the_this object.

If no workfile is open, or if no object has yet been opened in a workfile, the function will
return the string "NONE". Note this latter behavior is in contrast to using the data member
syntax “_this.@type”, which will error on those cases.

Cross-references
See also the @type data member of each object in Chapter 1. “Object View and Procedure
Reference,” beginning on page 2. See “The Active Object Keyword” on page 209 in the Com-
mand and Programming Reference for a discussion of the _this object.

@hasoption Support Functions

Syntax: @hasoption("option")
Syntax: @hasoption(string)
Return: 0 or 1
 include—713

returns 1 or 0 depending on whether the specified option is or is not in the program options
provided in the exec (p. 350) or run (p. 467) command.

Cross-references
See exec (p. 350) and run (p. 719).

if Program Statements

IF statement in a program.

The if statement marks the beginning of a condition and commands to be executed if the
statement is true. The statement must be terminated with the beginning of an ELSE clause,
or an endif.

Syntax
if [condition] then
[commands if condition true]
endif

Cross-references
See “IF Statements” on page 139. See also else (p. 707), endif (p. 708), then (p. 724).

include Program Statements

Include another file in a program.

The include statement is used to include the contents of another file in a program file.

If an include file is specified without an absolute path, the base location will be taken from
the location of the program file, not from the default directory.

Syntax
include filename

Cross-references
See “Multiple Program Files” on page 148. See also call (p. 706).
714—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

@isobject Support Functions

Syntax: @isobject(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: integer

Check for an object’s existence. Returns a “1” if the object exists in the current workfile, and
a “0” if it does not exist.

Cross-references
See also @getnextname (p. 712).

@isvalidname Support Functions

Syntax: @isvalidname(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: integer

Check for whether a string represents a valid name for an EViews object. Returns a “1” if the
name is valid, and a “0” if it is not.

Cross-references
See also @makevalidname (p. 716).

@lasterrnum Support Functions

Syntax: @lasterrnum
Return: integer

Returns a integer containing the error number for the previously issued command. If there
the previous program line did not generate an error, the result will be a 0.

May only be used in a program.

Cross-references
See also @lasterrstr (p. 715).
 @loadprgini—715

@lasterrstr Support Functions

Syntax: @lasterrstr
Return: string

Returns a string containing the error message for the previously issued command. If there
the previous program line did not generate an error, the result will be an empty string.

May only be used in a program.

Cross-references
See also @lasterrnum (p. 714).

@linepath Support Functions

Syntax: @linepath
Return: string

Returns a string containing the location of the program currently being executed. If @line-
path is being executed as a child program from a parent as part of an include or exec
statement, the string will return the location of the child program.

Examples
If the program d:\myprogs\program1.prg has the line:
string y = @linepath

then y will contain “D:\MYPROGS\PROGRAM1.PRG”, no matter if program1 is run by itself,

or as part of another program.

Cross-references
See also @evpath (p. 710) and @temppath (p. 724).

@loadprgini Support Functions

Syntax: @loadprgini(“[section]name”, “filename”)

Argument 1: string, name
Argument 1: string, filename
Return: string
716—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

Returns a string containing the value of the specified variable name in the optionally speci-
fied section from the “.ini” file specified in filename. If filename is not specified the default
“.ini” is the one with the name of the current running program with extension “.ini.” Note
that the function returns a string, so scalars will have to be converted with @val. Also note
that both arguments must be enclosed in quotes.

Examples
string val = @loadprgini(“[section1]a”, “myini.ini”)

will save the value of “a” retrieved from section [section1] of the “.ini” file program_file-
path\myini.ini.

Cross-references
See saveprgini (p. 720).

@makevalidname Support Functions

Syntax: @makevalidname(str)
Argument: string, str
Return: string, name

Returns a string containing an uppercased valid EViews name based on str. If str is a valid
name, then the original string str is returned. If str is not valid, invalid characters will be
replaced in the new string with “_” prior to the return (i.e. the string “re!sult%” will return
“RE_SULT_”).

Cross-references
See also @isvalidname (p. 714) and @getnextname (p. 712).

@maxerrcount Support Functions

Syntax: @maxerrcount
Return: integer

Returns an integer containing the current value of the maximum number of errors that a
program may encounter before execution is halted.

May only be used in a program.

Cross-references
See also @errorcount (p. 709), setmaxerrs (p. 721), clearerrs (p. 706), seterr
(p. 720), and seterrcount (p. 721).
 output—717

next Program Statements

End of FOR loop. next marks the end of a FOR loop in a program.

Syntax
for [conditions of the FOR loop]
[commands]
next

Cross-references
See “The FOR Loop,” beginning on page 141. See also, exitloop (p. 710), for (p. 711),
step (p. 722).

open Support Commands

Open a file. Opens a workfile, database, program file, or ASCII text file.

See open (p. 418).

@option Support Functions

Syntax: @option(i), integer

Return: string

returns the i-th option provided in the exec (p. 350) or run (p. 467) command.

Cross-references
See exec (p. 350) and run (p. 719).

output Support Commands

Redirects printer output or display estimation output.

See output (p. 428).

718—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

poff Program Statements

Turn off automatic printing in programs.

poff turns off automatic printing of all output. In programs, poff is used in conjunction
with pon to control automatic printing; these commands have no effect in interactive use.

Syntax
Command: poff

Cross-references
See “Print Setup” on page 833 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of printer control.

See also pon (p. 718).

pon Program Statements

Turn on automatic printing in programs.

pon instructs EViews to send all statistical and data display output to the printer (or the redi-
rected printer destination; see output (p. 428)). It is equivalent to including the “p” option
in all commands that generate output. pon and poff only work in programs; they have no
effect in interactive use.

Syntax
Command: pon

Cross-references
See “Print Setup” on page 833 of the User’s Guide I for a discussion of printer control.

See also poff (p. 718).

program Support Commands

Create a program.

See program (p. 455).

 @runpath—719

return Program Statements

Exit subroutine.

The return statement forces an exit from a subroutine within a program. A common use of
return is to exit from the subroutine if an unanticipated error has occurred.

Syntax
if [condition] then
return
endif

Cross-references
See “Subroutines,” beginning on page 149. See also exitloop (p. 710), stop (p. 723).

run Support Commands

Run a program. The run command executes a program. The program may be located in
memory or stored in a program file on disk.

See run (p. 467). See also exec (p. 350).

@runpath Support Functions

Syntax: @runpath
Return: string

Returns a string containing the location of the program currently being executed. If @run-
path is being executed as a child program from a parent as part of an include or exec
statement, the string will return the location of the parent program.

Examples
If the program d:\myprogs\program1.prg has the line:
string y = @linepath

then y will contain “D:\MYPROGS\PROGRAM1.PRG”, if program1 is run by itself, and will

return the location of the parent program otherwise.

Cross-references
See also @evpath (p. 710) and @temppath (p. 724).
720—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

saveprgini Support Commands

Saves program variables to an “.ini” file.

Syntax
saveprogini([file=filename]) [section]name value

Saves the value (either string or scalar) into the name under the section [section] in the “.ini”
file specified by filename. If no section is provided, a [default] section is used. If no filename
is given, EViews will create an “.ini” file with the same name as the current running pro-
gram in the same directory. If the program is untitled, the current default directory is used.
This command must be run from inside a program.

Example
saveprgini(file="c:\temp\myini.ini") hello 3

This will create a “.ini” file containing:

[default]
hello=3

You may then load the value into a string using @loadprgini (p. 715):
create u 10
string a = @loadprgini("hello", "c:\temp\myini.ini")

Cross-references
See also @loadprgini (p. 715).

seterr Support Commands

Set a user-specified execution error.

Syntax
seterr string

sets an execution error using the specified string. May only be used in programs.

Cross-references
See also @errorcount (p. 709), @maxerrcount (p. 716), clearerrs (p. 706), and set-
maxerrs (p. 721).
 statusline—721

seterrcount Support Commands

Set the current program execution error count.

Syntax
seterrcount integer

sets the current error count to the specified integer value. May only be used in programs.

Cross-references
See also @errorcount (p. 709), @maxerrcount (p. 716), clearerrs (p. 706), seterr
(p. 720), and setmaxerrs (p. 721).

setmaxerrs Support Commands

Set the maximum number of errors that a program may encounter before execution is
halted.

Syntax
setmaxerrs integer

sets the maximum number of errors to the specified integer value.

Cross-references
See also @errorcount (p. 709), @maxerrcount (p. 716), clearerrs (p. 706), and seter-
rcount (p. 721).

statusline Support Commands

Send a text message to the EViews status line.

Syntax
statusline string

Example
for !i = 1 to 10
statusline Iteration !i
next
722—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

sleep Program Statements

Pause program execution.

Syntax
sleep n

pauses a program by n milliseconds (default is 5000).

Example
sleep 1000

step Program Statements

Step size of a FOR loop.

Syntax
for !i=a to b step n
[commands]
next

step may be used in a FOR loop to specify the size of the step in the looping variable. If no
step is provided, for assumes a step of “+1”.

If a given step exceeds the end value b in the FOR loop specification, the contents of the
loop will not be executed.

Examples
for !j=5 to 1 step -1
series x = nrnd*!j
next

repeatedly executes the commands in the loop with the control variable !J set to “5”, “4”,
“3”, “2”, “1”.
for !j=0 to 10 step 3
series z = z/!j
next

Loops the commands with the control variable !J set to “0”, “3”, “6”, and “9”.

You should take care when using non-integer values for the stepsize since round-off error
may yield unanticipated results. For example:
 subroutine—723

for !j=0 to 1 step .01

series w = !j
next

may stop before executing the loop for the value !J=1 due to round-off error.

Cross-references
See “The FOR Loop,” beginning on page 141. See also exitloop (p. 710), for (p. 711),
next (p. 717).

stop Program Statements

Break out of program.

The stop command halts execution of a program. It has the same effect as hitting the F1
(break) key.

Syntax
Command: stop

Cross-references
See also, exitloop (p. 710), return (p. 719).

subroutine Program Statements

Declare a subroutine within a program.

The subroutine statement marks the start of a subroutine.

Syntax
subroutine name(arguments)
[commands]
endsub

Cross-references
See “Subroutines,” beginning on page 149. See also endsub (p. 708).
724—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

@tablenames Support Functions

Syntax: @tablenames("str")
Argument: string, str
Return: string, names

Returns a space delimited string containing the names of the table names of a foreign file.
The name (and path) of the foreign file should be specified in str, enclosed in quotes. For an
Excel file, the names of the Excel sheets will be returned.

@temppath Support Functions

Syntax: @temppath
Return: string

Returns a string containing the directory path for the EViews temporary files as specified in
the global options File Locations.... menu.

Examples
If your currently executing copy of EViews puts temporary files in “D:\EVIEWS”, then:
%y = @temppath

assigns a string of the form “D:\EVIEWS”.

Cross-references
See also @evpath (p. 710) and @addinspath (p. 706).

then Program Statements

Part of IF statement.

then marks the beginning of commands to be executed if the condition given in the IF state-
ment is satisfied.

Syntax
if [condition] then
[commands if condition true]
endif
 to—725

Cross-references
See “IF Statements” on page 139. See also, else (p. 707), endif (p. 708), if (p. 713).

@time Support Functions

Syntax: @time
Return: string

Returns a string containing the current time in “hh:mm” format.

Examples
%y = @time

assigns a string of the form “15:35”.

Cross-references
See also @date (p. 707).

to Expression || Program Statements

Upper limit of for loop OR lag range specifier.

to is required in the specification of a FOR loop to specify the upper limit of the control vari-
able; see “The FOR Loop” on page 141.

When used as a lag specifier, to may be used to specify a range of lags to be used in estima-
tion.

Syntax
Used in a FOR loop:
for !i=n to m
[commands]
next
Used as a Lag specifier:
series_name(n to m)

Examples
ls cs c gdp(0 to -12)

Runs an OLS regression of CS on a constant, and the variables GDP, GDP(–1), GDP(–2), …,
GDP(–11), GDP(–12).
726—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

Cross-references
See “The FOR Loop,” beginning on page 141. See also, exitloop (p. 710), for (p. 711),
next (p. 717).

@toc Support Functions

Syntax: @toc
Return: integer

Compute elapsed time (since timer reset) in seconds.

Examples
tic
[some commands]
!elapsed = @toc

resets the timer, executes commands, and saves the elapsed time in the control variable
!ELAPSED.

Cross-references
See also tic (p. 494) and toc (p. 495).

@uidialog Dialog Display Functions

Syntax: @uidialog(control1_info[, control2_info, control3_info, ...])

Arguments: string or scalar parameters, based on control type
Return: integer

Displays a dialog with any number of controls that you define, including edit fields, list-
boxes, radio buttons, checkboxes, text, and captions. You may specify an combination of
controls, and they will be arranged in the order they are entered. EViews attempts to lay the
controls out in a visually pleasing manner, and will do its best to size and arrange the dialog
accordingly.

Each control_info item is a specification of the control type in quotes (“Edit”), followed by
the appropriate parameters. You may specify any combination of controls, where each
should follow one of the following forms:

Edit field “Edit”, IO_String, prompt_string[, max_edit_length]

Listbox “List”, IO_StringOrScalar, prompt_string, list_string
Radio buttons “Radio”, IO_Scalar, prompt_string, list_string
 @uidialog—727

Checkbox “Check”, IO_Scalar, prompt_string

Text “Text”, text_string
Caption “Caption”, caption_string
Column break “Colbreak”
OK Button “Button”, button_string
Cancel Button “Buttonc”, button_string

In the above table, the parameters can be described as:

IO_String string used to initialize an edit field and hold the final edit
field text.
IO_Scalar scalar used to initialize a radio or checkbox selection, and
hold the final selection.
IO_StringOrScalar string or scalar used to initialize a listbox selection, and
hold the final selection.
prompt_string string used as the label for the control, or the groupbox
label for radio buttons.
max_edit_length scalar for the maximum characters allowed in an edit field.
list_string space delimited list of entries for a listbox or radio buttons.
text_string text to be used in a text control.
caption_string text to be used as the caption of the dialog in its titlebar.
button_string text to be used on the button.

Note that parameters whose names begin with “IO_”, e.g. “IO_String” must be passed into
the function using program variables or objects in the workfile, as they are used to return
results.

The “button” and “buttonc” controls add a custom button to the dialog. The dialog will
close after a button has been pressed. The behavior of the button will depend on the type of
button —buttons of type “button” will behave in the same way as the “OK” button (i.e., all
variables passed into the dialog will be updated to reflect changes made to their correspond-
ing controls). Buttons of type “buttonc” will behave in the same way as the “Cancel” button
(i.e., all variables will be reset to the values that were passed into the dialog).

The return value of the dialog will correspond to the order in which buttons are placed in
the dialog. If only one button (apart from the standard “OK” and “Cancel”) is included in
the dialog, the return value for that button will be “1”. If there is more than one button, then
the first button will return a value of “1”, the second will return a value of “2” and so on.
Note that the return value is independent of whether the button was of type “button” or
728—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

“buttonc”. The specification for the button controls is (“button[c]”, “text”) where text speci-
fies the text that will be on the button.

Examples
scalar dinner = 2
string dinnerPrompt = "Choose dinner"
string menu = """Chicken Marsala"" ""Beef Stew"" Hamburger Salad"
string name
string namePrompt = "Enter your name"
scalar result = @uidialog("Caption", "Dinner Menu", "Edit", name,
namePrompt, 64, "Radio", dinner, dinnerPrompt, menu)

These commands display a dialog with an edit field and four

radio buttons labeled “Chicken Marsala”, “Beef Stew”,
“Hamburger”, and “Salad”. The title “Enter your name”
appears above the edit field, while the groupbox surround-
ing the radio buttons is labeled “Choose dinner”. The words
“Dinner Menu” appear in the caption area, or titlebar, of the
dialog. The edit field is initially blank, since we did not
assign any text to the string NAME. The dinner selection
radio buttons are initialized with the value 2, so the “Beef
Stew” radio will be selected. We limit the name length to 64
characters.
string introString = "We have many pieces to suit your style."
string clothesList = "Shirt Pants Shoes Hat Tie"
string listTitle = "Please make a selection"
scalar selection = 3
@uidialog("text", introString, "list", selection, listTitle,
clothesList)

This creates a dialog with a text string and a listbox. The text
“We have many pieces to suit your style” appears at the top. A
listbox follows, with the label “Please make a selection” and
the options: “Shirt”, “Pants”, “Shoes”, “Hat”, and “Tie”. The
listbox is initialized to the third item, “Shoes”. If the user then
selects the first item, “Shirt”, from the listbox and presses OK,
the scalar SELECTION will hold the value 1.

Note that the text control can be used to help achieve the lay-
out you desire. You can use it to insert empty text strings to add space between adjacent
controls. For example,
 @uiedit—729

scalar a = 1
scalar b = 0
@uidialog("check", a, "Option 1", "text", "", "check", b, "Option
2")

will leave a space between the two checkboxes. In more complicated dialogs, this may also
push the latter controls to a second column. You may have to experiment with the appear-
ance of more complex dialogs.

Cross-references
See “User-Defined Dialogs” on page 159 for discussion.

For a detailed description of each control type, see @uiedit (p. 729), @uilist (p. 731),
@uiprompt (p. 733), @uiradio (p. 734).

@uiedit Dialog Display Functions

Syntax: @uiedit(IO_Editstring, prompt_string[, max_edit_len])

Argument 1: string, IO_Editstring
Argument 2: string, prompt_string
Argument 3: integer, max_edit_len
Return: integer

Displays a dialog with an edit field and prompt string. IO_Editstring is used to initialize the
edit field and will return the value after editing. Specify an IO_Editstring and prompt_string
and optionally the maximum character length of the edit field. The default maximum length
is 32 characters.

prompt_string may be specified using in-line text, but IO_Editstring must be either a pro-
gram variable or an object in your workfile as it is used to return results.

The dialog shows an OK and Cancel button, and will return an integer representing the but-
ton clicked: Cancel (-1), OK (0).

Examples
string name = "Joseph"
@uiedit(name, "Please enter your First Name:")

These commands display a dialog with the text “Please enter your First Name:” followed by
an edit field, initialized with the string “Joseph”. If the user edits the string to read “Joe” and
presses the OK button, the dialog returns a value of 0 and NAME will now contain the
string: Joe.
730—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

Similarly,
@uiedit("", "Please enter your age:", 2)

brings up a dialog with the prompt “Please enter your age” and an empty edit field with a
maximum length of two characters. The user will not be able to enter more than two charac-
ters into the edit field.

Cross-references
See “User-Defined Dialogs” on page 159 for discussion.

See also @uidialog (p. 726), @uilist (p. 731), @uiprompt (p. 733), @uiradio (p. 734).

@uifiledlg Dialog Display Functions

Syntax: @uifiledlg(IO_Filespec, filter, type)

Argument 1: string, IO_Filespec
Argument 2: string, filter
Argument 3: string, type
Return: integer

Displays a standard Windows file open or save dialog. The initial location and possibly the
name of the file is given by the string IO_Filespec, which will also contain the selected file on
return. You will specify the types of files to show in the dialog using the filter argument,
with, for example, “” used to denote all files, and “prg” used to limit the display to files end-
ing in “.prg”. The type argument is used to determine whether the shown dialog has an
“open” or a “save” title.

(Note that the clicking OK on the dialog does not actually open or save the selected file, it
merely returns the name of the selected file. Thus, specifying the type argument is simply
cosmetic.)

Both filter and style may be specified using in-line text, but IO_Filespec must be either a pro-
gram variable or an object in your workfile as it is used to return results.

The displayed dialog will display both an OK and a Cancel button, and will return an inte-
ger representing the button clicked: Cancel (-1), OK (0).

Examples
string myfile = "c:\temp\"
@uifiledlg(myfile, "prg", "open")
 @uilist—731

These commands display a file open dialog style containing a list of all files with a “.prg”
extension in the folder “c:\temp\”. The user can navigate through the file system and select
another file, whose path and name will be returned in the string MYFILE.

Note that both the filter and style arguments are specified using in-line strings, but that the
filespec is passed in using a string object.

Note that the slightly different set of commands

string myfile = "c:\temp"
@uifiledlg(myfile, "prg", "save")

will instead display a save dialog that opens in the “c:\” folder with the filename initialized
to “temp.prg” (MYFILE does not have the trailing “\”).

Leaving the filename argument blank on input will open the dialog in the default EViews
directory:
string myfile = ""
@uifiledlg(myfile, "", "save")

opens a save dialog in the default EViews directory with no filtering and no default file.

Cross-references
See “User-Defined Dialogs” on page 159 for discussion.

See also @uidialog (p. 726), @uiedit (p. 729), @uilist (p. 731), @uiprompt (p. 733),
@uiradio (p. 734).

@uilist Dialog Display Functions

Syntax: @uilist(IO_Selectitem, prompt_string, listbox_items)

Argument 1: string or scalar select_item
Argument 2: string, prompt_string
Argument 3: string, listbox_items
Return: integer

Displays a dialog with a listbox and prompt string. Fill the listbox by specifying listbox-
_items, a space delimited list of items. prompt_string specifies the text to be used as a label
for the listbox. Initialize the listbox selection with IO_Selectitem, which may be either a
string or scalar, and which will return the selection value on exit of the dialog.

Both prompt_string and listbox_items may be specified using in-line text, but IO_Selectitem
must be either a program variable or an object in your workfile as it is used to return results.
732—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

The dialog shows an OK and Cancel button, and will return an integer representing the but-
ton clicked: Cancel (-1), OK (0).

Examples
string selection = "Item2"
@uilist(selection, "Please select an item:", "Item1 Item2 Item3")

These commands display a dialog with a listbox containing the items “Item1”, “Item2”, and
“Item3”. The title “Please select an item:” appears above the listbox, and the second item is
initially selected. If the user selects the third item and presses OK, the string SELECTION
will contain “Item3”, and the dialog will return the value 0.

Similarly,
scalar sel = 3
@uilist(sel, "Please select an item:", "Item1 Item2 Item3")

brings up the same dialog with the third item selected. The scalar SEL will contain the user’s
selection if OK is pressed.

Cross-references
See “User-Defined Dialogs” on page 159 for discussion.

See also @uimlist (p. 732), @uidialog (p. 726), @uiedit (p. 729), @uiprompt (p. 733),
@uiradio (p. 734).

@uimlist Dialog Display Functions

Syntax: @uimlist(IO_Selectitem, prompt_string, listbox_items)

Argument 1: vector IO_Select_item
Argument 2: string, prompt_string
Argument 3: string, listbox_items
Return: integer

Displays a dialog with a multiple-select listbox and prompt string. Fill the listbox by specify-
ing listbox_items, a space delimited list of items. prompt_string specifies the text to be used
as a label for the listbox. Initialize the listbox selection with workfile vector object IO_Selec-
titem, which will return the selection values on exit of the dialog.

Both prompt_string and listbox_items may be specified using in-line text, but IO_Selectitem
must be either a program variable or an object in your workfile as it is used to return results.

The dialog shows an OK and Cancel button, and will return an integer representing the but-
ton clicked: Cancel (-1), OK (0).
 @uiprompt—733

Examples
vector(2) selected
selected.fill 1,3
@uimlist(selected, "Please select an item:", "Item1 Item2 Item3")

These commands display a dialog with a multiple listbox containing the items “Item1”,
“Item2”, and “Item3”. The title “Please select an item:” appears above the listbox, and the
first and third items are initially selected. If the user additionally selects the second item and
presses OK, the vector SELECTED will contain the elements 1,2,3, and the dialog will return
the value 0.

Cross-references
See “User-Defined Dialogs” on page 159 for discussion.

See also @uilist (p. 731), @uidialog (p. 726), @uiedit (p. 729), @uiprompt (p. 733),
@uiradio (p. 734).

@uiprompt Dialog Display Functions

Syntax: @uiprompt(msg_string[, button_type])

Argument 1: string, msg_string
Argument 2: string, button_type
Return: integer

Displays a prompt dialog with OK, Cancel, or Yes and No buttons. You must specify a mes-
sage string for the prompt dialog, and optionally the type of icon and buttons the dialog
should display.

The dialog will return an integer representing the button clicked: Cancel (-1), OK (0), Yes
(1), or No (2).

button_type can be one of the following keywords:

“O” Exclamation icon with OK button (default).
“OC” Exclamation icon with OK and Cancel buttons.
“YN” Question icon with Yes and No buttons.
“YNC” Question icon with Yes, No, and Cancel buttons.

Examples
@uiprompt("Error: Too many observations")

Displays a dialog with the message “Error: Too many observations” and the OK button.
734—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

@uiprompt("Exceeded count. Would you like to continue?", "YNC")

Displays a dialog with the error message “Exceeded count. Would you like to continue?” and
the YES, NO, and CANCEL buttons. If the user presses the YES button, the dialog will return
the value 1.

Cross-references
See “User-Defined Dialogs” on page 159 for discussion.

See also @uidialog (p. 726), @uilist (p. 731), @uiedit (p. 729), @uiradio (p. 734).

@uiradio Dialog Display Functions

Syntax: @uiradio(IO_Selectitem, groupbox_label, radio_items)

Argument 1: scalar, select_item
Argument 2: string, groupbox_label
Argument 3: string, radio_items
Return: integer

Displays a dialog with a series of radio buttons. Create the radio buttons by specifying
radio_items, a space delimited list of items. You should initialize the selection and retrieve
the result with IO_Selectitem. The groupbox_label specifies the label for the groupbox that
will appear around the radio buttons.

Both prompt_string and listbox_items may be specified using in-line text, but IO_Selectitem
must be either a program variable or an object in your workfile as it is used to return results.

The dialog shows an OK and Cancel button, and will return an integer representing the but-
ton clicked: Cancel (-1), OK (0).

Examples
scalar selection = 2
@uiradio(selection, "Please select an item:", "Item1 Item2 Item3")

These commands display a dialog with three radio buttons, labeled “Item1”, “Item2”, and
“Item3”. The title “Please select an item:” appears above the radio buttons, and the second
item is initially selected. If the user selects the third item and presses OK, the scalar SELEC-
TION will contain the value 3, and the dialog will return the value 0.

Cross-references
See “User-Defined Dialogs” on page 159 for discussion.

See also @uidialog (p. 726), @uilist (p. 731), @uiprompt (p. 733), @uiedit (p. 729).
 wend—735

@vernum Support Functions

Syntax: @vernum
Return: scalar

returns a scalar containing the EViews version number.

@verstr Support Functions

Syntax: @verstr
Return: string

returns a string containing the EViews product name string (e.g. “EViews Enterprise Edi-
tion”).

@wdir Support Functions

Syntax: @wdir(directory_str)
Argument: string list, directory_str
Return: string list

Returns a string list of all files in the directory directory_str. Note that this does not include
other directories nested within directory_str.

Example:
@wdir("C:\Documents and Settings")

returns a string list containing the names of all files in the “C:\Documents and Settings”
directory.

Cross-references
See also @fileexist (p. 711) and @folderexist (p. 711).

wend Program Statements

End of WHILE clause.

wend marks the end of a set of program commands that are executed under the control of a
WHILE statement.
736—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

Syntax
while [condition]
[commands while condition true]
wend

Cross-references
See “The WHILE Loop” on page 145. See also while (p. 736).

while Program Statements

Conditional control statement. The while statement marks the beginning of a WHILE loop.

The commands between the while keyword and the wend keyword will be executed repeat-
edly until the condition in the while statement is false.

Syntax
while [condition]
[commands while condition true]
wend

Cross-references
See “The WHILE Loop” on page 145. See also wend (p. 735).

@wlookup Support Functions

Syntax: @wlookup(pattern_list[, object_type_list])

Argument 1: pattern string list, pattern_list
Argument 2: object type string list, object_type_list
Return: string list

Returns a string list of all objects in the workfile or database that satisfy the pattern_list and,
optionally, the object_type_list. The pattern_list may be made up of any number of “?” (indi-
cates any single character) or “*” (indicates any number of characters). The pattern must
exactly match the object name in the workfile or database.

Example:

If a workfile contains three graph objects named “GR1”, “GR2”, and “GR01” and two series
objects named “SR1” and “SER2”, then
@wlookup("GR*")
 @wquery—737

returns the string list “GR1 GR2 GR01”. All objects beginning with “GR” and followed by any
number of characters are included. Alternately,
@wlookup("?R*")

returns the string list “GR1 GR2 GR01 SR1”. SER2 is not included because “?” specifies a sin-
gle character preceding an “R”.
@wlookup("?R?","series")

returns the string “SR1”. The object type “series” drops all graph objects from the list, and
“?R?” filters out SER2 because “?” specifies a single character.

@wquery Support Functions

Syntax: @wquery(database, search_expression, [attribute_list])

Argument 1: database name, pattern_list
Argument 2: database query expression, search_expression
Argument 3: object attribute list, attribute_list
Return: string list

Returns a string list of object attributes for all objects in the database that satisfy the query
specified by search_expression. The search_expression should be a standard database query.

By default @wquery will return the names of the objects in the database that match the
search criteria. However you may specify other object attributes to be returned, by listing
them (comma delimited) in attribute_list.

Example
If a database, MYDB, contains a series object named “GDP_1” and a series called “GDP_2”,
with the first being annual frequency and the second being quarterly frequency, then
@wquery("mydb", "name matches GDP* and freq=Q", "name")

returns the string “GDP_2”. Alternately,

@wquery("mydb", "name matches GDP* and freq=A", "name, freq")

returns the string list “GDP_1 A”.

@wquery("basics.edb", "freq = q and start>1970 and not
scale=millions")

returns a string list of the names of all objects in the database BASICS.EDB with quarterly
frequency and a start date after 1970 which do not have the custom attribute ‘scale’ set to
‘millions’.
@wunique(@wquery("mydb", "start>2000", "freq"))
738—Chapter 19. Programming Language Reference

returns a string list of all the frequencies of objects in the database whose start date is post
2000. Note that the @wunique function is used to remove duplicate frequencies.

@wread Support Functions

Syntax: @wread(“file”)
Argument 1: file name of a text file on disk.
Return: string

Returns a string containing the contents of the specified text file on disk. Note that any line
breaks in the text file will be removed.

Example
@wread(“c:\temp\myfile.txt”)

Returns a string containing the contents of the “c:\temp\myfile.txt”.

Appendix A. Wildcards

EViews supports the use of wildcard characters in a variety of situations where you may
enter a list of objects or a list of series. For example, among other things, you can use wild-
cards to:
• fetch, store, copy, rename or delete a list of objects
• specify a group object
• query a database by name or filter the workfile display

The following discussion describes some of the issues involved in the use of wildcard char-
acters and expressions.

Wildcard Expressions
There are two wildcard characters: “*” and “?”. The wildcard character “*” matches zero or
more characters in a name, and the wildcard “?” matches any single character in a name.

For example, you can use the wildcard expression “GD*” to refer to all objects whose names
begin with the characters “GD”. The series GD, GDP, GD_F will be included in this list GGD,
GPD will not. If you use the expression GD?, EViews will interpret this as a list of all objects
with three character names beginning with the string “GD”: GDP and GD2 will be included,
but GD, GD_2 will not.

You can instruct EViews to match a fixed number of characters by using as many “?” wild-
card characters as necessary. For example, EViews will interpret “??GDP” as matching all
objects with names that begin with any two characters followed by the string “GDP”. USGDP
and F_GDP will be included but GDP, GGDP, GDPUS will not.

You can also mix the different wildcard characters in an expression. For example, you can
use the expression “*GDP?” to refer to any object that ends with the string “GDP” and an
arbitrary character. Both GDP_1, USGDP_F will be included.

Using Wildcard Expressions

Wildcard expressions may be used in filtering the workfile display (see “Filtering the Work-
file Display” on page 73 of the User’s Guide I), in selected EViews commands, and in creat-
ing a group object.

For example, the following commands support the use of wildcards: show (p. 473), store
(p. 484), fetch (p. 355), copy (p. 327), rename (p. 461) and delete (p. 348).
740—Appendix A. Wildcards

To create a group using wildcards, simply select Object/New Object.../Group, and enter the
expression, EViews will first expand the expression, and then attempt to create a group
using the corresponding list of series. For example, entering the list,
y x*

will create a group comprised of Y and all series beginning with the letter X. Alternatively,
you can enter the command:
group g1 x* y?? c

defines a group G1, consisting of all of the series matching “X*”, and all series beginning
with the letter “Y” followed by two arbitrary characters.

When making a group, EViews will only select series objects which match the given name
pattern and will place these objects in the group.

Once created, these groups may be used anywhere that EViews takes a group as input. For
example, if you have a series of dummy variables, DUM1, DUM2, DUM3, …, DUM9, that
you wish to enter in a regression, you can create a group containing the dummy variables,
and then enter the group in the regression:
group gdum dum?
equation eq1.ls y x z gdum

will run the appropriate regression. Note that we are assuming that the dummy variables are
the only series objects which match the wildcard expression DUM?.

Source and Destination Patterns

When wildcards are used during copy and rename operations, a pattern must be provided
for both the source and the destination. The destination pattern must always conform to the
source pattern in that the number and order of wildcard characters must be exactly the same
between the two. For example, the patterns,

Source Pattern Destination Pattern

x* y*
*c b*
x*12? yz*f?abc

which conform to each other, while these patterns do not:

 Resolving Ambiguities—741

Source Pattern Destination Pattern

a* b
*x ?y
x*y* *x*y*

When using wildcards, the new destination name is formed by replacing each wildcard in
the destination pattern by the characters from the source name that matched the corre-
sponding wildcard in the source pattern. This allows you to both add and remove characters
from the source name during the copy or rename process. Some examples should make this
clear:

Source Pattern Destination Pattern Source Name Destination Name

*_base *_jan x_base x_jan
us_* * us_gdp gdp
x? x?f x1 x1f
*_* **f us_gdp usgdpf
??*f ??_* usgdpf us_gdp

Note, as shown in the second example, that a simple asterisk for the destination pattern will
result in characters being removed from the source name when forming the destination
name. To copy objects between containers preserving the existing name, either repeat the
source pattern as the destination pattern,
copy x* db1::x*

or omit the destination pattern entirely,

copy x* db1::

Resolving Ambiguities
Note that an ambiguity can arise with wildcard characters since both “*” and “?” have mul-
tiple uses. The “*” character may be interpreted as either a multiplication operator or a wild-
card character. The “?” character serves as both the single character wildcard and the pool
cross section identifier.

Wildcard versus Multiplication

There is a potential for ambiguity in the use of the wildcard character “*”.

Suppose you have a workfile with the series X, X2, Y, XYA, XY2. There are then two interpre-
tations of the wildcard expression “X*2”. The expression may be interpreted as an auto-
742—Appendix A. Wildcards

series representing X multiplied by 2. Alternatively, the expression may be used as a wild-

card expression, referring to the series X2 and XY2.

Note that there is only an ambiguity when the character is used in the middle of an expres-
sion, not when the wildcard character “*” is used at the beginning or end of an expression.
EViews uses the following rules to determine the interpretation of ambiguous expressions:
• EViews first tests to see whether the expression represents a valid series expression. If
so, the expression is treated as an auto-series. If it is not a valid series expression,
then EViews will treat the “*” as a wildcard character. For example,
y*x
2*x
are interpreted as auto-series, while,
*x
x*a
are interpreted as wildcard expressions.
• You can force EViews to treat “*” as a wildcard by preceding the character with
another “*”. Thus, expressions containing “**” will always be treated as wildcard
expressions. For example, the expression:
x**2
unambiguously refers to all objects with names beginning with “X” and ending with
“2”. Note that the use of “**” does not conflict with the EViews exponentiation opera-
tor “^”.
• You can instruct EViews to treat “*” as a series expression operator by enclosing the
expression (or any subexpression) in parentheses. For example:
(y*x)
always refers to X times Y.

We strongly encourage you to resolve the ambiguity by using parentheses to denote series
expressions, and double asterisks to denote wildcards (in the middle of expressions), when-
ever you create a group. This is especially true when group creation occurs in a program;
otherwise the behavior of the program will be difficult to predict since it will change as the
names of other objects in the workfile change.

Wildcard versus Pool Identifier

The “?” wildcard character is used both to match any single character in a pattern and as a
place-holder for the cross-section identifier in pool objects.
 Wildcard versus Pool Identifier—743

EViews resolves this ambiguity by not allowing the wildcard interpretation of “?” in any
expression involving a pool object or entered into a pool dialog. “?” is used exclusively as a
cross-section identifier. For example, suppose that you have the pool object POOL1. Then,
the expression,
pool1.est y? x? c

is a regression of the pool variable Y? on the pool variable X?, and,

pool1.delete x?

deletes all of the series in the pool series X?. There is no ambiguity in the interpretation of
these expressions since they both involve POOL1.

Similarly, when used apart from a pool object, the “?” is interpreted as a wildcard character.
Thus,
delete x?

unambiguously deletes all of the series matching “X?”.

744—Appendix A. Wildcards
Index

Symbols naming 204

register 288, 704
– (dash)
registration 202
negation 269
removing 200
subtraction 270
table of contents file 206
_ (continuation character) 118
TOC ini 206
_this 209
using 187, 191
! (exclamation) control variable 126
@addinspath 706
?
Addition operator (+) 269
wildcard versus pool identifier 742
@addquotes 87, 613
’ (comment character) 118, 125
addtext 50
{ 130
adduo 290
* (asterisk) multiplication 270
@after 598
/ (slash) division 271
AIPZ file 205
% (percent sign)
@all 476
program arguments 134, 136, 137
Alpha series
string variable 92, 128, 129
unique values 697
+ (plus)
Alphabetizing 79
addition 269
Analytical derivatives
~, in backup file name 119
user defined optimization 242, 421
and 548, 579
Numerics
Andrew’s automatic bandwidth
1-step GMM cointegrating regression 321, 324
single equation 370 robust standard errors 303, 412, 494
2sls (Two-Stage Least Squares) 491, 496 Andrews-Quandt breakpoint test 500
ar 601
A AR specification
@abs 549, 579 autoregressive error 601
abs 549, 579 seasonal 608
Absolute value 549, 579 Arc cosine 569, 579
@acos 569, 579 Arc sine 569, 579
Activate Arc tangent 569, 579
workfile 534 ARCH
addin 288, 704 See also GARCH.
Add-ins 187 ARCH-M 292
adding 202 archtest 295
creating 201, 205 ARDL 296
definition 187 ardl 296
directory 201, 706 AREMOS 345
downloading 187 AREMOS-TSD 345
examples 194 ARFIMA specification 602
installation 187 Arguments
installer file 207 in programs 136
management 198 in subroutines 150
746—Index

@asc 614 See also Program.

ASCII code 614 @before 598
ASCII file Beta
open file as workfile 515 distribution 570
@asin 569, 579 integral 566
Assign values to matrix objects 258 integral, logarithm of 567
by element 258 @beta 566
converting series or group 265 Beta function
copy 262 CDF 580
copy submatrix 263 density 582
fill procedure 259 inverse CDF 588
@atan 569, 579 random number generator 589
Attributes 514 @betainc 567
importing 390 @betaincder 567
viewing 514 @betaincinv 567
Augmented Dickey-Fuller test 502 @betalog 567
auto 298 @between 573, 599
Automatic bandwidth selection binary 299
cointegrating regression 321, 324 Binary dependent variable 299
robust standard errors 303, 412, 494 Binary file 515
Automation 177 @binom 567
See Programs. Binomial
Autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity coefficient function 567
See ARCH and GARCH. coefficients, logarithm of 567
Autoregressive distributed lag 296 distribution 570
Autoregressive error. See AR. Binomial function
Auto-updating series CDF 580
convert to ordinary series 450, 501, 533 density 582
Autowrap 117 inverse CDF 588
Auxiliary commands 22 random number generator 589
summary 281 @binomlog 567
Axis Black and white 40
customization by command 42 Bloomberg data 345
location by command 45 Bohman kernel
cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
B GMM estimation 372
robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
Backcast
in GARCH models 293 Bollerslev-Wooldridge
MA terms 411 See ARCH.
Backup files 119 Boolean
and 548, 579
Bandwidth
or 548, 587
cointegrating regression 321, 324
GMM estimation 303, 412, 494 Bootstrap
rows of matrix 688
Bartlett kernel
cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324 Break 123
GMM estimation 372 breakls 301
robust standard errors 303, 412, 493 Breakpoint estimation 301
Batch mode 122 Breakpoint test 309, 352, 500
 C—747

See also Breakpoint estimation @cholesky 659

estimation after 301 chow 309
Breitung 502 Chow test 309
Breusch-Godfrey test Chow-Lin
See Serial correlation. frequency conversion method 330
By-group statistics 565 @chr 614
@cifirst 659
C @cilast 659
call 706 @cimax 660
Call subroutine 151 @cimin 660
Canonical cointegrating regression 319 clabel 310
@capplyranks 658, 688 @claplace 580
Case-sensitivity 171 @clast 660
Categorize 566 clearerrs 706
Category identifier @clogistic 580
index 566 @cloglog 567
Causality @clognorm 580
Granger’s test 304 Close
cause 304 EViews 352
@cbeta 580 window 310
@cbinom 580 workfile 507
@cchisq 580 close 310
ccopy 305 Cloud drive 306, 518, 532
@cmax 661
cd 305
@cmean 661
CEIC 345
@ceiling 549, 580 @cmin 661
Cell @cnas 661
display format 62 @cnegbin 580
formatting 62 @cnorm 580
@cellid 580, 599 @cobs 662
censored 306 coint 311
Censored dependent variable 306 Cointegrating regression 319
Centered moving average 559, 561, 585, 586 Cointegration
@cexp 580 Engle-Granger test 311
@cfdist 580 Phillips-Ouliaris test 311
test 311
cfetch 308
cointreg 319
@cfirst 658
colplace 662
@cgamma 580
Column
@cged 580
extract from matrix 662
Change default directory 305
number of columns in matrix 563, 580, 663
@chisq 570, 580
place in matrix 662
Chi-square function 570
stack matrix 699
CDF 580
stack matrix (lower triangle) 699
density 582
unstack into matrix 698
inverse CDF 588
unstack into sym (lower triangle) 698
p-value 570, 580
Column statistics
random number generator 589
First non-missing 658
Cholesky 659
748—Index

First non-missing index 659 Concatenation 78

last non-missing 660 @cond 663
last non-missing index 659 Condition number of matrix 663
maximum 661 Container 23
maximum index 660 database 24
means 661 workfile 23
minimum 661 Continuation character in programs 118
minimum index 660 Continuously updating GMM
NAs, number of 661 single equation 370
observations, number of 662 Control variable 126
sums 666 as replacement variable 131
Column width 60, 471 in while statement 145
@columnextract 662 save value to scalar 126
@columns 563, 580, 663 Convergence criterion 412, 417
COM session Convert
close 537 alpha to svector 692
EViews as client 177 date to observation number 619
EViews as server 177 matrix object to series or group 683
EViews log 540 matrix objects 265, 278
get object 537 matrix to sym 677
open 540 observation number to date 90, 91, 625
put names 650 pool to panel 445
run command 544 scalar to string 627
send object 542 series or group to matrix (drop NAs) 664, 692
Command capture 3 series or group to matrix (keep NAs) 693
add comment 327 series to matrix/vector 267
Command window 5 string to scalar 89, 129, 638
docking and moving 6 sym to matrix 673
commandcap 327 table to matrix 695
Commands @convert 267, 664
auxiliary 22, 281 Copy
basic command summary 281 database 340
batch mode 13 matrix 262
capture from user-interface 3 objects 25, 327
execute without opening window 349 workfile page 432
interactive mode 5 copy 327
object assignment 15 @cor 553, 580, 664
object command 17 cor 334
object declaration 16 Correlation 553, 580, 664
save record of 3, 5 cross 338
Comments 73 matrix 334
program 118, 125 moving 560, 562, 585, 586
Commutation matrix 663 Correlogram 338
@commute 663 @cos 569, 580
Comparing workfiles and pages 508 Cosine 569, 580
Comparison operators 271 count 335
Compatibility 169 Count models 335
Complementary log-log function 567 @cov 553, 580, 665
Component GARCH 292
 D—749

cov 337 @cumstdevs 556, 581

Covariance 553, 580, 665, 666 @cumsum 556, 581
matrix 337 @cumsumsq 557, 581
moving 560, 562, 585, 586 Cumulative statistics
@covp 553, 665 functions 556
@covs 553, 666 maximum 557, 558, 580, 581
@cpareto 580 mean 556, 557, 580, 581
@cpoisson 580 Median 557, 558
Create min 557, 581
database 340, 342 minimum 558, 581
graph by command 33 NAs, number of 557, 558, 581
program 117 observations, number of 557, 558, 581
spool by command 69 product 556, 557, 581
table 57 Quantiles 557, 558
workfile 510 standard deviation 556, 557, 558, 581
workfile page 434 sum 556, 557, 581
cross 338 sum of squares 557, 558, 581
Cross correlation 338 variance 556, 557, 558, 581
Cross product 685 @cumvar 556, 581
@crossid 599 @cumvarp 557, 581
@csum 666 @cumvars 557, 581
@ctdist 580 @cunif 581
@cumbmax 558, 580 Current
@cumbmean 557, 580 date as string function 707
@cumbmedian 558 time function 725
@cumbmin 558, 581 Custom database 184
@cumbnas 558, 581 @cweib 581
@cumbobs 558, 581
@cumbprod 557, 581 D
@cumbquantile 558 d 550, 581, 602
@cumbstdev 557, 581 Daniell kernel
@cumbstdevp 558, 581 cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
@cumbstdevs 558, 581 GMM estimation 372
@cumbsum 557, 581 robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
@cumbsumsq 558, 581 Data
@cumbvar 558, 581 access EViews data 176
@cumbvarp 558, 581 custom database support 184
@cumbvars 558, 581 enter from keyboard 339
@cummax 557, 581 EViews Database Objects (EDO) 176
@cummean 556, 581 import 382, 515
@cummedian 557 import as matrix 392
@cummin 557, 581 import as table 398
@cumnas 557, 581 data 339
@cumobs 557, 581 Data members 21
@cumprod 556, 581 Database
@cumquantile 557 copy 25, 340
@cumstdev 556, 581 create 24, 342
@cumstdevp 556, 581 delete 25, 344
750—Index

fetch objects 355 dbcopy 340

Haver Analytics 378, 379, 380 dbcreate 342
open 25 dbdelete 344
open existing 344 @dbeta 582
open or create 340 @dbinom 582
pack 346 dbopen 344
query function 574, 737 dbpack 346
rebuild 347 dbrebuild 347
rename 25, 347 dbrename 347
store object in 484 @dchisq 582
support for custom 184 Declaring objects 16
Datastream 345 Delete
@date 112, 594, 707 database 344
Date functions 594 objects 27, 348
@dateadd 110, 615 workfile page 440, 441, 528
@datediff 110, 616 delete 348
@datefloor 111, 616 Denton
@datepart 111, 617 frequency conversion method 330
Dates Descriptive statistics 380
arithmetic 110, 615, 616, 623 @-functions 552, 565
convert from observation number 90, 625 functions 579
convert string to date 618 matrix functions 656
convert to observation number 619 @det 666
converting from numbers 106 Determinant 666
current as string 634, 707 @dexp 582
current date and time 112, 625 @dfdist 582
current date as a string 91 @dgamma 582
date arithmetic 110, 111 @dged 582
date associated with observation 112 Diagonal
date numbers 96 get main diagonal from a matrix 675
date operators 109 Diagonal matrix 680
date strings 95 Dialogs
extract portion of 111, 617 user-defined 159
format strings 97 Dickey-Fuller test 502
formatting 97
Difference operator 550, 581
@-functions 112, 573
@digamma 567
functions 112
Digamma function 567
make from formatted number 623
Directory
rounding 111
change working 305
string representations 88, 95, 105, 618
EViews add-ins 706
two-digit years 102, 115
EViews executable 710
workfile dates as strings 90, 113, 596, 632
temporary files 724
@datestr 106, 618
Display
@dateval 88, 105, 618
action 17
@day 112, 477, 595
and print 19
@daycount 597
objects 473
Days
Display format 62
count of 597
Distribution
db 340
 E—751

functions 569 @egt 669

Divide EIA (U.S. Energy Administration) 345
Division operator (/) 271 EIA (U.S. Energy Administration) data 345
matrix element by element 667 Eigenvalues 669
@dlaplace 582 @eigenvalues 669
dlog 550, 582 Eigenvectors 669
@dlogistic 582 @eigenvectors 669
@dlognorm 582 Elapsed time 495, 726
@dnegbin 582 @ele 670
@dnorm 582 @elem 593
do 349 Element
Double exponential smoothing 474 assign in matrix 258
@dpareto 582 Element by element
@dpoisson 582 division 667
DRI database equality 667, 668
convert to EViews database 349 greater than 669
copy from 305 greater than or equal to 668
fetch series 308 inequality 671, 672
read series description 310 inverse 670
DRI DDS 345 Less than 671
DRIBase database 345 less than or equal to 670
driconvert 349 matrix functions 655
DRIPro link 345 multiplication 671
Dropbox 306, 518, 532 raise to power 672
@dtdist 582 @elim 670
@dtoc 619 Elimination matrix 670
Dummy variables Elliot, Rothenberg, and Stock point optimal test 503
automatic creation 603, 609 See also Unit root tests.
functions 573, 597, 599 else 707
@dunif 582 Else clause in if statement 139, 140, 707
@duplic 666, 667 @elt 671
Duplication matrix 666, 667 Empty string 621
Durbin's h 149 @emult 671
@during 598 Encrypted program file 119
@dweib 582 @enddate 594
Dynamic forecasting 360 endif 708
Dynamic OLS (DOLS) 319 endsub 708
@eneq 671
E @eneqna 672
Enter data from keyboard 339
EcoWin database 345
Enterprise Edition 343, 345
@ediv 667
@env 708
EDO (EViews Database Objects) 176
@epow 672
EDX interface 184
@eqna 83, 549, 583, 619
@eeq 667
@equaloption 138
@eeqna 668
Equals comparison 271
EGARCH 291
matrix element by element 667, 668
See also GARCH
Equation
@ege 668
752—Index

stepwise regression 483 with arguments 134, 136, 137

@erf 568 Exit
@erfc 568 from EViews 352
Error function 568 loop 147, 710
complementary 568 subroutine 719
@errorcount 709 exit 352
Errors exitloop 710
codes in programs 714 @exp 549, 583
control 146 exp 549, 583
count in programs 706, 709 @expand 603
handling in programs 146 @explode 673
maximum number in programs 716, 721 Exponential
message in programs 715 distribution 570
number in programs 720, 721 function 549
Estimation Exponential function 583
cointegrating regression 319 CDF 580
user-defined 239, 419 density 582
Estimation methods inverse CDF 588
2sls 491, 496 random number generator 589
ARMA 410 Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) 291
cointegrating regression 319 See also GARCH
generalized least squares 410, 416 Exponential smoothing 474
GMM 370 Holt-Winters additive 475
least squares 376, 410, 416 Holt-Winters multiplicative 475
nonlinear least squares 376, 410, 416 Holt-Winters no seasonal 475
stepwise 483 Export 442
Euler’s constant 568 matrix 277
@event 598 tables 66
Event functions 597 workfile data 442, 529, 535
EViews Extending EViews
add-ins directory 706 See Add-ins.
installation directory 710 External program 177, 480
spawn process 480 Extract
version number 735 row vector 689
EViews database 345 submatrix from matrix 694
EViews Database Extension (EDX) interface 184 Extreme value
EViews Enterprise Edition 343, 345 distribution 570
@evpath 710
Excel F
Add-in 176
facbreak 352
Excel file 515, 535
@fact 549, 583
export data to file 529, 530, 535
factest 353
importing data into matrix 392
@factlog 549, 583
importing data into table 398
Factor breakpoint test 352
importing data into workfile 382, 458
Factor object
retrieve sheet names 724
command for estimation 353
exec 148
Factorial 549, 583
Execute program 120, 350, 467
log of 549, 583
abort 123
 F—753

FactSet 345 @firstmax 477

FAME database 345 @firstmin 477
F-distribution function 571 @firstsby 566
CDF 580 Fisher-ADF 502
density 582 Fisher-Johansen 316
inverse CDF 588 Fisher-PP 502
random number generator 589 fit 358
Federal Reserve Economic Data 345 Fitted index 359, 361
Fetch Fitted values 358
object 28, 355 @floor 549, 583
fetch 355 @folderexist 711
@fileexist 711 Folders
Files check for existence of 711
check for existence of 711 for 711
directory list 91, 735 For loop 141
open program or text file 418 accessing elements of a series 142
opening/saving on a cloud location 306, 518, accessing elements of a vector 142
532 changing samples within 142
temporary location 724 define using control variables 141
Fill define using scalars 143
matrix 259, 673 define using string variables 143
row vector 674 exit loop 147
symmetric matrix 674 mark end 717
vector 259, 673, 675 nesting 142
@fill 673 roundoff error in 722
@filledmatrix 673 start loop 711
@filledrowvector 674 step size 722
@filledsym 674 upper limit 725
@filledvector 675 Forecast
Filter dynamic (multi-period) 360
Hodrick-Prescott 381 static (one-period ahead) 358
Financial function 551 forecast 360
future value 551, 583 Foreign data
number of periods 551, 587 open as workfile 515
payment amount 552, 588 save workfile data as 529
present value 551, 588 Foreign file
rate for annuity 552, 589 retrieve table/sheet names 724
Find Format
workfile objects 91, 736 number 59
@first 476, 477, 675, 676 Formula series 363
First non-missing Fractional differencing parameter 602
matrix columns 658 FRED 345
matrix columns index 659 Freeze 362
vector or series 675 table 57
vector or series index 676 freeze 362
First obs Frequency
row-wise 564, 589 retrieving from a workfile or page 594
row-wise index 564, 589 Frequency conversion 327
754—Index

Chow-Lin 330 GARCH

data bases 355 estimate equation 291
Denton 330 exponential GARCH (EGARCH) 292
linear 330 Integrated GARCH (IGARCH) 294
Litterman 330 Power ARCH (PARCH) 292
panel data 331 test for 295
point 330 Gauss file 515, 529
quadratic 330 Gaussian distribution 571
frml 363 Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroske-
Fully modified OLS (FMOLS) 319 dasticity
@-functions See ARCH and GARCH.
by-group statistics 565 Generalized error distribution 571
cumulative statistics functions 556 Generalized error function
descriptive statistics 552 CDF 580
financial functions 551 density 582
group row functions 563 inverse CDF 588
informational 573 random number generator 589
integrals and other special functions 566 Generalized inverse 685
mathematical functions 549 Generalized linear models
moving statistics functions 559 Generate series 365
special p-value functions 572 genr 365
statistical distribution functions 569 See also alpha.
time series functions 550 Geometric mean 553, 583
trigonometric functions 569 @getmaindiagonal 675
workfile 573, 593 @getnextname 712
Future value 551, 583 GiveWin data 345
@fv 551, 583 GLM
See Generalized linear models.
G GLM standard errors 299, 300, 336, 368, 426
Gamma Global subroutine 154
distribution 571 Global variable 154
@gamma 568 GLS 410
Gamma function 568 @gmean 553, 583
CDF 580 GMM
density 582 continuously updating (single equation) 370
derivative 567, 568 estimate single equation by 370
incomplete 568 iterate to convergence (single equation) 370
incomplete derivative 568 one-step (single equation) 370
incomplete inverse 568 gmm 370
inverse CDF 588 Gompit models 299
logarithm 568, 583 Google Drive 306, 518, 532
random number generator 589 Gradients
second derivative 569 in user defined optimization 242, 421
@gammader 568 Granger causality test 304
@gammainc 568 Graph
@gammaincder 568 add text 50
@gammaincinv 568 axis by command 42
@gammalog 568, 583 axis location by command 45
 I—755

change types 37 @holiday 598

color by command 39 Holiday variables 598
create by command 33 Holt-Winters 474
create using freeze 362 Horizontal matrix concatenation 676
customization by command 38 @hour 112, 477, 596
frame customization by command 47 @hourf 113, 477, 596
label by command 54 hpf 381
legend by command 49 HTML
line characteristics 39 open page as workfile 515
merge 37 save table as 66
patterns by command 40 Huber/White standard errors 293, 299, 300, 307,
save to disk 468 336, 368, 377, 411, 417, 426, 488
shading by command 51
size by command 47 I
template by command 51
Greater than comparison 271 @identity 676
matrix element by element 669 Identity matrix 676
Greater than or equal to comparison 271 extract column 697
matrix element by element 668 if 713
Group If statement 139
convert to matrix 267, 683 else clause 139, 707
convert to matrix (keep NAs) 693 end of condition 708
creating using wildcards 740 matrix comparisons 140
row functions 563 start of condition 713
@groupid 566 then 724
@iff 549, 584
H IGARCH 294
IHS 345
HAC IHS Global Insight data 345
GMM estimation 372 Im, Pesaran and Shin 502
robust standard errors 302, 411, 493 @imax 553, 677
Hadri 502 @imin 553
Harmonic mean 553, 583 @implode 677
@hasoption 138 import 382
Haver Analytics Database 345 Import data 382, 515
convert to EViews database 378 as matrix 392
display series description 380 as table 398
fetch series from 379 matrix 277
@hcat 676 importattr 390
hconvert 378 importmat 392
heckit 376 importtbl 398
Hessian matrix Include
user defined optimization 243, 251, 421, 422 file in a program file 713
hfetch 379 program file 148
hist 380 include 713
Histogram 380 Incomplete beta 567
hlabel 380 derivative 567
@hmean 553, 583 integral 567
Hodrick-Prescott filter 381 inverse 567
756—Index

Incomplete gamma 568 @isempty 83, 621

derivative 568 @isna 549, 584
inverse 568 @isobject 714
Indentation 63 @ispanel 593
Index @isperiod 596
fitted from binary models 359, 361 @issingular 679
fitted from censored models 359, 361 @isvalidname 714
fitted from truncated models 359, 361 Iterate to convergence GMM
Index functions single equation 370
matrix first non-missing 659
matrix last non-missing 659 J
row-wise first non-NA 564
Jarque-Bera statistic 380
row-wise last non-NA 564
Johansen cointegration test 311
row-wise maximum 564
Justification 59, 63
row-wise minimum 564
series first non-NA 676
series last non-NA 677 K
series maximum 677 Kao panel cointegration test 316
series minimum 677 K-class 404
vector first non-NA 676 estimation of 404
vector last non-NA 677 Kernel
vector maximum 677 cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
vector minimum 677 GMM estimation 372
Indicator functions 599 robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
INI file Keyboard focus
replace from existing location 425 defaults 13
save to new location 424 KPSS unit root test 502
Ini file @kronecker 679
load key 715 Kronecker product 679
save key 720 @kurt 553, 584
Initial parameter values 453 Kurtosis 553, 584
@inlist 573, 599 by category 566, 584
@inner 553, 584, 678 moving 560, 562, 585, 586
Inner product 553, 584, 678 @kurtsby 566, 584
moving 561, 563, 585, 586 Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt, and Shin test 502
@insert 85, 620
Insertion point L
in command line 5
Lag
@instr 82, 620
specify as range 725
Instrumental variable 491, 496
Lagrange multiplier
Integer random number 462
test for serial correlation 298
Interactive mode 5
Landscape printing 19
Intraday data
Laplace distribution 571
date functions 112
Laplace function
@inv 549, 584, 670
CDF 580
@inverse 679
density 582
Inverse of matrix 679
inverse CDF 588
element by element 670
random number generator 589
 L—757

@last 476, 477, 677, 680 @log 549, 584

Last non-missing Log normal function
matrix columns 660 CDF 580
matrix columns index 659 density 582
row-wise 564, 589 inverse CDF 588
row-wise index 564, 589 random number generator 589
vector or series 680 Log window 135
vector or series index 677 @log10 549, 584
@lasterrnum 714 Logarithm
@lasterrstr 715 arbitrary base 550, 585
@lastmax 477 base-10 549, 584
@lastmin 477 difference 550, 582
@lastsby 566 natural 549, 584
Least squares logclear 406
stepwise 483 Logistic
@left 84, 621 distribution 571
Length logit function 569
of string 634 Logistic function
@length 82, 621 CDF 580
Length of string 621 density 582
Less than comparison 271 inverse CDF 588
matrix element by element 671 random number generator 589
Less than or equal to comparison 271 @logit 569
matrix element by element 670 logit 407
Levin, Lin and Chu 502 Logit models 299, 407
Limited information maximum likelihood (LIML) logmode 407
See LIML logmode 135
LIML 404 logmsg 409
estimation of 404 Log-normal distribution 571
liml 404 logsave 409
Line break (programs) 118 @logx 550, 585
Line numbers Loop
in program 118 exit loop 147, 710
Linear for 711
frequency conversion method 330 for (control variables) 141
Link for (scalars) 143
convert to ordinary series 450, 501, 533 for (string variables) 143
Litterman if 713
frequency conversion method 330 nest 142
Load over matrix elements 142, 277
workfile 515 while 141, 145, 736
@loadprgini 715 Lotus file 515, 529, 535
Local export data to file 529, 535
samples 158 open 515
subroutine 156 @lower 87, 622
variable 154 Lowercase 622
Log 135 ls 376, 410
See Logarithm. @ltrim 86, 623
758—Index

M objects 257
of ones 684
ma 604
outer product 685
MA specification 604
permute columns of using vector of ranks 688
seasonal 609
permute rows of 685
Macro-recording 3
permute rows of using vector of ranks 658
@mae 554
place submatrix 681
Magellan 345
place vector in column 662
Main diagonal 675 place vector into 690
@makedate 106, 623 quadratic form 686
@makediagonal 680 random normal 682, 684
@makevalidname 716 random uniform 682, 689
@mape 554 rank 686
Markov switching 486 ranks of the elements of the matrix 687
Mathematical functions 549 resample rows from 688
Matlab 178 rows, numbers of 690
matplace 681 scale rows or columns 690
Matrix 695 singular value decomposition 694
assign values 258 stack columns 699
Cholesky factorization 659 stack lower triangular columns 699
columns, number of 663 subtract submatrix 694
condition number 663 trace 695
convert to other matrix objects 278 unique values 697
convert to/from series or group 265 vertical concatenation 699
copy 262 views 276
copy submatrix 263 Matrix commands and functions 657
covert from series or group (drop NAs) 664, 692 column means 278
covert from series or group (keep NAs) 693 column scaling 278
covert from table 695 column summaries 274
declare 257 commands 275
element division 667 descriptive statistics 274, 656
element equality 667, 668 difference 274
element greater than 669 element 272, 655
element greater than or equal to 668 functions 274
element inequality 671, 672 matrix algebra 273, 655
element inverse 670 missing values 275
element less than 671 utility 272, 653
element less than or equal to 670 Matrix concatenation 676
element multiply 671 Matrix operators
element power 672 addition (+) 269
elementwise operations 273 and loop operators 277
export data 277 comparison operators 271
extract row 689 division (/) 271
fill values 673 multiplication (*) 270
fill with values 259 negation (-) 269
generalized inverse 685 order of evaluation 269
import data 277 subtraction (-) 270
main diagonal 675 @mav 561, 585
norm 684 @mavc 561, 585
 M—759

@max 554, 585 regression 416

@maxerrs 716 @min 554, 585
@maxes 554, 585, 681, 682 Minimization
Maximal values 681, 682 See also Optimization (user-defined).
Maximization Minimization See Optimization (user-defined).
See also Optimization (user-defined). Minimum 554, 585
Maximization See Optimization (user-defined). by category 565, 585
Maximum 554, 585 cumulative 557, 558, 581
by category 565, 585 index 553
cumulative 557, 558, 580, 581 matrix columns 661
index 553 matrix columns index 660
matrix columns 661 moving 560, 562, 586
matrix columns index 660 n-smallest numbers 554
moving 560, 562, 586 row-wise 564, 590
n-largest numbers 554 row-wise index 564, 589
row-wise 564, 589 @minner 563, 585
row-wise index 564, 589 @mins 554, 585
Maximum likelihood @minsby 565, 585
See also Optimization (user-defined). @minute 112, 596
@maxsby 565, 585 Missing values 275, 549, 584
@mcor 562, 585 code for missing 605
@mcov 562, 585 mathematical functions 549
@mcovp 562, 585 number of 554
@mcovs 562, 585 recoding 550, 587
Mean 554, 585 Mixed data sampling
by category 565, 585 regression 416
cumulative 556, 557, 580, 581 @mkurt 562, 585
geometric 553, 583 @mmax 562, 586
harmonic 553, 583 @mmin 562, 586
matrix columns 661 @mnas 563, 586
moving 559, 561, 585, 586 @mobs 563, 586
row-wise 563, 589 @mod 549, 586
@mean 554, 585 Mode 135
Mean absolute error 554 Models
Mean absolute percentage error 554 solve 478
@meansby 565, 585 Modulus 549, 586
Median 554, 585 @month 112, 477, 595
by category 565, 585 Moody’s Economy.com 345
Cumulative 557, 558 Moore-Penrose inverse of matrix 685
@median 554, 585 @movav 559, 586
@mediansby 565, 585 @movavc 559, 586
Merge @movcor 560, 586
graphs 37 @movcov 560, 586
panel data 332 @movcovp 560, 586
Meta data @movcovs 560, 586
See Attributes Moving average (ARMA) 604
@mid 85, 624 Moving statistics 559
MIDAS average 559, 586
760—Index

average, centered 561, 585 get next available object name 712
centered mean 559, 586 make a valid object name 716
correlation 560, 562, 585, 586 test for valid object name 714
covariance 560, 562, 585, 586 @nan 550, 587
functions 559 NAs
inner product 561, 563, 585, 586 comparisons 172
kurtosis 562, 585 recode 550, 587
maximum 560, 562, 586 testing 172
mean 561, 585 @nas 554
minimum 560, 562, 586 NAs, number of
NAs, number of 561, 563, 586 by category 565, 587
observations, number of 561, 563, 586 cumulative 557, 558, 581
skewness 560, 562, 586, 587 matrix columns 661
standard deviation 559, 561, 586, 587 moving 561, 563, 586
sum 559, 561, 586, 587 row-wise 563, 590
sum of squares 560, 562, 586, 587 @nasby 565, 587
variance 559, 560, 561, 562, 586, 587 Negation operator (-) 269
@movinner 561, 586 Negative binomial
@movkurt 560, 586 distribution 571
@movmax 560, 586 Negative binomial count model 335
@movmin 560, 586 Negative binomial function
@movnas 561, 586 CDF 580
@movobs 561, 586 density 582
@movskew 560, 586 inverse CDF 588
@movstdev 559, 586 random number generator 590
@movstdevp 559, 586 @neqna 83, 549, 587, 624
@movstdevs 559, 586 Newey-West automatic bandwidth
@movsum 559, 561, 586, 587 cointegrating regression 321, 324
@movsumsq 560, 586 robust standard errors 303, 412, 494
@movvar 559, 586 Newton’s method 250
@movvarp 560, 587 next 717
@movvars 560, 587 Nonlinear least squares
@mskew 562, 587 single equation estimation 410, 416
@mstdev 561, 587 var estimation 376
@mstdevp 561, 587 @norm 684
@mstdevs 561, 587 Norm of a matrix 684
@msumsq 562, 587 Normal distribution 571
mtos 683 random number 606, 682, 684
Multiplication 554, 588 Normal function
matrix element by element 671 CDF 580
Multiplication operator (*) 270 density 582
@mvar 561, 587 inverse CDF 589
@mvarp 562, 587 random number generator 587, 590
@mvars 562, 587 Normality test 380
Not equal to comparison 271
N matrix element by element 671, 672
@now 112, 625
na 605
Nowcasting 416
Name
 O—761

@nper 551, 587 OLEDB Driver 176

@nrnd 587 OLS (ordinary least squares)
nrnd 606 single equation estimation 410
N-step GMM stepwise 483
single equation 370 var estimation 376
Number format Omitted variables test 490
See Display format OneDrive 306, 518, 532
Number of periods @ones 684
annuity 551, 587 Ones matrix 684
Numbers One-step GMM
converting from strings 82, 638 single equation 370
formatting in tables 59 Open
formatting in tables See also Display format database 340, 344
foreign data as matrix 392
O foreign data as table 398
foreign source data 382, 515
Object
text or program files 418
active 209
workfile 515
assignment 15
open 418
command 17
containers 23 Operator 548
copy 25, 327 relational 79
create using freeze 362 Optimization (user-defined) 239
declaration 16 analytical gradients 242, 421
delete 27, 348 controls 239, 420
fetch from database or databank 28, 355 examples 245
get next available object name 712 gradients 242, 421
make a valid name 716 Hessian 243, 421, 422
output display 210 least squares 241
placeholder 209 maximization 241
print 454 maximum likelihood 241
rename 27, 461 method 241
save 27 minimization 241
store 27, 484 numeric derivatives 243
test for existence 714 objective 239, 420
test for valid name 714 parameters 239, 420
@obs 554, 587 starting values 242
status messages 245
@obsby 565, 587
step method 244, 253
Observations, number of 554, 587
technical details 250
by category 565, 587
termination 254
cumulative 557, 558, 581
optimize 239, 241, 419
matrix columns 662
moving 561, 563, 586 Option settings
row-wise 563, 590 replace 425
save to new location 424
@obsid 600
Options
@obsnum 593
in programs 137
@obsrange 593
@optiter 245
@obssmpl 594
@optmessage 245
ODBC 515
Optmization (user-defined)
762—Index

optsave 424 @pagelist 594

optset 425 pageload 440
@optstatus 245 @pagename 594
or 548, 587 pagerename 442
Order of evaluation 269 pagesave 442
ordered 426 pageselect 444
Ordered dependent variable @pagesmpl 594
estimating models with 426 pagestack 445
@otod 90, 625 pagestruct 448
@otods 90, 625 pageunlink 450
@outer 685 pageunstack 451
Outer product 685 Panel data
Output cell identifier 599
display estimation results 428 functions 599
printing 19 group identifier 599
redirection 428, 718 time trend 600
output 428 trends 600
unit root tests 502
P within-group identifier 600
workfile structure 593
Page
Panel workfile
check for existence of 594
functions 599
contract 431
param 453
copy from 432
Parameters 453
create new 434
define structure 448 PARCH 292
delete page 440, 441, 528 Pareto distribution 572
frequency of 594 Pareto function
number of 594 CDF 580
rename 442 density 582
resize 448 inverse CDF 589
retrieve current sample 594 random number generator 590
retrieve ID series 594 Partial covariance analysis 337
retrieve name of 594 Parzen kernel
retrieve names of 594 cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
save or export 442 GMM estimation 372
set active 444 robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
sorting 479 Parzen-Cauchy kernel
stack 445 cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
subset from 431 GMM estimation 372
pageappend 430 robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
pagecontract 431 Parzen-Geometric kernel
pagecopy 432 cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
@pagecount 594 GMM estimation 372
pagecreate 434 robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
pagedelete 440, 441, 528 Parzen-Riesz kernel
@pageexist 594 cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
GMM estimation 372
@pagefreq 594
robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
@pageid 594
 P—763

Path Precedence of evaluation 269

retrieve workfile path 594 Present value 551, 588
Payment amount 552, 588 Print
@pc 550, 588 and display 19
@pca 550, 588 automatic printing 718
PcGive data 345 landscape 19
@pch 550, 588 portrait 19
@pcha 551, 588 spool by command 74
@pchy 551, 588 tables by command 66
@pcy 551, 588 turn off in program 718
pdl 607 print 454
PDL (polynomial distributed lag) 607 probit 455
Pearson correlation Probit models 299
from group 334 @prod 554, 588
Pearson covariance 337 Product 554, 588
Pedroni panel cointegration test 316 cumulative 556, 557, 581
Percent change Program
one-period 550, 588 abort 123
one-period annualized 550, 551, 588 arguments 134, 136, 137
one-year 551, 588 backup files 119
Period basics 117
dummy variable 596 break 123
Permute call subroutine 151, 706
columns of a matrix using vector of ranks 688 clearing execution errors 706
rows of a matrix using vector of ranks 658 command capture 327
rows of matrix 685 counting execution errors 709
@permute 685 create 117
Phillips-Perron test 502 create new file 455
Pi 569 encrypt 119
@pinverse 685 errors 146
plot 453 example 124
@pmt 552, 588 exec 350
poff 718 execution 120
Point execution error code 714
frequency conversion method 330 execution error string 715
exit loop 147
Poisson count model 335
for 141
Poisson distribution 571
if 139
Poisson function
if statement 139
CDF 580
include file 148, 713
density 582
ini file 715, 720
inverse CDF 589
line comment character 118, 125
random number generator 590
line continuation character 118
pon 718
line numbers 118
Pool
log See Program log.
identifier comparison with “?” wildcard 742
maximum execution errors 716
Portrait (print orientation) 19
maximum number of execution errors 721
Power (raise to) 548, 579
modes 134
matrix element by element 672
multiple programs 148
764—Index

number of execution errors 720, 721 frequency conversion method 330

open 119 Quadratic form 686
Options 137 Quadratic spectral kernel
place subroutine 153 cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
run 467 GMM estimation 372
running 120 robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
save 119 Quandt breakpoint test 500
stop 123, 147 Quantile
stop execution 723 by category 565, 589
string object 92, 129 Cumulative 557, 558
strings 92, 128 @quantile 554, 589
user-defined dialogs 159 Quantile function 554, 589
variables 126 Quantile regression 455
version 4 compatibility 135, 173 @quantilesby 565, 589
while 145 @quarter 112, 477, 595
program 455 Queries on database
Program log 135 command 574, 737
add message 409 Quiet mode 134
clear 406 @qunif 589
save 409 @qweib 589
set log settings 407
Programming language command entries 704 R
Programming See Program.
Pseudoinverse 685 R 179
@psi 567 R project 179
@pv 551, 588 Ramsey RESET test 461
P-value Random number
functions to calculate 572 generator for normal 606, 682, 684
generator for uniform 608, 682, 689
generators 569
Q
integer 462
@qbeta 588 seed 463
@qbinom 588 range 458
@qchisq 588 @rank 686
@qexp 588 Rank (matrix) 686
@qfdist 588 Ranks
@qform 686 observations in series or vector 555, 589
@qgamma 588 @ranks 555, 589, 687
@qged 588 @rate 552, 589
@qlaplace 588 Rate for annuity 552, 589
@qlogistic 588 RATS data
@qlognorm 588 4.x native format 345
@qnegbin 588 importing 382
@qnorm 589 open 515
@qpareto 589 portable format 345
@qpoisson 589 @rbeta 589
qreg 455 @rbinom 589
@qtdist 589 @rchisq 589
Quadratic Read 382, 392, 398, 515
 R—765

data from foreign file 382, 458 @rimax 564, 589

data from foreign file as matrix 392 @rimin 564, 589
data from foreign file as table 398 @rlaplace 589
read 458 @rlast 564, 589
Reading EViews data (in other applications) 175 @rlogistic 589
Recession shading 196 @rlognorm 589
Reciprocal 549, 584 @rmax 564, 589
@recode 550, 589 @rmean 563, 589
Recode values 549, 550, 584, 589 @rmin 564, 590
Recording user actions 3 @rmse 555
Redirect output to file 19, 428 @rnas 563, 590
Redundant variables test 491 rnd 608
Regression rndint 462
breakpoint estimation 301 rndseed 463
Rename @rnegbin 590
database 347 @rnorm 590
object 27, 461 @robs 563, 590
page 442 Robust least squares 464
workfile page 442 Robust regression
rename 461 See also Robust least squares.
Reorder robustls 464
columns of a matrix using vector of ranks 688 Rolling regression
rows of a matrix 685 user object example 222
rows of a matrix using vector of ranks 658 Root mean square error 555
@replace 86, 626 Round 549, 550, 580, 583, 590
Replacement variable 130 @round 550, 590
naming objects 131 Roundoff error in for loops 722
Resample Row
rows from matrix 688 functions See Row statistics.
@resample 688 height 60
reset 461 numbers 690
RESET test 461 place in matrix 690
Reset timer 494 Row statistics 563
Reshaping a workfile 448 first non-missing obs 564, 589
Resize first non-missing obs index 564, 589
page 448 last non-missing obs 564, 589
Restructuring 448 last non-missing obs index 564, 589
return 719 maximum 564, 589
@rexp 589 maximum index 564, 589
@rfdist 589 mean 563, 589
@rfirst 564, 589 minimum 564, 590
@rgamma 589 minimum index 564, 589
@rged 589 NAs, number of 563, 590
Rich Text Format observations matching value, number of 563,
See RTF. 590
@rifirst 564, 589 Observations, number of 563, 590
@right 84, 626 standard deviation 564, 590
@rilast 564, 589 sum 563, 590
766—Index

sum of squares 564, 590 @quarter 477

variance 564, 590 retrieve current default 594
@rowextract 689 set current 476
rowplace 690 @weekday 477
@rows 90, 627, 690 @year 477
Rowvector Samples
extract from matrix 689 local 158
filled rowvector function 674 sar 608
@rpareto 590 SAR specification 608
@rpoisson 590 SARMA 608
@rstdev 564, 590 SAS file 515
@rstdevp 564, 590 Save 529
@rstdevs 564, 590 commands in file 5
@rsum 563, 590 objects to disk 27
@rsumsq 564, 590 tables 66
@rtdist 590 workfile 529
RTF 66 workfile as foreign file 529
@rtrim 86, 627 save 468
run 350, 467 saveprgini 720
Run program 350, 467 Scalar
application in batch mode 122 matrix equal to 260
multiple files 148 @scale 690
@runif 590 Scale rows or columns of matrix 690
@rvalcount 563, 590 @seas 596
@rvar 564, 590 seas 469
@rvarp 564, 590 Seasonal
@rvars 564, 590 ARMA terms 608, 609
@rweib 590 dummy variable 596
Seasonal adjustment
S moving average 469
@second 113, 596
Sample
Second moment matrix 678
@all 476
Seed random number generator 463
all observations 476
Selection model
change using for loop 142
Heckman selection equation 376
@day 477
Sequential LR tests 147
earliest of first panel obs 477
Serial correlation
earliest of last panel obs 477
Breusch-Godfrey LM test 298
@first 476, 477
Series
first observation 476
auto-updating 363
@hour 477
convert to matrix 267, 683
@hourf 477
convert to matrix (keep NAs) 693
@last 476, 477
descriptive statistics 481
last observation 476
extract observation 593
latest of first panel obs 477
formula 363
latest of last panel obs 477
smoothing 474
local 158
unique values 697
@month 477
setcell 469
number of observations in 594
 S—767

setcolwidth 471 naming objects by command 72

seterrcount 720, 721 object comments 73
setline 472 object names 72
setmaxerrs 721 print by command 74
Shade region of graph removing objects 73
by command 51 Spreadsheet
Shell 472 file export 529
shell 472 file import 382, 515
show 473 file import as matrix 392
Show object view 473 file import as table 398
@sin 569, 590 SPSS file 515
Sine 569, 590 @sqrt 550, 590
Singular matrix sqrt 550, 590
test for 679 Square root 550, 590
Singular value decomposition 694 Stability test
@skew 555, 590 Chow breakpoint 309
Skewness 555, 590 factor 352
by category 566, 590 Quandt-Andrews 500
moving 560, 562, 586, 587 unknown breakpoint 500
@skewsby 566, 590 Stack
sleep 722 matrix by column 699
sma 609 sym matrix by lower column triangle 699
smooth 474 workfile page 445
Smoothing Standard deviation 555, 561, 587, 590
exponential smooth series 474 by category 565, 590, 591
smpl 476 cumulative 556, 557, 558, 581
Solve moving 559, 561, 586, 587
linear system 691 row-wise 564, 590
simultaneous equations model 478 Starting values 453
solve 478 user defined optimization 242
@solvesystem 691 Stata file 515
Sort Static forecast 358
vector 692 Statistical distribution functions 569
workfile page 479 stats
@sort 692 series 481
sort 479 Status line 482
spawn 480 statusline 482, 721
Spawn process within EViews 480 @stdev 555, 590
Special expression command entries 601 @stdevp 555
Special functions 566 @stdevpsby 565, 590
Spool @stdevs 555, 590
add objects 70 @stdevsby 565, 591
add objects by command 70 @stdevssby 565, 591
comments by command 73 step 722
create by command 69 stepls 483
display name 72 Stepwise 483
display name by command 72 stom 692
extract by command 73 stomna 693
768—Index

stop 723 test for equality 619

Stop program execution 123, 147, 723 test for inequality 624
Store test two strings for equality 83
object in database or databank 27, 484 test two strings for inequality 83
store 484 trim spaces 86
@str 89, 627 trim spaces from ends 86, 634
@strdate 90, 113, 596, 632 trim spaces from left end 623
String 77 trim spaces from right end 627
add quotes 87, 613 uppercase 637
as replacement variable 130 variable 92, 128
assign to table cell 58 vectors 93
change case 86, 87 String (variable) 92
comparison 79 String list
concatenation 78 compare strings 87, 646
convert date string to observation 90 count 82, 640
convert date value into 618 create from svector 90, 644
convert date value to string 106 create svector 90, 649
convert from a number 627 cross lists 87, 640
convert into date value 618 delimiters 88, 641
convert number to string 89 drop string 86, 641
convert to date number 88, 105 extract string 85, 644
convert to number 89, 129, 638 find element 85, 646, 647
convert to numbers 82 find string 83, 642
current date as a string 91 functions 612
extract portion 84, 85 interleave lists 88, 643
find substring 82, 620 intersect strings 87, 643
for loop 143 left substring 84, 645
functions 82, 573 replace string 86, 647
in programs 128 right substring 84, 648
insert string into another string 85, 620 sort 88, 648
left substring 621 substring from location 85, 645
length 82, 621, 634 union of strings 87, 649
lowercase 622 unique string 87, 650
missing value 77, 80 String object 92, 129
null string 77 String vector 93
operators 78 row count 90, 627
ordering 79 @stripparens 87, 633
program arguments 134, 136, 137 @strippcommas 632
relational comparison 79 @stripquotes 87, 633
relational comparisons with empty strings 80 @strlen 634
replace portion of a string with new string 86, @strnow 91, 634
626 Structural change
right substring 626 See also Breakpoint test.
string lists 81 estimation in the presence of 301
strip commas 632 Structuring a workfile 448
strip parentheses from ends 87, 633 @subextract 694
strip quotes from ends 87, 633 Subroutine 149
substring from location 624 arguments 150
test for blank 83, 621 call 151, 706
 T—769

declare 723 copy table to new table 489

define 149 create using freeze 362
global 154 creating 57
local 156 creating by freezing a view 57
mark end 708 customization 67
optimization 239 decimal format code 59
placement 153 declare 58
return from 149, 719 export 66
subroutine 723 font 64
Substring 85, 620, 624, 645 horizontal line 472
Subtraction operator (-) 270 insert table in new table 489
Sum 555, 591 print 66
by category 565, 591 row heights 60
cumulative 556, 557, 581 save to disk 66, 468
matrix columns 666 set and format cell contents 469
moving 559, 561, 586, 587 set column width See Column width.
row-wise 563, 590 text color for cells 64
@sum 555, 591 write to file 66
Sum of squares 555, 591 @tablenames 724
by category 565, 591 tabplace 489
cumulative 557, 558, 581 @tan 569, 591
moving 560, 562, 586, 587 Tangent 569, 591
row-wise 564, 590 t-distribution 572
@sumsby 565, 591 t-distribution function
@sumsq 555, 591 CDF 580
@sumsqby 565, 591 density 582
@svd 694 inverse CDF 589
Svector random number generator 590
create from string list 90 Template
create string list 90, 644 by command 51
Switching regression 486 @temppath 724
switchreg 486 Test
Sym Chow 309
create from lower triangle of square matrix 677 for equality of matrix values 667, 668
create from scalar function 674 for equality of values 549, 583
create square matrix from 673 for inequality of matrix values 671, 672
scale rows and columns 690 for inequality of values 549, 587
stack columns 699 for missing value 549, 584
for serial correlation 298
T Granger causality 304
Johansen cointegration 311
Table
omitted variables 490
assigning numbers to cells 58
redundant variables 491
assigning strings to cells 58
RESET 461
assignment with formatting 59
unit root 502
background color 64
testadd 490
borders and lines 64
testdrop 491
cell format 62
Text file
convert from matrix 695
import 382
770—Index

import as matrix 392 GMM estimation 372

import as table 398 robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
open as workfile 515 Two-stage least squares
save workfile as 529 See 2sls (Two-Stage Least Squares).
@theil 555
Theil inequality coefficient 555 U
then 724
ubreak 500
tic 494
@uidialog 165, 726
Time
@uiedit 161, 729
current 725
@uifiledlg 167, 730
current as string 634
@uilist 162, 731, 732
@time 725
@uimlist 163
Time series functions 550, 551
@uiprompt 160, 733
Timer 494, 495, 726
@uiradio 164, 734
to 725
Uniform distribution 572
Tobit 306
random number 608, 682, 689
@toc 726
Uniform function
toc 495
CDF 581
TOC ini 206, 234 density 582
Trace inverse CDF 589
of matrix 695 random number generator 590
@trace 695 Unique values 697
Transpose unique values 697
matrix 695 @uniquevals 697
@transpose 695 Unit root test 502
Trend Elliot, Rothenberg, and Stock 503
panel functions 599 KPSS 502
@trend 596, 600 Unit vector 697
in panel 600 @unitvector 697
@trendc 596, 600
Unknown breakpoint test 500
@trigamma 569
unlink 501
Trigonometric functions 569 Unstack
@trim 86, 634 vector into matrix 698
Truncated dependent variable 306 vector into sym matrix 698
tsls Unstacking data 451
single equation 491, 496 Untitled 22
TSP portable data format 345 @unvec 698
ttom 695 @unvech 698
Tukey-Hamming kernel UOPZ file 233
cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324 @upper 86, 637
GMM estimation 372
Uppercase 637
robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
uroot 502
Tukey-Hanning kernel
User defined menus
cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
See Add-ins.
GMM estimation 372
User interface 159
robust standard errors 303, 412, 493
dialog 165, 726
Tukey-Parzen kernel
edit 161, 729
cointegrating regression 321, 323, 324
file dilaog 167, 730
 W—771

listbox 162, 731 estimating 506

multiple-list box 163, 732 @vec 699
prompt 160, 733 @vech 699
radio button 164, 734 Vector 697
User objects 213 fill 673
adding 232 fill values 675
creation 233 outer product 685
data members 215 ranks of the elements of the matrix 687
definition 213 unit 697
definition file 231 unstack into matrix 698
downloading 216 unstack into sym matrix 698
examples 219 Verbose mode 134
installer 234 @vernum 735
installing 218 Version number 735
management 228 @verstr 735
register 290 Vertical matrix concatenation 699
registered 216
registration 232 W
TOC ini 234
unregistered 214 @wcount 82, 640
using 214 @wcross 87, 640
User-defined dialogs 159 @wdelim 88, 641
User-defined optimization @wdir 91, 735
See Optimization (user-defined). @wdrop 86, 641
@weekday 112, 477, 595
V Weibull distribution 572
Weibull function
@val 89, 638 CDF 581
Valmap density 582
functions 577 inverse CDF 589
VAR random number generator 590
estimation 506 wend 735
@var 555, 591 @wexpand 609
Variable wfclose 507
program 126 wfcompare 508
Variance 555, 591 wfcreate 510
by category 565, 591, 592 wfdetails 514
cumulative 556, 557, 558, 581 wfdir 515
moving 559, 560, 561, 562, 586, 587 @wfind 83, 642
row-wise 564, 590 @wfindnc 642
Variance equation @wfname 594
See ARCH and GARCH.
wfopen 515
@varp 555, 591
@wfpath 594
@varpsby 565, 591
wfsave 529
@vars 555, 591
wfselect 532
@varsby 565, 591
wfstats 533
@varssby 565, 592
wfunlink 533
@vcat 699
wfuse 534
VEC
while 736
772—Index

While loop 145 information 593

abort 146 load workfile pages into 440
end of 735 number of observations in 593
exit loop 147 observation date functions 112, 595
start of 736 observation numbers 593
Wildcard characters 26, 739 open existing 24, 515
Windmeijer standard errors 372 open foreign source into 515
Window panel structured 593
docking and moving 6 panel to pool 451
Windows period indicators 596
command shell 480 pool to panel 445
environment variables 708 rename page 442
Windows shell 472 retrieve name of 594
@winterleave 88, 643 retrieve path of 594
@wintersect 87, 643 save 24, 529
@wjoin 90, 644 save individual page 442
@wkeep 85, 644 seasonal indicators 596
@wleft 84, 645 set active workfile and page 444, 532
@wlookup 91, 736 sorting 479
@wmid 85, 645 stacking 445
@wnotin 87, 646 start date of observation interval 594
@word 85, 646 time trend 596, 600
@wordq 85, 647 time trend (calendar based) 596
Workfile 23, 448 unstacking 451
activate 534 workfile 535
append to 430 @wquery 574, 737
attributes 390, 514 Wrapping text 117
close 24, 507 @wreplace 86, 647
comparing 508 @wright 84, 648
contract 431 Write
convert repeated obs to repeated series 451 data to text file 535
convert repeated series to repeated obs 445 write 535
copy from 432 @wsort 88, 648
create 338, 510 @wsplit 90, 649
create page in 434 @wunion 87, 649
date strings 90, 113, 596 @wunique 87, 650
define structured page 448
delete page 440, 441, 528 X
details 514 xclose 537
directory 515 xget 537
display statistics view 533 xlog 540
end date of observation interval 594
xopen 540
export 529
xput 542
find objects 91, 736
@xputnames 650
frequency 23
xrun 544
@-functions 573
functions 593
Y
import 382
import foreign source into 382 @year 112, 477, 595