Reading old SAS transport files with Stata for Macintosh

[Bryan Sayer]

We teach a workshop on using MEPS data, and do a break out session for Stata users. Since MEPS data (https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/) has been published since 1996, the file format is SAS transport, but in the old .SSP format. There is no problem reading the files using a command typing into the terminal, and there is no problem in Windows Stata using the menus. We just have to indicate the actual file extension rather than the default.

But on Stata for Mac we could not use the point and click menus, because we could not find a way to indicate other than the default file extension. I don't have a Mac, so this isn't something I can try on my own, but we are about to do the workshop again. If there is a solution, I would like to be able to tell the participants. Sorry, I don't know the exact version of Stata or MacOS they will have.

So if any Mac users out there know a menu driven way to read old SAS transport files (.SSP) I would love to hear it.

Thanks
Bryan Sayer

[William Lisowski]

Running Stata for Mac 15.1

• From the File menu
  • select Import > SAS XPORT
• In the dialog box that appears,
  • click "Import contents of SAS XPORT Transport file
  • by the Filename: text box click Browse...
• In the file system browser window that appears,
  • click Options in the lower left corner
  • from the File Format: dropdown that then appears, select All Files (*)
  • now locate and click on the .ssp file you want to import
  • click Open in the lower right corner

[Bryan Sayer]

Thanks! It was the Options that we were not finding before. Of course, maybe I just missed it, or maybe a different version of Stata or OSX didn't have it.