Stata -system run out of application memory

[Ciara Lusin]

Hi all,
I am running a do file on Stata that generates a set of quite large tempfiles (one is around 21 GB). I'm working and saving all the files on my HDD as my laptop lacks space. The HDD has enough space on it, however I get an error message that my system runs out of application memory- attached the screenshot. Can you suggest what can be done in this case?
Thanks,
Ciara

[FernandoRios]

Hi Clara,
I dont think there is much that can be done other than upgrading how much memory you have in your computer. With files of the size you describe (21GB) i would say you need about 32GB to comfortably do most standard procedures in Stata.
The other standard suggestion would be to, reduce the filesize using more efficient data storage (compress) or reduce the number of variables in your file (to only those that are absolutely needed).
Hope this helps.
Fernando

[William Lisowski]

As a Mac user, like Clara, I get by just fine with 8GB of memory - and a good thing, since most Mac laptops do not support memory upgrading, and 32GB is in any event not possible in any but the most expensive MacBook Pro.

Unlike Clara, though, I am not dealing with vast datasets. My sense is that Stata will be making use of "virtual memory" when a 21GB dataset is read into Stata on a Mac with 8GB of memory. And that "virtual memory" will likely cause macOS to allocate "swap file" space, which will be on the internal drive. There may be limits in macOS on how large a swap file it will allocate, it's been a long time since I've gotten that far into the details of macOS.

Practically, the advice from Fernando is good: do everything you can to reduce the size of your datasets.