Categorical Variable in Mata: factor() not found * r(3499);

[Akanksha IHEID]

I am trying to define two categorical variables (factors) in mata. My command is as follows:

mata: F_c = factor("c")
mata: F_c.panelsetup()
mata: F_csgroup = factor("c sgroup")
mata: F_csgroup.panelsetup()

The above code used to work until last week before I got Windows 11 updated on my work computer. I had to reinstall stata and all important ssc packages after the update.

Now however the above command refuses to work and I get the error:

mata: F_c = factor("c")
<istmt>: 3499 factor() not found
r(3499);

The code works on my personal laptop's stata and I tried matching all the ssc packages installed and ado files saved. The error still persists. Grateful for advice on this.

[daniel klein]

I don't think there has ever been a factor() function in Mata. There is a factor() function in Sergio Correia's ftools (https://github.com/sergiocorreia/ftools); perhaps you did not download this from SSC but from some place else?

[Akanksha IHEID]

Hi Daniel. Thanks for your response. I managed to solve the error by comparing "C\ado\plus" folder from my personal laptop (where the code worked) to the same folder in my work laptop. I pasted the ado files that were missing in my newly installed stata and ran the 'update all' command. This solved the issue.