Research Computing Services

Database Server

Database Server

Stata

Stata

Stata uses a generic connection protocol called ODBC to connect to databases. The instructions below are meant to provide guidance on configuring your environment as well as configuring Stata. Once you are able to connect to your database, you should review available ODBC-specific Stata commands. The ODBC manual for Stata may be found at https://www.stata.com/manuals/dodbc.pdf. To help get you started, here are a few basic commands:

I. Load all data from a database table called sampletable, and specify the Data Source Name (dsn) as MariaDB

odbc load, exec("select * from sampletable") clear dsn ("MariaDB")

The entire table "sampletable" is loaded into STATA and you can Browse it in STATA's Data Editor:

If you would like to load data from a table within another database, then replace MyTable with DATABASE.TABLE (please note the period between database name and table name) such as ProjectDB.ProjectTable

II. You can also see the structure of the database table using

>odbc load, exec("DESCRIBE sampletable") clear dsn ("MariaDB")

This time the data dictionary of the table "sampletable" is loaded into STATA and you may view it with the STATA Data Editor:

Stata on the Grid, interactive session

These instructions will guide you to connecting to a database while in an interactive Stata session. RCS already provides an appropriate ODBC driver on the Grid. However, you need to ensure you have an .odbc.ini configuration file in your Grid home directory. If you do not have this file, then you must first create it. To do so, please review the instructions found under the Configuration Files section (https://hbs.edu/research-computing-services/resources/database-server/configuration-files-recommended-for-connecting.aspx)

Once you have your local .odbc.ini file and have launched Stata within NoMachine, you should ensure the Stata ODBC manager parameter is set to unixODBC and that you can query available Data Source Names. Please enter the following Stata commands as shown in the screenshot below:

>set odbcmgr unixodbc
odbc list

Troubleshooting

If you get an error, then you may have previously tried to run an ODBC command in the current Stata session. The ODBC manager must be set correctly (i.e. to unixODBC) before any ODBC commands may be run. Otherwise, changes to the ODBC manager parameter will not take effect. To remedy this problem, please restart your Stata session and set the ODBC manager to unixODBC before trying any other commands. If you still get an erorr, then please contact Research Computing Services.

If you do not get any results after running odbc list and did not receive an error, then your .odbc.ini file is not correctly set. Please review the instructions found under the Configuration Files section (/research-computing-services/resources/database-server/configuration-files-recommended-for-connecting.aspx). You may contact Research Computing Services for assistance.

Next Steps

The next step is to test if your Data Source Name is correctly configured. Please select a Data Source Name (e.g. MyDataSourceName) and run the following command:

odbc query "MyDataSourceName"

Troubleshooting

If you receive an error, then please verify

  • your username and password are correct within your local .odbc.ini
  • the SSL path is correct within your local .odbc.ini
  • the driver group within your local .odbc.ini matches an appropriate driver group within the system odbcinst.ini

Data Source Name is correctly configured

If your odbc query command retrieved the correct list of tables without error, then your connection is all set!

Stata on your Local Windows

Windows users will need to first download the latest ODBC driver and configure ODBC data sources. Please follow our detailed instructions on our ODBC Page.

Once you have your ODBC set up you may launch Stata and run the command odbc list to confirm Stata can see the new Data Source you just configured. To test that Stata may connect to the MariaDB server, run the odbc query command:

The odbc query command will query for available tables within your database. If you did not provide a database name, then the result with be null. If your odbc query command retrieved the correct list of tables without error, then your connection is all set!

Stata on your Local Mac

If you do not have ODBC set up on your Mac please follow the detailed instructions on our ODBC page. Once your ODBC is set up you may launch Stata and run the command odbc list as shown above to confirm Stata can see the new Data Source you just configured. Similarly you may then run odbc query to retrieve the list of tables in your database.