cto_form_dofile: Generate a Stata Do-File with Variable and Value Labels from...

In ctoclient: A Modern and Flexible Data Pipeline for 'SurveyCTO'

Generate a Stata Do-File with Variable and Value Labels from a SurveyCTO Form

Description

Creates a Stata .do file that applies variable labels, value labels, and notes to a dataset based on the XLSForm definition of a SurveyCTO form. The function supports multi-language forms, repeat groups, and select_multiple questions, and generates Stata-compatible regular expressions so labels are applied to all indexed variables.

Usage

cto_form_dofile(form_id, path = NULL)

Arguments

form_id	A character string specifying the SurveyCTO form ID.
path	Optional character string giving the output file path for the generated .do file. Must end in .do. If NULL, the file is not written to disk and the generated commands are returned invisibly.

Details

The function performs several processing steps:

• Language selection: Automatically chooses the default language defined in the XLSForm, or falls back to English when multiple label columns are present.

• Value labels: Generates Stata ⁠label define⁠ commands for all select_one choice lists and a binary label set for select_multiple variables.

• Repeat handling: For variables inside repeat groups, Stata loops and regex matching are created so labels apply to all indexed copies (for example, child_age_1, child_age_2).

• Select-multiple expansion: Produces conditional labeling logic for binary indicator variables derived from select_multiple questions.

• Label cleaning: Removes HTML markup, escapes Stata-special characters, normalizes whitespace, and preserves SurveyCTO interpolation strings such as ⁠${var}⁠.

Value

A character vector containing the lines of the generated Stata .do file. The value is returned invisibly.

See Also

Other Form Management Functions: cto_form_attachment(), cto_form_data(), cto_form_data_attachment(), cto_form_languages(), cto_form_metadata()

Examples

## Not run: 
# Generate a Stata do-file and write it to disk
cto_form_dofile("household_survey", path = "labels.do")

# Generate without writing to a file
cmds <- cto_form_dofile("household_survey")

## End(Not run)

ctoclient documentation built on March 28, 2026, 5:07 p.m.