Intro Mata

Introduction to Mata
Since the release of version 9, Stata contains a full-fledged matrix
programming language, Mata, with most of the capabilities of MATLAB,
R, Ox or GAUSS. You can use Mata interactively, or you can develop
Mata functions to be called from Stata. In this talk, we emphasize the
latter use of Mata.
Mata functions may be particularly useful where the algorithm you wish
to implement already exists in matrix-language form. It is quite
straightforward to translate the logic of other matrix languages into
Mata: much more so than converting it into Statas matrix language.
A large library of mathematical and matrix functions is provided in
Mata, including optimization routines, equation solvers,
decompositions, eigensystem routines and probability density
functions. Mata functions can access Statas variables and can work
with virtual matrices (views) of a subset of the data in memory. Mata
also supports file input/output.
Christopher F Baum (BC / DIW)
Programming in Stata and Mata
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Circumventing the limits of Statas matrix language
Circumventing the limits of Statas matrix

language
Mata circumvents the limitations of Statas traditional matrix
commands. Stata matrices must obey the maximum matsize: 800
rows or columns in Intercooled Stata. Thus, code relying on Stata
matrices is fragile. Statas matrix language does contain commands
such as matrix accum which can build a cross-product matrix from
variables of any length, but for many applications the limitation of
matsize is binding.
Even in Stata/SE or Stata/MP, with the possibility of a much larger
matsize, Statas matrices have another drawback. Large matrices
consume large amounts of memory, and an operation that converts
Stata variables into a matrix or vice versa will require at least twice the
memory needed for that set of variables.
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Circumventing the limits of Statas matrix language
The Mata programming language can sidestep these memory issues

by creating matrices with contents that refer directly to Stata
variablesno matter how many variables and observations may be
referenced. These virtual matrices, or views, have minimal overhead in
terms of memory consumption, regardless of their size.
Unlike some matrix programming languages, Mata matrices can
contain either numeric elements or string elements (but not both). This
implies that you can use Mata productively in a list processing
environment as well as in a numeric context.
For example, a prominent list-handling command, Bill Goulds
adoupdate, is written almost entirely in Mata. viewsource
adoupdate.ado reveals that only 22 lines of code (out of 1,193 lines)
are in the ado-file language. The rest is Mata.
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Speed advantages
Speed advantages
Last but by no means least, ado-file code written in the matrix
language with explicit subscript references is slow. Even if such a
routine avoids explicit subscripting, its performance may be
unacceptable. For instance, David Roodmans xtabond2 can run in
version 7 or 8 without Mata, or in version 9 or 10 with Mata. The
non-Mata version is an order of magnitude slower when applied to
reasonably sized estimation problems.
In contrast, Mata code is automatically compiled into bytecode, like
Java, and can be stored in object form or included in-line in a Stata
do-file or ado-file. Mata code runs many times faster than the
interpreted ado-file language, providing significant speed
enhancements to many computationally burdensome tasks.
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An efficient division of labor
An efficient division of labor

Mata interfaced with Stata provides for an efficient division of labor. In
a pure matrix programming language, you must handle all of the
housekeeping details involved with data organization, transformation
and selection. In contrast, if you write an ado-file that calls one or more
Mata functions, the ado-file will handle those housekeeping details
with the convenience features of the syntax and marksample
statements of the regular ado-file language. When the housekeeping
chores are completed, the resulting variables can be passed on to
Mata for processing.
Mata can access Stata variables, local and global macros, scalars and
matrices, and modify the contents of those objects as needed. If
Matas view matrices are used, alterations to the matrix within Mata
modifies the Stata variables that comprise the view.
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Outline of the talk
In the rest of this talk, I will discuss:

Basic elements of Mata syntax
Design of a Mata function
Matas interface functions
Some examples of StataMata routines
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Mata language elements
Operators
Operators
To understand Mata syntax, you must be familiar with its operators.
The comma is the column-join operator, so
: r1 = ( 1, 2, 3 )
creates a three-element row vector. We could also construct this
vector using the row range operator (..) as
: r1 = (1..3)
The backslash is the row-join operator, so
c1 = ( 4 \ 5 \ 6 )
creates a three-element column vector. We could also construct this
vector using the column range operator (::) as
: c1 = (4::6)
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Operators
We may combine the column-join and row-join operators:

m1 = ( 1, 2, 3 \ 4, 5, 6 \ 7, 8, 9 )
creates a 3 3 matrix.
The matrix could also be constructed with the row range operator:
m1 = ( 1..3 \ 4..6 \ 7..9 )
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Operators
The prime (or apostrophe) is the transpose operator, so

r2 = ( 1 \ 2 \ 3 )
is a row vector.
The comma and backslash operators can be used on vectors and
matrices as well as scalars, so
r3 = r1, c1
will produce a six-element row vector, and
c2 = r1 \ c1
creates a six-element column vector.
Matrix elements can be real
or complex, so 2 - 3 i refers to a
complex number 2 3 1.
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Operators
The standard algebraic operators plus (+), minus () and multiply ()

work on scalars or matrices:
g = r1 + c1
h = r1 * c1
j = c1 * r1
In this example h will be the 1 1 dot product of vectors r1, c1 while
j is their 3 3 outer product.
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Element-wise calculations and the colon operator
One of Matas most powerful features is the colon operator. Matas

algebraic operators, including the forward slash (/) for division, also
can be used in element-by-element computations when preceded by a
colon:
k = r1 :* c1
will produce a three-element column vector, with elements as the
product of the respective elements: ki = r 1i c1i , i = 1, . . . , 3.
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Matas colon operator is very powerful, in that it will work on

nonconformable objects. For example:
r4
m2
m3
m4
=
=
=
=
( 1, 2, 3 )
( 1, 2, 3 \ 4, 5, 6 \ 7, 8, 9 )
r4 :+ m2
m1 :/ r1
adds the row vector r4 to each row of the 3 3 matrix m2 to form m3,
and divides the elements of each row of matrix m1 by the
corresponding elements of row vector r1 to form m4.
Matas scalar functions will also operate on elements of matrices:
d = sqrt(c)
will take the element-by-element square root, returning missing values
where appropriate.
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Logical operators
Logical operators
As in Stata, the equality logical operators are a == b and a != b.
They will work whether or not a and b are conformable or even of the
same type: a could be a vector and b a matrix. They return 0 or 1.
Unary not ! returns 1 if a scalar equals zero, 0 otherwise, and may be
applied in a vector or matrix context, returning a vector or matrix
of 0, 1.
The remaining logical comparison operators (>, >=, <, <=) can
only be used on objects that are conformable and of the same general
type (numeric or string). They return 0 or 1.
As in Stata, the logical and (&) and or (|) operators may only be
applied to real scalars.
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Subscripting
Subscripting
Subscripts in Mata utilize square brackets, and may appear on either
the left or right of an algebraic expression. There are two forms: list
subscripts and range subscripts.
With list subscripts, you can reference a single element of an array as
x[i,j]. But i or j can also be a vector: x[i,jvec], where jvec=
(4,6,8) references row i and those three columns of x. Missing
values (dots) reference all rows or columns, so x[i,.] or x[i,]
extracts row i, and x[.,.] or x[,] references the whole matrix.
You may also use range operators to avoid listing each consecutive
element: x[(1..4),.] and x[(1::4),.] both reference the first
four rows of x. The double-dot range creates a row vector, while the
double-colon range creates a column vector. Either may be used in a
subscript expression. Ranges may also decrement, so x[(3::1),.]
returns those rows in reverse order.
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Subscripting
Range subscripts use the notation [| |]. They can reference single
elements of matrices, but are not useful for that. More useful is the
ability to say x[| i,j \ m,n |], which creates a submatrix starting
at x[i,j] and ending at x[m,n]. The arguments may be specified as
missing (dot), so x[| 1,2 \4,. |] specifies the submatrix ending in
the last column and x[| 2,2 \ .,.|] discards the first row and
column of x. They also may be used on the left hand side of an
expression, or to extract a submatrix:
v = invsym(xx)[| 2,2 \ .,.|] discards the first row and
column of the inverse of xx.
You need not use range subscripts, as even the specification of a
submatrix can be handled with list subscripts and range operators, but
they are more convenient for submatrix extraction and faster in terms
of execution time.
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Loop constructs
Loop constructs
Several constructs support loops in Mata. As in any matrix language,
explicit loops should not be used where matrix operations can be used.
The most common loop construct resembles that of the C language:
for (starting_value; ending_value; incr ) {
statements
}
where the three elements define the starting value, ending value or
bound and increment or decrement of the loop. For instance:
for (i=1; i<=10; i++) {
printf("i=%g \n", i)
}
prints the integers 1 to 10 on separate lines.
If a single statement is to be executed, it may appear on the for
statement.
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Loop constructs
You may also use do, which follows the syntax

do {
statements
} while (exp)
which will execute the statements at least once.
Alternatively, you may use while:
while(exp) {
statements
}
which could be used, for example, to loop until convergence.
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Mata conditional statements

To execute certain statements conditionally, you use if, else:
if (exp) statement
if (exp) statement1
else statement2
if (exp1) {
statements1
}
else if (exp2) {
statements2
}
else {
statements3
}
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You may also use the conditional a ? b : c, where a is a real scalar.

If a evaluates to true (nonzero), the result is set to b, otherwise c. For
instance,
if (k == 0)
else
dof = n-1
dof = n-k
can be written as
dof = ( k==0 ? n-1 : n-k )
The increment (++) and decrement () operators can be used to
manage counter variables. They may precede or follow the variable.
The operator A # B produces the Kronecker or direct product of A and
B.
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Element and organization types

To call Mata code within an ado-file, you must define a Mata function,
which is the equivalent of a Stata ado-file program. Unlike a Stata
program, a Mata function has an explicit return type and a set of
arguments. A function may be of return type void if it does not need a
return statement. Otherwise, a function is typed in terms of two
characteristics: its element type and their organization type. For
instance,
real scalar calcsum(real vector x)
declares that the Mata calcsum function will return a real scalar. It has
one argument: an object x, which must be a real vector.
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Element types may be real, complex, numeric, string,

pointer, transmorphic. A transmorphic object may be filled with
any of the other types. A numeric object may be either real or
complex. Unlike Stata, Mata supports complex arithmetic.
There are five organization types: matrix, vector, rowvector,
colvector, scalar. Strictly speaking the latter four are just special
cases of matrix. In Statas matrix language, all matrices have two
subscripts, neither of which can be zero. In Mata, all but the scalar
may have zero rows and/or columns. Three- (and higher-) dimension
matrices can be implemented by the use of the pointer element type,
not to be discussed further in this talk.
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Arguments, variables and returns
Arguments, variables and returns

A Mata function definition includes an argument list, which may be
blank. The names of arguments are required and arguments are
positional. The order of arguments in the calling sequence must match
that in the Mata function. If the argument list includes a vertical bar
( | ), following arguments are optional.
Within a function, variables may be explicitly declared (and must be
declared if matastrict mode is used). It is good programming
practice to do so, as then variables cannot be inadvertently misused.
Variables within a Mata function have local scope, and are not
accessible outside the function unless declared as external.
A Mata function may only return one item (which could, however, be a
multi-element structure. If the function is to return multiple objects,
Matas st_... functions should be used, as we will demonstrate.
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Data access
Data access
If youre using Mata functions in conjunction with Statas ado-file

language, one of the most important set of tools are Matas interface
functions: the st_ functions.
The first category of these functions provide access to data. Stata and
Mata have separate workspaces, and these functions allow you to
access and update Statas workspace from inside Mata. For instance,
st_nobs(), st_nvar() provide the same information as describe in
Stata, which returns r(N), r(k) in its return list. Mata functions
st_data(), st_view() allow you to access any rectangular subset
of Statas numeric variables, and st_sdata(), st_sview() do the
same for string variables.
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st_view( )
st_view( )
One of the most useful Mata concepts is the view matrix, which as its
name implies is a view of some of Statas variables for specified
observations, created by a call to st_view(). Unlike most Mata
functions, st_view() does not return a result. It requires three
arguments: the name of the view matrix to be created, the
observations (rows) that it is to contain, and the variables (columns).
An optional fourth argument can specify touse: an indicator variable
specifying whether each observation is to be included.
st_view(x, ., varname, touse)
States that the previously-declared Mata vector x should be created
from all the observations (specified by the missing second argument)
of varname, as modified by the contents of touse. In the Stata code,
the marksample command imposes any if or in conditions by
setting the indicator variable touse.
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st_view( )
The Mata statements

real matrix Z
st_view(Z=., ., .)
will create a view matrix of all observations and all variables in Statas
memory. The missing value (dot) specification indicates that all
observations and all variables are included. The syntax Z=. specifies
that the object is to be created as a void matrix, and then populated
with contents. As Z is defined as a real matrix, columns associated
with any string variables will contain all missing values. st_sview()
creates a view matrix of string variables.
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st_view( )
If we want to specify a subset of variables, we must define a string

vector containing their names. For instance, if varlist is a string
scalar argument containing Stata variable names,
void foo( string scalar varlist )
...
st_view(X=., ., tokens(varlist), touse)
creates matrix X containing those variables.
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st_data( )
st_data( )
An alternative to view matrices is provided by st_data() and
st_sdata(), which copy data from Stata variables into Mata
matrices, vectors or scalars:
X = st_data(., .)
places a copy of all variables in Statas memory into matrix X.
However, this operation requires at least twice as much memory as
consumed by the Stata variables, as Mata does not have Statas full
set of 1-, 2-, and 4-byte data types. Thus, although a view matrix can
reference any variables currently in Statas memory with minimal
overhead, a matrix created by st_data() will consume considerable
memory, just as a matrix in Statas own matrix language does.
Similar to st_view(), an optional third argument to st_data() can
mark out desired observations.
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Using views to update Stata variables

A very important aspect of views: using a view matrix rather than
copying data into Mata with st_data() implies that any changes made
to the view matrix will be reflected in Statas variables contents. This is
a very powerful feature that allows us to easily return information
generated in Mata back to Statas variables, or create new content in
existing variables.
This may or may not be what you want to do. Keep in mind that any
alterations to a view matrix will change Statas variables, just as a
replace command in Stata would. If you want to ensure that Mata
computations cannot alter Statas variables, avoid the use of views, or
use them with caution. You may use st_addvar() to explicitly create
new Stata variables, and st_store() to populate their contents.
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A Mata function may take one (or several) existing variables and create
a transformed variable (or set of variables). To do that with views,
create the new variable(s), pass the name(s) as a newvarlist and set
up a view matrix.
st_view(Z=., ., tokens(newvarlist), touse)
Then compute the new content as:
Z[., .] = result of computation
It is very important to use the [., .] construct as shown. Z = will
cause a new matrix to be created and break the link to the view.
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You may also create new variables and fill in their contents by
combining these techniques:
st_view(Z, ., st_addvar(("int", "float"), ///
("idnr", "bp")))
Z[., .] = result of computation
In this example, we create two new Stata variables, of data type int
and float, respectively, named idnr and bp.
You may also use subviews and, for panel data, panelsubviews. We
will not discuss those here.
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Access to locals, globals, scalars and matrices

You may also want to transfer other objects between the Stata and
Mata environments. Although local and global macros, scalars and
Stata matrices could be passed in the calling sequence to a Mata
function, the function can only return one item. In order to return a
number of objects to Statafor instance, a list of macros, scalars and
matrices as is commonly found in the return list from an r-class
programwe use the appropriate st_functions.
For local macros,
contents = st_local("macname")
st_local("macname", newvalue )
The first command will return the contents of Stata local macro
macname. The second command will create and populate that local
macro if it does not exist, or replace the contents if it does, with
newvalue.
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Along the same lines, functions st_global, st_numscalar and

st_strscalar may be used to retrieve the contents, create, or
replace the contents of global macros, numeric scalars and string
scalars, respectively. Function st_matrix performs these operations
on Stata matrices.
All of these functions can be used to obtain the contents, create or
replace the results in r( ) or e( ): Statas return list and
ereturn list. Functions st_rclear and st_eclear can be used
to delete all entries in those lists. Read-only access to the c( )
objects is also available.
The stata( ) function can execute a Stata command from within
Mata.
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A simple Mata function

We now give a simple illustration of how a Mata subroutine could be
used to perform the computations in a do-file. We consider the same
routine: an ado-file, mysum3, which takes a variable name and accepts
optional if or in qualifiers. Rather than computing statistics in the
ado-file, we call the m_mysum routine with two arguments: the variable
name and the touse indicator variable.
program define mysum3, rclass
version 11
syntax varlist(max=1) [if] [in]
return local varname `varlist
marksample touse
mata: m_mysum("`varlist", "`touse")
return scalar N = N
return scalar sum = sum
return scalar mean = mu
return scalar sd = sigma
end
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In the same ado-file, we include the Mata routine, prefaced by the

mata: directive. This directive on its own line puts Stata into Mata
mode until the end statement is encountered. The Mata routine
creates a Mata view of the variable. A view of the variable is merely a
reference to its contents, which need not be copied to Matas
workspace. Note that the contents have been filtered for missing
values and those observations specified in the optional if or in
qualifiers.
That view, labeled as X in the Mata code, is then a matrix (or, in this
case, a column vector) which may be used in various Mata functions
that compute the vectors descriptive statistics. The computed results
are returned to the ado-file with the st_numscalar( ) function calls.
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version 11
mata:
void m_mysum(string scalar vname,
string scalar touse)
st_view(X, ., vname, touse)
mu = mean(X)
st_numscalar("N", rows(X))
st_numscalar("mu", mu)
st_numscalar("sum" ,rows(X) * mu)
st_numscalar("sigma", sqrt(variance(X)))
end
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For another example of a Mata function called from an ado-file,

imagine that we did not have an easy way of computing the minimum
and maximum of the elements of a Stata variable, and wanted to do so
with Mata:
program varextrema, rclass
version 11
syntax varname(numeric) [if] [in]
marksample touse
mata: calcextrema( "`varlist", "`touse" )
display as txt " min ( `varlist ) = " as res r(min)
display as txt " max ( `varlist ) = " as res r(max)
return scalar min = r(min)
return scalar max = r(max)
end
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Our ado-language code creates a Stata command, varextrema,

which requires the name of a single numeric Stata variable. You may
specify if exp or in range conditions. The Mata function
calcextrema is called with two arguments: the name of the variable
and the name of the touse temporary variable marking out valid
observations. As we will see the Mata function returns its results in two
numeric scalars: r(min), r(max). Those are returned in turn to the
calling program in the varextrema return list.
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We then add the Mata function definition to varextrema.ado:

version 11
mata:
mata set matastrict on
void calcextrema(string scalar varname, ///
string scalar touse)
real colvector x, cmm
st_view(x, ., varname, touse)
cmm = colminmax(x)
st_numscalar("r(min)", cmm[1])
st_numscalar("r(max)", cmm[2])
end
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The Mata code as shown is strict: all objects must be defined. The
function is declared void as it does not return a result. A Mata
function could return a single result to Mata, but we need to send two
results back to Stata. The input arguments are declared as string
scalar as they are variable names.
We create a view matrix, colvector x, as the subset of varname for
which touse==1. Matas colminmax() function computes the
extrema of its arguments as a two-element vector, and
st_numscalar() returns each of them to Stata as r(min),
r(max) respectively.
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Introduction to Mata

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Circumventing the limits of Statas matrix language

Circumventing the limits of Statas matrix

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Circumventing the limits of Statas matrix language

The Mata programming language can sidestep these memory issues

Christopher F Baum (BC / DIW)

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Christopher F Baum (BC / DIW)

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

An efficient division of labor

An efficient division of labor

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Outline of the talk

In the rest of this talk, I will discuss:

Christopher F Baum (BC / DIW)

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

We may combine the column-join and row-join operators:

Christopher F Baum (BC / DIW)

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

The prime (or apostrophe) is the transpose operator, so

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

The standard algebraic operators plus (+), minus () and multiply ()

Christopher F Baum (BC / DIW)

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

Element-wise calculations and the colon operator

Element-wise calculations and the colon operator

One of Matas most powerful features is the colon operator. Matas

Christopher F Baum (BC / DIW)

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

Element-wise calculations and the colon operator

Matas colon operator is very powerful, in that it will work on

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010

Mata language elements

Programming in Stata and Mata

Adelaide, June 2010