ARCHIVED: Why can't Stata read all the observations in my data set?

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Stata loads your data set into memory (including virtual memory) before beginning an analysis, but it does not automatically use all the memory available in your computer. The default memory size for Stata/SE is 50 MB; for Stata/IC it is 10 MB.

If you have only a small amount of memory assigned and a large data set to read, Stata might give you a warning message such as:

"No room to add more observations"

If this happens, you will need to increase the memory size using the . set memory command. For example, to set your memory to 100 MB, enter:

  . set memory 100m

To check the current memory available to Stata, enter:

  . memory

Note: Increasing memory size does not always improve the overall performance of Stata. The optimal memory size depends on computing resources as well as the size of the data set.

If you have questions about using statistical and mathematical software at Indiana University, contact the UITS Research Applications and Deep Learning team.