How to set a specific file order for each file in a local macro

Question

I have a loop in Stata referring to a local macro which I use to run several actions (create a file, run script associated with each file etc.).

Everything is fine but I would like to change the order in which the files are read in the loop, which by default is alphabetical.

My loop looks as follows:

foreach file of local myfiles {
    noisily display as text "some text"
}

Besides the display command, the script continues with my code.

Is there a way to customize the order in which the loop addresses the files stored in the local macro?

I would like to achieve this without changing the file names.

Answer 1

The following works for me:

local myfiles myfile1.dta myfile2.dta myfile3.dta myfile4.dta

tokenize `myfiles'

foreach x in `3' `1' `4' `2' {
    display "`x'"
}

myfile3.dta
myfile1.dta
myfile4.dta
myfile2.dta

Another way is the following:

local myfiles myfile1.dta myfile2.dta myfile3.dta myfile4.dta

local mf myfile2.dta myfile3.dta
local myfiles `mf' `: list myfiles - mf'

display "`myfiles'"
myfile2.dta myfile3.dta myfile1.dta myfile4.dta