Stata: graph soldiers deployed at any given time -

i create timeline of number of soldiers deployed abroad @ given time.

operation      start         end            soldiers operation 1    24.03.1999    14.01.2001     447 operation 2    15.05.2004    03.03.2009     880 operation 3    19.12.2006    24.01.2014     4390 

for simplicity, assume number of soldiers deployed in operation constant on time.

however, cannot assume soldiers deployed @ same time , stayed entire period. if operation 4 lasted 30 years , consisted of 24 000 soldiers, cannot assume 24 000 deployed 30 years. if need be, can assume each soldier stayed 1 year.

i assume should generate period, , divide number of soldiers number of days.

gen duration = end - start 

however, not know go here. advice on how (a) identify number of soldiers (on average) deployed in given year , (b) clear way graph appreciated.

ps: 1 problem in past regards graphing operations begin on same day.

this simpler fear, need different data structure. consider number of soldiers abroad increases when operation starts , decreases when ends. whether same people or different immaterial if want count soldiers. alternatively, give no information on base calculations of number of different soldiers.

the technique here written within this paper essence conveyed title alone. given results, graphing immediate using line; connect(j) option may seem congenial.

clear  input operation  str10(sstart send) soldiers 1    "24.03.1999"    "14.01.2001"     447 2    "15.05.2004"    "03.03.2009"     880 3    "19.12.2006"    "24.01.2014"     4390 end   foreach v in start end {      gen `v' = daily(s`v', "dmy")      drop s`v'  }   expand 2  bysort operation: gen date = cond(_n == 1, start, end)  operation: gen status = (_n == 1) - (_n == 2)  format date %td  list   sort date status   gen total = sum(status * soldiers)  bysort date : replace total = total[_n]   list date status soldiers total, sep(0)         +---------------------------------------+      |      date   status   soldiers   total |      |---------------------------------------|   1. | 24mar1999        1        447     447 |   2. | 14jan2001       -1        447       0 |   3. | 15may2004        1        880     880 |   4. | 19dec2006        1       4390    5270 |   5. | 03mar2009       -1        880    4390 |   6. | 24jan2014       -1       4390       0 |      +---------------------------------------+