diff --git a/lib/shell/run_stata.sh b/lib/shell/run_stata.sh
index dc04d30..1159ff0 100644
--- a/lib/shell/run_stata.sh
+++ b/lib/shell/run_stata.sh
@@ -5,26 +5,69 @@ run_stata() {
     # get arguments
     program="$1"
     logfile="$2"
+    OUTPUT_DIR=$(dirname "$logfile")
     programname="${program%.*}"
 
     # set Stata command if unset
     if [ -z "$stataCmd" ]; then
-        echo "No Stata command set. Using default: StataMP"
+        echo -e "\nNo Stata command set. Using default: StataMP"
         stataCmd="StataMP"
     fi
 
-    # run program, add output to logfile
-    echo "Executing: ${stataCmd} ${program}"
-    (
-        ${stataCmd} -b -e do ${program} 1>> "${logfile}" 2>> "${logfile}"
+    # check if the command exists before running, log error if does not
+    if ! command -v ${stataCmd} &> /dev/null; then
+        error_time=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
+        echo -e "\033[0;31mProgram error\033[0m at ${error_time}: ${stataCmd} not found. Make sure command line usage is properly set up." 
+        echo "Program Error at ${error_time}: ${stataCmd} not found." >> "${logfile}"
+        exit 1  # exit early with an error code
+    fi
+
+    # capture the content of output folder before running the script
+    files_before=$(ls -1 "$OUTPUT_DIR" | grep -v "make.log")
+
+    # log start time for the script
+    echo -e "\nScript ${program} in ${stataCmd} started at $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')" | tee -a "${logfile}"
+
+    # run command and capture both stdout and stderr in log file
+    ${stataCmd} -e do "${program}" >> "${logfile}" 2>&1
+   
+   # parse the log file to check for Stata error codes like `r(error)`
+    if egrep --before-context=1 --max-count=1 "^r\([0-9]+\);" "${programname}.log" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        return_code=1  # set the return code to 1 if any errors were found
+    fi
+
+    # capture the content of output folder after running the script
+    files_after=$(ls -1 "$OUTPUT_DIR" | grep -v "make.log")
 
-        # report on errors
-        if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-            echo "Error: ${program} failed with exit code $return_code" | tee -a "${logfile}"
+    # determine the new files that were created
+    created_files=$(comm -13 <(echo "$files_before") <(echo "$files_after"))
+
+    # report on errors or success and display the output
+    if [ "${return_code:-0}" -ne 0 ]; then
+        error_time=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
+        echo -e "\033[0;31mWarning\033[0m: ${program} failed at ${error_time}. Check log for details." # display error warning in terminal
+        echo "Error in ${program} at ${error_time}:" >> "${logfile}"  # log error output
+        # add default log to log file and then delete default log
+        cat "${programname}.log" >> "${logfile}"
+        rm "${programname}.log"
+
+        if [ -n "$created_files" ]; then
+            echo -e "\033[0;31mWarning\033[0m: there was an error, but files where created. Check log." 
+            echo -e "\nWarning: There was an error, but these files were created: $created_files" >> "${logfile}"  # log created files
         fi
-    )
+        exit 1 
+    else
+        echo "Script ${program} finished successfully at $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')" | tee -a "${logfile}"
+        echo "Output:" >> "${logfile}"  # log output
+
+        # add default log to log file and then delete default log
+        cat "${programname}.log" >> "${logfile}"
+        rm "${programname}.log"
+        
+        if [ -n "$created_files" ]; then
+        echo -e "\nThe following files were created in ${program}:"  >> "${logfile}" 
+        echo "$created_files" >> "${logfile}" # list files in output folder
+        fi
+    fi
 
-    # add default log to log file and then delete default log
-    cat "${programname}.log" >> "${logfile}"
-    rm "${programname}.log"
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file