Or find the maximum value of the numeric variable (so that you know the
number of characters), generate a string version, remove the zero, and
convert back to a numeric. Say the maximum is 9999999 (seven digits). I
don't do this enough in Stata to know the exact commands, but in SAS I would
do:
newnumvar =
input(substr(put(oldnumvar,z7.0),1,4)||substr(put(oldnumvar,z7.0),6,2),f6.0)
Which is putting the old numeric variable zero filled to the left in a
string format of length 7, concatenating the first 4 characters with the
last two, and then inputting the concatenated version into a new numeric
variable. As Nick says, this REQUIRES that the unwanted zero appears in the
third from the right position.
I'm sure the equivalent is possible in Stata, I just don't know how to put a
numeric into a string with zero fill.
Bryan Sayer
Statistician, SSS Inc.
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Cox [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 8:11 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: st: RE: eliminating the nth digit of a numeric variable
Sanz De Galdeano, Anna
>
> I have a numeric variable which takes, for instance, values like:
>
> 1017
> 273076
> 518097
> 3046
>
> As you see, all these numbers have one thing in common: the
> third difit
> starting from the right is always 0. That 0 should not be
> there and I want
> to get rid of it so that my numeric variable looks like:
>
> 117
> 27376
> 51897
> 346
>
> I think I could get what I want by using decode to transfor
> my numeric
> variable into a string variable and then use some of the
> string functions
> and/or some of the egen options for strings.
> I guess (although I did not work it out) I could also use
> an algorithm. But
> I have run into similar problems in the past and I would
> like to know
> whether there is any stata routine that can be used
> (something similar to
> what the string functions do, but for numeric varriables
> instead) to get the
> desired result faster.
Your last two digits are
mod(myvar,100)
and the rest of the number is
100 * int(myvar/1000)
so everything is
100 * int(myvar/1000) + mod(myvar,100)
Another way to do it
real(subinstr(string(myvar),"0","",1))
but that assumes that "0" occurs just once.
Nick
[email protected]
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