Re: st: Converting strings to Numerics

[Gary Longton <glongton@fhcrc.org>]

Fultz, Shawn wrote:
> I am trying to convert a series of string variables to numeric variables.
> Because some of the numbers contain commas, the real() function does not
> work, instead returning a missing value.
>
> What I get
> String    Number
> 5.3        5.3
> hello    	 .
>
> > 2       	 .
> 2,500,000    .
>
> What I want to get
> String	Number
> 5.3		5.3
> hello		.
>
> > 2		2
> 2,500,000	2500000
>
> Is there any way to extract a numeric value from the string variable?
see help for -destring-
you'll want to use the -,ignore()- option.
i.e.
   destring <stringvar>, gen(new_numeric_var) ignore(,)

- Gary


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