Add an a in front of the 0020. This will trick STATA to think it is a
string. Once read, do a replace in STATA.
> Hello all,
>
> I encounter a data input problem in Stata. I have a fixed format file,
> i.e., abc.raw, and there are ID numbers that I would like to read them in
> character format. However, the way the ID numbers are created makes it
> hard to do so. For example, I have an ID is "00020", but Stata read it as
> "20". Can anyone help me out here? I use "infix id 1-5 using ..." but it
> does not work.
>
> My second question is whether there is a way to use "infix" command more
> efficiently, given that fact that I have 241 variables. In SAS, I can do
> "input var1 $10. var2 $10. ..." In Stata, however, it seems that I have to
> specify the columns. Can I do anything similar to SAS in Stata by only
> specifying the format of the variable and Stata will figure out the column
> position?
>
> Thanks a million! I would greatly appreciate your help!!!
>
>
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> *
> * For searches and help try:
> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>
--
Albert J. Lee, Ph.D.,
Economist
Summit Consulting LLC*
1310 12th Street, Suite 1
Washington DC 20005
(202) 588 1092
At HUD (202) 708 0614 ext 7562
www.summitllc.us
*Summit Consulting is a SBA certified 8a company
*
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
