st: how to cut string variables

[Reka Sundaram-Stukel <rsundara@wisc.edu>]

Dear Statalist,

I am trying to cut a variable so that I just keep the string portion  
of it. I have search the help for various options but it seems if you  
don't have a uniform stub you can't cut.

For example: my variable is:

Id    Rank

1    A2
2    B3
3    D5
4    E10
5    A1
6    B3
...

What I would like to create a variable as follows: dummy=1 if rank  
contains "b"

How can I do this simply so I don't have to either cut or split the  
variable (at least I can't figure out how to do this).
Any help would be much appreciated.

Reka

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