Re: st: how to cut string variables

[n j cox <n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk>]

If your variable contains just one letter followed by a number,
you can extract the first character and then use -tabulate-
to generate dummies.

gen srank = substr(rank,1,1)
tab srank, gen(rank)

Alternatively,

foreach l in `c(ALPHA)' {
	qui count if index(Rank, "`l'")
	if r(N) > 0 gen rank`l' = index(Rank, "`l'") > 0
} 	

Nick
n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk

Reka Sundaram-Stukel

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.

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