Re: st: RE: method needed to alternate the order of variables

[Joseph Wagner <joseph.wagner@wright.edu>]

Thanks Nick that worked.  By they way, I did not mean to imply that SAS 
was inflexible, rather I think the folks making the request of me are 
being inflexible.

Nick Cox wrote:

> A related problem is discussed within 
> http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/data/reshape3.html
>
> Here is the related problem. 
> -----------------------------------------------
> Question
> If I have many variables all occurring in pairs for two years 1997 and
> 1998, so that the dataset looks like A97, A98, B97, B98, and so on, is
> there any easy way to reshape the data to long without typing all the
> stub names?  
> Answer
> The variable names are collectively *97 *98, so we need a way of
> expanding that list of wildcard names automatically and then removing
> the suffix. We can work on either *97 or *98. 
> unab is usually billed as a programmer's command, but it can be used
> interactively. It unabbreviates a varlist and puts the result in a local
> macro. 
>   . unab vars : *97 
> Then we zap all the occurrences of the suffix "97": 
>   . local stubs : subinstr local vars "97" "", all
>
> In other words, each occurrence of "97" is replaced by an empty string;
> that is, they are removed. See macro. 
> Then we can 
>   . reshape long `stubs', options
> --------------------------------------
>
> Thus if you 
> unab stubs : *_x 
> local stubs : subinstr local stubs "_x" "", all 
> and do this 
> foreach s of local stubs { 
> 	local vars `vars' `s'_x `s'_y 
> } 
> you are some way closer to a solution. 
> I haven't used SAS, but I doubt that it is as inflexible as implied. 
> 	
> Nick
> n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
> [mailto:owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu] On Behalf Of Joseph Wagner
> Sent: 29 January 2008 21:12
> To: statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
> Subject: st: method needed to alternate the order of variables
>
> I have a dataset with variables that end in an 'x' and a 'y' but follow 
> a pattern such that:
>
> idcode li_x lir_x li2_x li1_x id_x ptb_x pm_x pog_x . . .
>  . . . li_y lir_y li2_y li1_y id_y ptb_y pm_y pog_y
>
> I have been asked to re-sort the variables so that they follow an "xy xy
>
> xy" pattern:
>
> idcode li_x li_y lir_x lir_y li2_x li2_y li1_x li1_y id_x id_y ptb_x 
> ptb_y pm_x pm_y pog_x pog_y
>
> -move- would be straightforward but I have 137 pairs of variables and I 
> have a feeling i will need to do this again in the future. I suggested 
> -aorder- since this would place the variables in alphabetic order like 
> "var1x var1y var2x var2y" and so forth.  Unfortunately, the person who 
> needs this dataset re-ordered claims that the data is needed by someone 
> (using SAS) who must have the data in a a particular order. 
>
> *
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>   
--
Joseph H. Wagner, M.P.H.
Lifespan Health Research Center
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
3171 Research Blvd.
Kettering, OH  45420-4014

(937) 775-1494 (LHRC office)
(937) 775-1456 (fax)

joseph.wagner@wright.edu

Visit the Lifespan Health Research Center Home Page at:
http://www.med.wright.edu/lhrc 
*
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