st: substringing long, varying length text variables into individual variables

[Todd Wagner <twagner@stanford.edu>]

Hi,

I have data from a publicly available database 
(clinicaltrials.gov).  This database has a number of text variables 
that I want to break into individual variables and I could use some help.

For example, one of the variables is called study designs.  Here are 
some data from the study designs variable

Treatment|Randomized|Double-Blind|Placebo Control|Parallel 
Assignment|Safety/Efficacy Study
Prevention|Randomized|Open Label|Active Control|Parallel 
Assignment|Bio-equivalence Study
Prevention|Randomized|Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, 
Outcomes Assessor)|Crossover Assignment
Randomized|Single Blind|Active Control|Parallel Assignment
Natural History|Cross-Sectional|Case Control|Prospective Study
Treatment|Randomized|Open Label|Active Control|Parallel 
Assignment|Efficacy Study
Treatment|Randomized|Double-Blind|Placebo Control|Single Group 
Assignment|Safety/Efficacy Study
Treatment|Randomized|Open Label|Placebo Control|Parallel 
Assignment|Safety/Efficacy Study
Treatment|Randomized|Double-Blind|Active Control|Parallel 
Assignment|Safety/Efficacy Study
Prevention|Randomized|Double-Blind|Placebo Control|Parallel 
Assignment|Safety/Efficacy Study
Treatment|Randomized|Single Blind (Investigator)|Placebo 
Control|Parallel Assignment
Treatment|Randomized|Open Label|Active Control|Parallel 
Assignment|Efficacy Study

What I want to do is parse this text using the "|" into individual variables

So the first case would be
des1		des2		des3		des4			des5			des6
Treatment	Randomized	Double-Blind	Placebo Control		Parallel 
Assignment	Safety/Efficacy Study

I can think of a brute force way where I save this variable and my id 
variable, change | to a comma, output as text, read the text into 
stata as a comma separated file, and then merge it back into my 
data.  Sounds silly, but perhaps it is the easiest.  Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Todd

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