Re: st: finding non-numeric characters before I can destring

[Michael McCulloch <mm@pinest.org>]

Thanks Ben, this worked well to identify records containing 
nonnumeric characters.
I implemented your suggestion using:
gen byte notnumeric = real(number)==.	/*makes indicator for obs w/o 
numeric values*/
tab notnumeric				/*==1 where nonnumeric characters*/
list number if notnumeric==1		/*will show which have nonnumeric*/





> Type
>
> gen byte notnumeric = real(number)==.
>
> to compute an indicator for the obs without numeric values.
>
> Alternatively, if you want to define flexible rules for valid imputs,
> you can use regular expressions, e.g.
>
> gen byte notnumeric = regexm(number, "^[-+]?[0-9]*\.?[0-9]+$")==0
>
> See, e.g., http://www.regular-expressions.info/ on regular expressions.
>
> ben
>
> On 10/18/07, Michael McCulloch <mm@pinest.org> wrote:
> >  Hello,
> >  I've got a field that's supposed to be all numbers but due to keying
> >  errors may contain letters. How can I find those records?
> >
> >  What I've done:
> >          . destring number, replace
> >
> >  Error message:
> >          number contains non-numeric characters; no replace
> >
> >  Thank you,
> >  Michael
> >
> >  --
> >
> >  Michael McCulloch
> >  Pine Street Foundation
> >  124 Pine St., San Anselmo, CA 94960-2674
> >  Tel:    (415) 407-1357
> >  Fax:    (415) 485-1065
> >  mcculloch@pinestreetfoundation.org
> >  *
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