st: Tostring Question

[Erika Kociolek <ekociole@gmail.com>]

Hi there,

I am trying to convert a byte variable (byte_var) to a string so it
can be concatenated with other variables. Sometimes this variable is a
string when imported into Stata, and sometimes it is not (thus the
"capture confirm" code). When I do this using the tostring command,
for missing values of byte_var, I get "." instead of "" (missing).

Here is the code I'm using:

capture confirm numeric variable byte_var

if !_rc {
tostring byte_var, force replace
}

Any suggestions or assistance would be very helpful.

Best,
Erika
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