st: Converting strings to Numerics

["Fultz, Shawn" <Shawn.Fultz@med.va.gov>]

I am trying to convert a series of string variables to numeric variables.
Because some of the numbers contain commas, the real() function does not
work, instead returning a missing value.

What I get
String    Number
5.3        5.3
hello    	 .
>2       	 .
2,500,000    .

What I want to get
String	Number
5.3		5.3
hello		.
>2		2
2,500,000	2500000

Is there any way to extract a numeric value from the string variable?

Thanks,
Shawn
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