CODEWITHSUNDEEP
stringstatanumericpanel-data
Vicky donna
Vicky donna

Reputation: 41

converting very long string into numeric

I have a person identification number variable in a panel dataset that is of string type with 19 characters (str19). Whenever I convert it into numeric using the destring command I lose precision because it is converted into either double (max 16 characters) or float, meaning that the ID numbers no longer identify respondents uniquely. I need it to be numeric in order to treat the data as panel (xt commands). What can I do?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 455

Answers (1)

Nick Cox
Nick Cox

Reputation: 37208

The best way forward I can think of is to use egen's group() function to create identifiers. You don't provide a data or code example, but this illustrates the point. 

. clear 

. set obs 1 
number of observations (_N) was 0, now 1

. gen strid = "1234567890123456789"

. egen numid = group(strid), label 

. list 

     +-------------------------------------------+
     |               strid                 numid |
     |-------------------------------------------|
  1. | 1234567890123456789   1234567890123456789 |
     +-------------------------------------------+

. list, nolabel 

     +-----------------------------+
     |               strid   numid |
     |-----------------------------|
  1. | 1234567890123456789       1 |
     +-----------------------------+

Note that this is documented: see this FAQ.

Upvotes: 1

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