character to numeric

[deleted_user]

I have some data that I cannot clean appropriately. I have read in some data that contains single quotes in variables that I want as numeric. I have tried to create a new variable by multiplyingh the old variable by 1 and also using the input function of creating a new variable, but the new variable always has a missing value.

Below is the error I get.

NOTE: Invalid numeric data, '44,178.67' , at line 640 column 9

[deleted_user]

Just use this:

B=INPUT(COMPRESS(A,'0123456789.','k'),8.);

where A is your dirty data and B will be your clean numerical one.

Ike Eisenhauer Message was edited by: WDEisenhauer

[deleted_user]

This worked great. Thank you.

~ Max

[Bulgani]

This is a superb solution to a problem I have. I wanted to keep any numeric values in a field but eliminate the characters. This was perfect for that situation.