I found using the following compress statement gets rid of the hidden characters in a way that allows me to convert my data into a numeric field. CharVar2 = compress(CharVar1,,’kw’); NumVar = input(CharVar2,best.); I know ‘kw’ stands for k=keep, w=writable and it results in a new variable where all the writable characters are kept and all the non writable characters are deleted, so the hidden characters are eliminated and my conversion problem is solved. But I would like to better understand this compress statement so that I am in full command of its use. Syntax is: Compress(source,characters,modifiers); For source I am using my original character variable. For modifier, I am using ‘kw’ which means keep only printable characters. How does the fact that I am not explicitly stating the second parameter (characters) fit with the results? Am I saying for my chosen character var (source = CharVar1) replace all blanks (characters = blank) with writable characters (modifiers = ‘kw’)? What about all the non-blanks that have unprintable characters, how are they being replaced if the second parameter says only replace blanks? Also, using compress without characters or modifiers results in the elimination of all blanks (leading, trailing and any in the middle of the text string). Is that because the default for the third argument (modifiers) is to remove and the default for the second argument (characters) is blanks? MOST IMPORTANTLY: For values of CharVar1 that have blanks but no hidden characters, does CharVar2 = CharVar1 or does CharVar2 = Compress(CharVar1)?
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