Date:         Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:37:33 -0000
Reply-To:     Muir Houston <muir.houston@stir.ac.uk>
Sender:       "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Muir Houston <muir.houston@stir.ac.uk>
Subject:      RTRIM mistake
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi all,
I have a simple problem but have done something wrong
 
I have a variable 'Postcode' which contains area information similar to a Zip code I think - I want to match cases to a data file which assigns postcodes to a deprivation index
 
the variable 'Postcode' is a string and is in the form 'AB12 38G' - although it can also have a single digit before the space - 'DD4 8JH'
 
what I am trying to do - is to trim the variable so that I have a new variable 'P_code' which in the case of the two examples provided would result in: 'AB12 3' and 'DD4 8' 
 
I tried this based on something on Raynald's site:
 
*****************************************
STRING P_code (A6).

COMPUTE P_code=RTRIM(SUBSTR(Postcode,INDEX(Postcode,' ')+1)).

EXECUTE.

which I thought would result in what I desired - however, what it actually delivered for the value 'AB12 38G' was '38G'

what bit of syntax is wrong?

I did search the archives and found some code by Jon Peck from July 2007 but it involved Python and I have no knowledge and am a bit of a syntax newbie

 
Muir Houston
Research Fellow
CRLL
Institute of Education
University of Stirling
FK9 4LA
01786-46-7615

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