SPSSX Discussion

Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Classic

List

Threaded

10 messages Options

EH44

Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Help with extracting a piece of information from a variable

Hello everyone. I'm looking to extract a specific piece of one variable and create a new variable with just that piece of info. Specifically, I've got full addresses and I want just the zip code. Parsing doesn't work because the addresses are of varying lengths:

Address
1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 ------------------->95112
16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 -------------->95009
San Jose, CA 95113 --------------------------------------->95113
8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 --->95112

The zip is always five digits in a row. One challenge might be that there could be other parts of the address (for example the house number) that are also 5 digits in a row. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance,

EH

David Marso

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Administrator

Take a look at the NUMBER, CHAR.RINDEX and RTRIM functions.
--

EH44 wrote

Help with extracting a piece of information from a variable

Hello everyone. I'm looking to extract a specific piece of one variable and create a new variable with just that piece of info. Specifically, I've got full addresses and I want just the zip code. Parsing doesn't work because the addresses are of varying lengths:

Address
1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 ------------------->95112
16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 -------------->95009
San Jose, CA 95113 --------------------------------------->95113
8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 --->95112

The zip is always five digits in a row. One challenge might be that there could be other parts of the address (for example the house number) that are also 5 digits in a row. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance,

EH

Please reply to the list and not to my personal email.
Those desiring my consulting or training services please feel free to email me.
---
"Nolite dare sanctum canibus neque mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos ne forte conculcent eas pedibus suis."
Cum es damnatorum possederunt porcos iens ut salire off sanguinum cliff in abyssum?"

Martha Hewett

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

In reply to this post by EH44

It should work to compute the length of the expression in characters (CHAR.LENGTH) and then use CHAR.SUBTR to take the rightmost 5 digits.

Martha Hewett |

Director of Research | 612.335.5865

Center for Energy and Environment

212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis, MN 55401

(cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | www.mncee.org

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 12:44 PM, EH44 <[hidden email]> wrote:

Help with extracting a piece of information from a variable

Hello everyone. I'm looking to extract a specific piece of one variable and
create a new variable with just that piece of info. Specifically, I've got
full addresses and I want just the zip code. Parsing doesn't work because
the addresses are of varying lengths:

Address
1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 ------------------->95112
16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 -------------->95009
San Jose, CA 95113 --------------------------------------->95113
8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 --->95112

The zip is always five digits in a row. One challenge might be that there
could be other parts of the address (for example the house number) that are
also 5 digits in a row. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance,

EH

--
View this message in context: http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Easy-I-hope-SPSS-question-re-extracting-a-piece-of-data-from-cell-tp5718259.html
Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

This e-mail transmission and any attachments accompanying it may contain confidential and/or proprietary information and is intended only for the person or entity to whom it was originally addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of this information is strictly prohibited. Any unauthorized interception of this transmission is illegal. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail, and then destroy all copies of this transmission

Martha Hewett

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

This seems to work. It could be made more compact but this lets you see the steps.

COMPUTE len=CHAR.LENGTH(Address).

EXECUTE.

STRING Zip (A5).

COMPUTE Zip=CHAR.SUBSTR(Address,len-5).

EXECUTE.

COMPUTE ZipNum=NUMBER(Zip, F5.0).

EXECUTE.

Martha Hewett |

Director of Research | 612.335.5865

Center for Energy and Environment

212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis, MN 55401

(cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | www.mncee.org

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 1:02 PM, Martha Hewett <[hidden email]> wrote:

It should work to compute the length of the expression in characters (CHAR.LENGTH) and then use CHAR.SUBTR to take the rightmost 5 digits.

Martha Hewett |
Director of Research | 612.335.5865
Center for Energy and Environment
212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis, MN 55401
(cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | www.mncee.org

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 12:44 PM, EH44 <[hidden email]> wrote:
Help with extracting a piece of information from a variable

Hello everyone. I'm looking to extract a specific piece of one variable and
create a new variable with just that piece of info. Specifically, I've got
full addresses and I want just the zip code. Parsing doesn't work because
the addresses are of varying lengths:

Address
1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 ------------------->95112
16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 -------------->95009
San Jose, CA 95113 --------------------------------------->95113
8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 --->95112

The zip is always five digits in a row. One challenge might be that there
could be other parts of the address (for example the house number) that are
also 5 digits in a row. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance,

EH

--
View this message in context: http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Easy-I-hope-SPSS-question-re-extracting-a-piece-of-data-from-cell-tp5718259.html
Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

Bruce Weaver

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Administrator

Martha, I think that needs to be LEN-4. When I tried it with LEN-5, I lost the last digit.

Also, if you don't need the string version of ZIP for anything, you can do directly to ZipNum by including the NUMBER function on the COMPUTE line that pulls out the desired substring. Here's a modification of your version (ZIP1) and the one David hinted at (ZIP2).

data list list / address (A55).
begin data
"1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112"
"16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009"
"San Jose, CA 95113"
"8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112"
end data.

* Martha's method.
COMPUTE #len = CHAR.LENGTH(RTRIM(Address)).
COMPUTE ZIP1 = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(Address,#len-4),F5.0).
* David's method.
COMPUTE #blank = CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ").
COMPUTE ZIP2 = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,#blank+1),F5.0).
FORMATS ZIP1 ZIP2 (F5.0).
LIST.

David probably would not have computed #blank, but I find that easier to follow than this one-liner:

COMPUTE ZIP = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ")+1),F5.0).

;-)

OUTPUT:

address ZIP1 ZIP2

1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 95112 95112
16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 95009 95009
San Jose, CA 95113 95113 95113
8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 95112 95112

Number of cases read: 4 Number of cases listed: 4

Martha Hewett wrote

This seems to work. It could be made more compact but this lets you see
the steps.

COMPUTE len=CHAR.LENGTH(Address).
EXECUTE.
STRING Zip (A5).
COMPUTE Zip=CHAR.SUBSTR(Address,len-5).
EXECUTE.
COMPUTE ZipNum=NUMBER(Zip, F5.0).
EXECUTE.
*Martha Hewett* | *Director of Research* | *612.335.5865* Center for
Energy and Environment 212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis, MN
55401 (cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | *www.mncee.org

*

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 1:02 PM, Martha Hewett <[hidden email]> wrote:

> It should work to compute the length of the expression in characters
> (CHAR.LENGTH) and then use CHAR.SUBTR to take the rightmost 5 digits.
> *Martha Hewett* | *Director of Research* | *612.335.5865* Center for
> Energy and Environment 212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis,
> MN 55401 (cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | *www.mncee.org
>
> *
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 12:44 PM, EH44 <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> Help with extracting a piece of information from a variable
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello everyone. I'm looking to extract a specific piece of one variable
>> and
>> create a new variable with just that piece of info. Specifically, I've got
>> full addresses and I want just the zip code. Parsing doesn't work because
>> the addresses are of varying lengths:
>>
>> Address
>> 1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 ------------------->95112
>> 16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 -------------->95009
>> San Jose, CA 95113 --------------------------------------->95113
>> 8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 --->95112
>>
>> The zip is always five digits in a row. One challenge might be that there
>> could be other parts of the address (for example the house number) that
>> are
>> also 5 digits in a row. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in
>> advance,
>>
>> EH
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> View this message in context:
>> http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Easy-I-hope-SPSS-question-re-extracting-a-piece-of-data-from-cell-tp5718259.html
>> Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>
>> =====================
>> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
>> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
>> command. To leave the list, send the command
>> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
>> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
>> INFO REFCARD
>>
>
>

--

------------------------------
This e-mail transmission and any attachments accompanying it may contain
confidential and/or proprietary information and is intended only for the
person or entity to whom it was originally addressed. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying,
distribution or other use of this information is strictly prohibited. Any
unauthorized interception of this transmission is illegal. If you have
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply
e-mail, and then destroy all copies of this transmission

--
Bruce Weaver
bweaver@lakeheadu.ca
http://sites.google.com/a/lakeheadu.ca/bweaver/

"When all else fails, RTFM."

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
1. My Hotmail account is not monitored regularly. To send me an e-mail, please use the address shown above.
2. The SPSSX Discussion forum on Nabble is no longer linked to the SPSSX-L listserv administered by UGA (https://listserv.uga.edu/).

David Marso

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Administrator

"David probably would not have computed #blank, but I find that easier to follow than this one-liner:

COMPUTE ZIP = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ")+1),F5.0).

;-)"

Indeed! However use N5 rather than F5 ;-)))
--

Bruce Weaver wrote

Martha, I think that needs to be LEN-4. When I tried it with LEN-5, I lost the last digit.

Also, if you don't need the string version of ZIP for anything, you can do directly to ZipNum by including the NUMBER function on the COMPUTE line that pulls out the desired substring. Here's a modification of your version (ZIP1) and the one David hinted at (ZIP2).

data list list / address (A55).
begin data
"1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112"
"16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009"
"San Jose, CA 95113"
"8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112"
end data.

* Martha's method.
COMPUTE #len = CHAR.LENGTH(RTRIM(Address)).
COMPUTE ZIP1 = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(Address,#len-4),F5.0).
* David's method.
COMPUTE #blank = CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ").
COMPUTE ZIP2 = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,#blank+1),F5.0).
FORMATS ZIP1 ZIP2 (F5.0).
LIST.

David probably would not have computed #blank, but I find that easier to follow than this one-liner:

COMPUTE ZIP = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ")+1),F5.0).

;-)

OUTPUT:

address ZIP1 ZIP2

1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 95112 95112
16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 95009 95009
San Jose, CA 95113 95113 95113
8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 95112 95112

Number of cases read: 4 Number of cases listed: 4

Martha Hewett wrote

This seems to work. It could be made more compact but this lets you see
the steps.

COMPUTE len=CHAR.LENGTH(Address).
EXECUTE.
STRING Zip (A5).
COMPUTE Zip=CHAR.SUBSTR(Address,len-5).
EXECUTE.
COMPUTE ZipNum=NUMBER(Zip, F5.0).
EXECUTE.
*Martha Hewett* | *Director of Research* | *612.335.5865* Center for
Energy and Environment 212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis, MN
55401 (cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | *www.mncee.org

*

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 1:02 PM, Martha Hewett <[hidden email]> wrote:

> It should work to compute the length of the expression in characters
> (CHAR.LENGTH) and then use CHAR.SUBTR to take the rightmost 5 digits.
> *Martha Hewett* | *Director of Research* | *612.335.5865* Center for
> Energy and Environment 212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis,
> MN 55401 (cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | *www.mncee.org
>
> *
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 12:44 PM, EH44 <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> Help with extracting a piece of information from a variable
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello everyone. I'm looking to extract a specific piece of one variable
>> and
>> create a new variable with just that piece of info. Specifically, I've got
>> full addresses and I want just the zip code. Parsing doesn't work because
>> the addresses are of varying lengths:
>>
>> Address
>> 1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 ------------------->95112
>> 16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 -------------->95009
>> San Jose, CA 95113 --------------------------------------->95113
>> 8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 --->95112
>>
>> The zip is always five digits in a row. One challenge might be that there
>> could be other parts of the address (for example the house number) that
>> are
>> also 5 digits in a row. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in
>> advance,
>>
>> EH
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> View this message in context:
>> http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Easy-I-hope-SPSS-question-re-extracting-a-piece-of-data-from-cell-tp5718259.html
>> Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>
>> =====================
>> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
>> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
>> command. To leave the list, send the command
>> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
>> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
>> INFO REFCARD
>>
>
>

--

------------------------------
This e-mail transmission and any attachments accompanying it may contain
confidential and/or proprietary information and is intended only for the
person or entity to whom it was originally addressed. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying,
distribution or other use of this information is strictly prohibited. Any
unauthorized interception of this transmission is illegal. If you have
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply
e-mail, and then destroy all copies of this transmission

Bruce Weaver

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Administrator

N5...good point! (Would you believe I was just checking that you're still awake? No? Didn't think so.)

David Marso wrote

"David probably would not have computed #blank, but I find that easier to follow than this one-liner:

COMPUTE ZIP = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ")+1),F5.0).

;-)"

Indeed! However use N5 rather than F5 ;-)))
--

Bruce Weaver wrote

Martha, I think that needs to be LEN-4. When I tried it with LEN-5, I lost the last digit.

Also, if you don't need the string version of ZIP for anything, you can do directly to ZipNum by including the NUMBER function on the COMPUTE line that pulls out the desired substring. Here's a modification of your version (ZIP1) and the one David hinted at (ZIP2).

data list list / address (A55).
begin data
"1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112"
"16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009"
"San Jose, CA 95113"
"8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112"
end data.

* Martha's method.
COMPUTE #len = CHAR.LENGTH(RTRIM(Address)).
COMPUTE ZIP1 = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(Address,#len-4),F5.0).
* David's method.
COMPUTE #blank = CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ").
COMPUTE ZIP2 = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,#blank+1),F5.0).
FORMATS ZIP1 ZIP2 (F5.0).
LIST.

David probably would not have computed #blank, but I find that easier to follow than this one-liner:

COMPUTE ZIP = NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(address,CHAR.RINDEX(RTRIM(address)," ")+1),F5.0).

;-)

OUTPUT:

address ZIP1 ZIP2

1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 95112 95112
16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 95009 95009
San Jose, CA 95113 95113 95113
8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 95112 95112

Number of cases read: 4 Number of cases listed: 4

Martha Hewett wrote

This seems to work. It could be made more compact but this lets you see
the steps.

COMPUTE len=CHAR.LENGTH(Address).
EXECUTE.
STRING Zip (A5).
COMPUTE Zip=CHAR.SUBSTR(Address,len-5).
EXECUTE.
COMPUTE ZipNum=NUMBER(Zip, F5.0).
EXECUTE.
*Martha Hewett* | *Director of Research* | *612.335.5865* Center for
Energy and Environment 212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis, MN
55401 (cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | *www.mncee.org

*

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 1:02 PM, Martha Hewett <[hidden email]> wrote:

> It should work to compute the length of the expression in characters
> (CHAR.LENGTH) and then use CHAR.SUBTR to take the rightmost 5 digits.
> *Martha Hewett* | *Director of Research* | *612.335.5865* Center for
> Energy and Environment 212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis,
> MN 55401 (cell) 612.839.2358 | (fax) 612.335.5888 | *www.mncee.org
>
> *
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 12:44 PM, EH44 <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> Help with extracting a piece of information from a variable
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello everyone. I'm looking to extract a specific piece of one variable
>> and
>> create a new variable with just that piece of info. Specifically, I've got
>> full addresses and I want just the zip code. Parsing doesn't work because
>> the addresses are of varying lengths:
>>
>> Address
>> 1244 Aronda St., San Jose CA 95112 ------------------->95112
>> 16 W. St. Unit 12 Rear, San Jose CA 95009 -------------->95009
>> San Jose, CA 95113 --------------------------------------->95113
>> 8332 B Martin Luther King Avenue, San Jose CA 95112 --->95112
>>
>> The zip is always five digits in a row. One challenge might be that there
>> could be other parts of the address (for example the house number) that
>> are
>> also 5 digits in a row. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in
>> advance,
>>
>> EH
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> View this message in context:
>> http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Easy-I-hope-SPSS-question-re-extracting-a-piece-of-data-from-cell-tp5718259.html
>> Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>
>> =====================
>> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
>> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
>> command. To leave the list, send the command
>> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
>> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
>> INFO REFCARD
>>
>
>

--

------------------------------
This e-mail transmission and any attachments accompanying it may contain
confidential and/or proprietary information and is intended only for the
person or entity to whom it was originally addressed. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying,
distribution or other use of this information is strictly prohibited. Any
unauthorized interception of this transmission is illegal. If you have
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply
e-mail, and then destroy all copies of this transmission

EH44

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Thanks much to you all. When I test each of these solutions I realize that a part of the original address variable (which is actually named "current_location") is throwing a wrench in this somewhere.

The full content of the current_location field looks like the below examples. Every address has this ": OOD" string which seems to be mucking things up. I guess these is something about this string that SPSS doesn't like?

104 Biscane Road, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD
10448 Surprise Ave Unit 8, San Jose, CA 95148, CD: OOD
124 Plaza Dr., San Jose, CA 95127, CD: OOD
11228 Treeline Dr #1, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD
San Jose, CA 95116, CD: OOD

Thoughts? Thanks again, this is incredibly helpful!

EH

David Marso

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Administrator

I shall refer you to the REPLACE function .
I guess it helps to provide the actual contents of what you are attempting to parse!
--
DATA LIST / current_location (A100).
BEGIN DATA
104 Biscane Road, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD
10448 Surprise Ave Unit 8, San Jose, CA 95148, CD: OOD
124 Plaza Dr., San Jose, CA 95127, CD: OOD
11228 Treeline Dr #1, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD
San Jose, CA 95116, CD: OOD
END DATA.
STRING #strcopy (A100).
COMPUTE #strcopy=REPLACE(current_location,", CD: OOD","").
COMPUTE ZIP=NUMBER(CHAR.SUBSTR(#strcopy,CHAR.RINDEX(#strcopy," ")+1),N5).
FORMATS ZIP (N5).
LIST.
--
current_location ZIP

104 Biscane Road, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD 95122
10448 Surprise Ave Unit 8, San Jose, CA 95148, CD: OOD 95148
124 Plaza Dr., San Jose, CA 95127, CD: OOD 95127
11228 Treeline Dr #1, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD 95122
San Jose, CA 95116, CD: OOD 95116

Number of cases read: 5 Number of cases listed: 5

EH44 wrote

Thanks much to you all. When I test each of these solutions I realize that a part of the original address variable (which is actually named "current_location") is throwing a wrench in this somewhere.

The full content of the current_location field looks like the below examples. Every address has this ": OOD" string which seems to be mucking things up. I guess these is something about this string that SPSS doesn't like?

104 Biscane Road, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD
10448 Surprise Ave Unit 8, San Jose, CA 95148, CD: OOD
124 Plaza Dr., San Jose, CA 95127, CD: OOD
11228 Treeline Dr #1, San Jose, CA 95122, CD: OOD
San Jose, CA 95116, CD: OOD

Thoughts? Thanks again, this is incredibly helpful!

EH

EH44

Re: Easy (I hope) SPSS question re: extracting a piece of data from cell

Indeed it does David.

This works perfectly...many thanks.

EH