Tabs and spaces

[Deb Ploskonka]

Hello,

 

I am matching two files on a string variable.  The strings are quite long (over 200 characters).  I’m having trouble matching as in one file, in the middle of a few of the strings there is a tab and a space, and in the corresponding string in the other file it’s two spaces.  I’ve been searching this list to see if there’s a simple way to replace it or even compress all the spaces of any kind out in order to match.  Suggestions are most welcome!

 

Thank you.

Deb

[Mario Giesel]

I think the command goes like 

COMPUTE new = REPLACE(old," ","").

You can try with the tab character as well.

Good luck,

 Mario

=========

Am 30.04.2012 um 02:42 schrieb Deb Ploskonka <[hidden email]>:

Hello,

 

I am matching two files on a string variable.  The strings are quite long (over 200 characters).  I’m having trouble matching as in one file, in the middle of a few of the strings there is a tab and a space, and in the corresponding string in the other file it’s two spaces.  I’ve been searching this list to see if there’s a simple way to replace it or even compress all the spaces of any kind out in order to match.  Suggestions are most welcome!

 

Thank you.

Deb

[David Marso]

This should be helpful ;-)
--
data list free / x .
begin data
1
end data.

numeric tb (PIB1).
COMPUTE tb=9.

STRING stb (A1).
COMPUTE stb=STRING(tb,PIB1).

string junk (A10).
LOOP #=1 TO 10.
COMPUTE SUBSTR(junk,#,1)=stb.
END LOOP.

STRING CPy (A10).
COMPUTE Cpy=JUNK.
LOOP #=1 TO 10.
IF SUBSTR(Cpy,#,1)=stb SUBSTR(Cpy,#,1)="@".
END LOOP.
LIST.

Deb Ploskonka wrote

Hello,

I am matching two files on a string variable.  The strings are quite long (over 200 characters).  I'm having trouble matching as in one file, in the middle of a few of the strings there is a tab and a space, and in the corresponding string in the other file it's two spaces.  I've been searching this list to see if there's a simple way to replace it or even compress all the spaces of any kind out in order to match.  Suggestions are most welcome!

Thank you.
Deb

[David Marso]

Drum roll....(using previous post for context)
IF ANY(SUBSTR(Cpy,#,1),stb," ") SUBSTR(Cpy,#,1)="".
-----

David Marso wrote

This should be helpful ;-)
--
data list free / x .
begin data
1
end data.

numeric tb (PIB1).
COMPUTE tb=9.

STRING stb (A1).
COMPUTE stb=STRING(tb,PIB1).

string junk (A10).
LOOP #=1 TO 10.
COMPUTE SUBSTR(junk,#,1)=stb.
END LOOP.

STRING CPy (A10).
COMPUTE Cpy=JUNK.
LOOP #=1 TO 10.
IF SUBSTR(Cpy,#,1)=stb SUBSTR(Cpy,#,1)="@".
END LOOP.
LIST.

Deb Ploskonka wrote

Hello,

I am matching two files on a string variable.  The strings are quite long (over 200 characters).  I'm having trouble matching as in one file, in the middle of a few of the strings there is a tab and a space, and in the corresponding string in the other file it's two spaces.  I've been searching this list to see if there's a simple way to replace it or even compress all the spaces of any kind out in order to match.  Suggestions are most welcome!

Thank you.
Deb

[Jon K Peck]

Specifying a tab character is a little tricky.  Try this code to turn all tabs into blanks.
compute strvar = replace(strvar, string(09, pib1),' ').

Jon Peck (no "h") aka Kim
Senior Software Engineer, IBM
[hidden email]
new phone: [phone]




From:        Deb Ploskonka <[hidden email]>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        04/29/2012 06:46 PM
Subject:        [SPSSX-L] Tabs and spaces
Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

Hello,
 
I am matching two files on a string variable.  The strings are quite long (over 200 characters).  I’m having trouble matching as in one file, in the middle of a few of the strings there is a tab and a space, and in the corresponding string in the other file it’s two spaces.  I’ve been searching this list to see if there’s a simple way to replace it or even compress all the spaces of any kind out in order to match.  Suggestions are most welcome!
 
Thank you.
Deb

[Deb Ploskonka]

Hi,

 

Just to follow up with the solution … I finally identified the reason none of my attempts nor the kind offers to help with the tabs were working was it was not a tab, it was Hex A0 (a non-breaking space), which I was also kindly informed was decimal 160.  This worked:

 

compute strvar = replace(strvar, string(160, pib1),' ').

 

Thank you!

Deb

 

From: Deb Ploskonka
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2012 7:43 PM
To: '[hidden email]'
Subject: Tabs and spaces

 

Hello,

 

I am matching two files on a string variable.  The strings are quite long (over 200 characters).  I’m having trouble matching as in one file, in the middle of a few of the strings there is a tab and a space, and in the corresponding string in the other file it’s two spaces.  I’ve been searching this list to see if there’s a simple way to replace it or even compress all the spaces of any kind out in order to match.  Suggestions are most welcome!

 

Thank you.

Deb