How to generate a string variable out of a labeled numeric variable (Stata)?

string label stata
Buras picture Buras · Jun 23, 2013 · Viewed 40.2k times · Source

I have a variable state that takes integer values from 11 to 99. It is labeled.

How can I create a string variable stateString that would have string values without all those numeric values?

gen stateString = tostring(state)

doesn't do the trick.

Answer

Nick Cox picture Nick Cox · Jun 23, 2013

tostring isn't a function; it's a command, and in Stata the two are quite distinct. Nothing but guesswork leads to the syntax you tried. 

tostring stateString, gen(state)

should work. But tostring is just a wrapper for the function string() and 

gen state = string(stateString)

should also work to get string variables.

But the string values would be "11", ... "99" and that's the wrong approach. Given the value labels, you are fine with having this variable as numeric.

If you really want a string variable, you need decode, not tostring. 

decode stateString, gen(state)

EDIT: The syntax tostring() would only work if tostring() were a function, which is not. The original answer thus explained why the OP's code was wrong, as well as explaining how to do it correctly. I spelled out in this edit how to use decode.

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