Create string variable that copies all string letters from other variable up to specific letters

[Francois Durant]

Hi

I would like to create a string variable that copies all characters from another string variable up to specific characters:

Here is a sample of the data:

MarketName
1414 Degrees Limited CONS 285@31 19M13:733751~1072
1414 Degrees Limited CONS [email protected] 19M13:733745~875
8IP Emerging Companies Limited CONS 125@71 19M13:733746~2001
8IP Emerging Companies Limited CONS 126@72 19M13:733746~1995
8common Limited CONS [email protected] 19M13:733745~532
8common Limited CONS [email protected] 19M13:733745~531
9 Spokes International Limited CONS [email protected] 19M13:774955~1983
9 Spokes International Limited CONS [email protected] Z8750-BL150442
9 Spokes International Limited Rights Issue - Taken Up CONS [email protected] Z8750-BL147287
9 Spokes International Limited Rights Issue - Taken Up CONS [email protected] Z8750-BL150434

I am trying to generate another string variables up to the characters " CONS ". For the given data sample, that would be:

MarketName
1414 Degrees Limited
1414 Degrees Limited
8IP Emerging Companies Limited
8IP Emerging Companies Limited
8common Limited
8common Limited
9 Spokes International Limited
9 Spokes International Limited
9 Spokes International Limited Rights Issue - Taken Up
9 Spokes International Limited Rights Issue - Taken Up

I have tried using a combination of the following, but I could not reach my goal:
gen newvar = substr(MarketName, strpos(MarketName, ":") + 1, .) Please help. Thanks!

[Mike Lacy]

Thanks for a clear example showing what you want.. The syntax you tried is in the right direction, but strpos() should be looking for "CONS" and not ":". Also, you indicate to substr() that you wanted *all* of the rest of the string, but you only want the first part. Try this:

gen newvar = substr(MarketName, 1, strpos(MarketName, "CONS") -1)

[Nick Cox]

Mike Lacy gave a fine answer. Here is another way to do it:

split MarketName, p(CONS) limit(1)

[Francois Durant]

Thanks a lot to both of you!