Dropping string observations starting with a number

[Scott Rick]

Hi. I have the following data and want to delete all observations where the Product starts with a number. The Product variable is a string variable. I’d appreciate any help. Thanks.

"1 ANTI-INFECTIVES"       
"1 ANTI-INFECTIVES"       
"1 ANTI-INFECTIVES"       
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"105 MISCELLANEOUS AGENTS"
"115 NUTRITIONAL PRODUCTS"
"115 NUTRITIONAL PRODUCTS"
"122 RESPIRATORY AGENTS"  
"122 RESPIRATORY AGENTS"  
"122 RESPIRATORY AGENTS"  
"122 RESPIRATORY AGENTS"  
"20 ANTINEOPLASTICS"      
"20 ANTINEOPLASTICS" 
"ACCOLATE"
"ABILITY"
"ACCU-CHECK"

[Rich Goldstein]

try the following:

drop if real(substr(product,1,1))<.

next time please use -dataex- for your data example (see the FAQ)

[Dirk Enzmann]

Example:

sysuse auto

replace make = "1 AMC Spirit" in 3
replace make = "5 Chev. Impala" in 15
replace make = "0 Merc. Bobcat" in 29
replace make = "9 Dodge Diplomat" in 21

list make if ustrregexm(make, "(^[0-9])")
drop if ustrregexm(make, "(^[0-9])")

Result:

. list make if ustrregexm(make, "(^[0-9])")

     +------------------+
     | make             |
     |------------------|
  3. | 1 AMC Spirit     |
 15. | 5 Chev. Impala   |
 21. | 9 Dodge Diplomat |
 29. | 0 Merc. Bobcat   |
     +------------------+

. drop if ustrregexm(make, "(^[0-9])")
(4 observations deleted)

[Scott Rick]

Thank you. Both of those worked perfectly!