converting string datetime to numeric

[Madu Abuchi]

Can anyone help with code on converting this string datetime to numeric?

* Example generated by -dataex-. For more info, type help dataex
clear
input str16 date
"1/02/2017 8:38"  
"1/03/2021 6:50"  
"12/03/2018 8:20" 
"12/10/2020 10:00"
"13/06/2018 9:20" 
end

Thanks

[Andrew Musau]

Your format is standard for datetime strings. Therefore, browsing through the datetime functions would easily lead you to the solution.

help datetime

* Example generated by -dataex-. For more info, type help dataex
clear
input str16 date
"1/02/2017 8:38"  
"1/03/2021 6:50"  
"12/03/2018 8:20"
"12/10/2020 10:00"
"13/06/2018 9:20"
end

gen double wanted= clock(date, "DMYhm")
format wanted %tc

Res.:

. l

     +---------------------------------------+
     |             date               wanted |
     |---------------------------------------|
  1. |   1/02/2017 8:38   01feb2017 08:38:00 |
  2. |   1/03/2021 6:50   01mar2021 06:50:00 |
  3. |  12/03/2018 8:20   12mar2018 08:20:00 |
  4. | 12/10/2020 10:00   12oct2020 10:00:00 |
  5. |  13/06/2018 9:20   13jun2018 09:20:00 |
     +---------------------------------------+