When dealing with string variables in Stata, blanks spaces can make it difficult to identify values. For example, if a variable contains " Arizona" , a command that contains an if command such as . if state="Arizona" won’t detect this observation.
To trim blank spaces (ASCII space character char(32) ) at the beginning or the end of the value, Stata has different built-in functions:
* Removes blanks at beginning and end replace state=trim(state) * Removes blanks at beginning only replace state=ltrim(state) * Removes blanks at end only replace state=rtrim(state) * Removes all blanks in string (irrespective of place) replace state=subinstr(state," ","",.)To also remove other blank spaces (eg horizontal tabs), please use the ustr functions which also remove ASCII codes char(9), char(10), char(11), char(12), and char(13) :
* Removes blanks at beginning and end replace state=ustrtrim(state) * Removes blanks at beginning only replace state=ustrltrim(state) * Removes blanks at end only replace state=ustrrtrim(state)
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