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help for ^cvar^                                         Version 5/5/97
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Programming utility.

Puts ^C^haracteristics of a ^VAR^iable in a new variable and macro's.

^cvar^ var [ ^,^ no^m^is ^n^am^(^string^) sel^ect^(^string^)^

Generates

- an integer variable (if specified by ^select()^) ^`nam'^ with values 1,2,3,.., corresponding to the ordered values of var, am.

and

- several global macro's

^$`nam'`i'^ containing the value label of the i-th value of ^var^ (if existing) > . If no value label is associated with (the i-th value of) ^var^ it will contain the value itself. The label is embedded in double quotes " ", unless there is no value label associated with the variable ^var^.

^$v`nam'`i'^ containing the i-th value of ^var^.

^$n`nam'^ the number of different values of ^var^.

^$l`nam'^ the variable label of ^var^ if it exists, otherwise the name of ^var^ > .

^$f`nam'^ the display format in case ^var^ is not string or has no value label. >

^$w`nam'^ width required to display the $`nam'`i', i.e. max(length("$nam`i'")).

^var^ may be any type of variable.

^Options^ ^-------^

[^no^]^mis^ If ^mis^ specified (default) the missing value of ^var^ (or empty string) will be considered a separate class. If ^nomis^ is specified, records with ^var^ missing will be ^deleted^!

^nam()^ specifies the pre- or suffix `nam' for the macro's and the name of the variable that will be generated. ^`nam'^ should not start with an underscore _, and may be maximum 5 characters long. If not, `nam' will be shortened and/or the underscore removed. If ^nam()^ is not specified it will be the first 4 characters of the name of ^var^, followed by an underscore _.

^select()^ offers the possibility to make a selection. If not specified: all macro's and the new variable will be created. If specified macro's and variable will be created dependent on the characters present in the string in ^select()^: v|V the variable `nam'. ^`nam'^ must be a new varname. n|N|w|W|f|F all the macro's l|L the l`nam' macro

^Author:^ ^-------^ Wim van Putten Erasmus MC - Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center Rotterdam The Netherlands FAX: +31.10.4391028 e-mail: w.vanputten@@erasmusmc.nl