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help for floattolong
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Change float-type variables to long where possible.

        floattolong [varlist]

Description

    This is simply a convenience, issuing recast long varlist2, where
    varlist2 is the set of variables in varlist that are of type float.  This
    has some resemblance to, and is intended to complement compress, but the
    emphasis is on the appropriateness of the type rather than the reduction
    of storage space.  (While compress does potentially change floats and
    doubles to integer types, it omits the possibility of changing a float to
    a long, as that does not reduce the storage space.)

    floattolong would be typically used immediately following (or preceding)
    compress, and saves you the trouble of seeking out all the remaining
    float variables.

    If no varlist is specified, _all is assumed.

    floattolong ignores variables that are not float.


Examples

    . floattolong

    . floattolong wage income


Remarks

    floattolong can be used at any point, but is best used in conjunction
    with (immediately after or before) compress; without compress, it may
    recast some variables to long that might otherwise become int or byte.

    In general data preparation, floattolong would usually be called without
    a varlist; there is little point in calling it with a specific set of
    variables, since you could just as well type recast long with the same
    varlist.  The exception is where you use it within a program that
    generates a variable that is initially float, and you want to clean up
    that one variable without affecting others.

    For a similar related program, see doubletofloat by the same author.


Author

    David Kantor, Institute for Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
    Email dkantor@jhu.edu if you observe any problems.

Also see
compress, recast, doubletofloat, datatypes