Formatting datetime from one format to another in same variable

[Anjaney Singh]

Hello everyone!

I am facing some issues with my timestamp variable. The data that I have received from the field are in 2 formats:

1) 17-04-2022 21:15
2) 2022-04-04:09:00:00.PM

I want to bring all the observations in the variable into a standard format.

Could someone please suggest some ways to go about the same? Thanks for your help!

[Nick Cox]

clear 
input str42 problem 
"17-04-2022 21:15"
"2022-04-04:09:00:00.PM"
end 

gen double solution = clock(problem, "DMY hm")
replace solution = clock(problem, "YMD hms") if missing(solution)

format solution %tc 

list 

     +---------------------------------------------+
     |                problem             solution |
     |---------------------------------------------|
  1. |       17-04-2022 21:15   17apr2022 21:15:00 |
  2. | 2022-04-04:09:00:00.PM   04apr2022 21:00:00 |
     +---------------------------------------------+

.