Substring

[Kim Vaarts]

I have 8 string variables. How do I go from:
Frank-Jim - "" - Tom-Tom- Anna-Jake-Jake

To:
Frank-Jim-Tom-Anna-Jake

I want to remove the same names which are just beside each other (Tom and Jake in this case) and also the empty cells (""). Which code can I use?

I have no dataset. Thanks in advance.

[Nick Cox]

Here are some ideas for the dataset you don't have (???).

clear
input str80 problem
`"Frank-Jim - "" - Tom-Tom- Anna-Jake-Jake"'
end

split problem, parse("-")

gen solution = problem1 if problem1 != `""""'
forval j = 2/`r(k_new)' {
replace solution = solution + "-" + trim(problem`j') if trim(problem`j') != `""""' & strpos(solution, trim(problem`j')) == 0
}

list problem solution

     +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
     |                                  problem                  solution |
     |--------------------------------------------------------------------|
  1. | Frank-Jim - "" - Tom-Tom- Anna-Jake-Jake   Frank-Jim-Tom-Anna-Jake |
     +--------------------------------------------------------------------+