Convert input word into vector matrix

Question

I wold like some help of converting an input (word or number or mix) into a single row vector, such as the following:

If input is ">DAVID123<" I want it to be as {>,D,A,V,I,D,1,2,3,<}

where all letters considered as unknown variables.

Answer 1

Try

ToExpression[Select[Characters[">DAVID123<" ],StringMatchQ[#,LetterCharacter]&]]

which will give you a vector of

{D,A,V,I,D}

as symbols or variables, but C and D and E and I and K have predefined meaning inside of Mathematica and may cause you grief.