topic Re: Create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the values of an existing var in New SAS User

Create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the values of an existing variable

Thomas_mp — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 11:38:55 GMT

Hello,

I need to create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the value of an existing variable. I find this easy to do in Excel, but I cannot do it in SAS.

An example:

This is what I have

data have ; input date va vb $;

cards ;

20000630 6.1207 to

20000929 6.1158 ri

20001229 5.7898 to

20010330 4.9815 co

;

run;

I need to generate new variable _va that adds _ to the values of the existing variable va.

So, I would like to have this:

data want

Date va _va vb

20000630 6.1207 _6.1207 to

20000929 6.1158 _3.1158 ri

20001229 5.7898 _5.7898 to

20010330 4.9815 _4.9815 co

Thank you for your help

Re: Create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the values of an existing var

WarrenKuhfeld — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 12:57:44 GMT

https://documentation.sas.com/doc/da/vdmmlcdc/8.1/lefunctionsref/n1e21rr6al5m2nn19r1fat5qxwrt.htm#:~:text=Removes%20leading%20and%20trailing%20blanks%2C%20and%20returns%20a%20concatenated%20character%20string.&text=Restriction%3A,%2C%20and%20MBCS%20(UTF8).

Re: Create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the values of an existing var

Astounding — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 13:19:26 GMT

Doing what you ask should be as simple as:
_va = catt("_", va);
However, you have to realize that your new variable must be a character variable. Numeric variables cannot contain an underscore. Other approaches are worth considering, such as a picture format that contains a prefix of an underscore, but leaves the actual value as numeric. You would have to describe what happens next, to get a more insightful answer. What are your plans for using _va?.

Also note, it would be worth learning how SAS handles dates. Instead of an 8 digit number, there is a better way to go.

Re: Create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the values of an existing var

Tom — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 18:10:28 GMT

Certainly much easier to do in SAS than in Excel. No pointing or clicking required.

data want;
   set have;
   length _va $15 ;
   _va=cats('_',va);
run;

You can also use the PUT() function to control how the number is converted to a string.

If you know VA should have positive values values less than 10 then you probably want to use the 6.4 format.

data want;
   set have;
   length _va $7;
   _va=cats('_',put(va,6.4));
run;

Re: Create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the values of an existing var

andreas_lds — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 07:01:39 GMT

I am curious: what is the use-case requiring numeric values being prefixed with an underscore?

Re: Create a new variable that adds the character “_" in front of the values of an existing var

Thomas_mp — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:33:30 GMT

Thank you Tom !!