topic Re: would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements in SAS Programming

would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements

rinugour — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 12:42:18 GMT

Under what circumstances would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements?

Re: would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements

RW9 — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 13:09:47 GMT

That's really up to you.

For binary choices, then use ifc() or ifn() functions.

For simple if constructs with three or four branches then if statements.

For over 4 consider select.

There are no rules on this, if you prefer if statements, then use them.

Re: would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements

s_lassen — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 13:22:38 GMT

Whenever I have a calculated construct that is reused in simple cases, e.g.

select(month(date3));
  when(12,1,2) season="Winter";
  when(3,4,5) season="Spring";

A very simple example, but with an IF statement you would have to repeat the month calculation, or insert an extra line to assign it to a variable (and one more line to drop the unneeded month variable).

It can also be a nice way to throw an error if something unexpected shows up, just omit the OTHERWISE statement.

Re: would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements

Kurt_Bremser — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 14:00:26 GMT

@rinugour wrote:

Under what circumstances would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements?

As soon as it makes the code more readable. If in doubt, put both versions side-by-side and see which one looks better to you.

A potential performance gain has to be determined through testing (in most cases, there won't be a noticeable difference).

Re: would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements

Satish_Parida — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 09:16:23 GMT

If more number of variables are dependent on some similar nested conditions, it is better to go with if rather than case.

Re: would you code a select construct instead Of If Statements

anjita — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 12:18:03 GMT

The select statement is used when you are using one condition to compare with several conditions like.

Data exam;
Set exam;
select (pass);
when Physics gt 60;
when math gt 100;
when English eq 50;
otherwise fail;
run;