topic Problem in converting character value to numeric value in SAS Programming

Problem in converting character value to numeric value

mamin088 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 18:48:02 GMT

Hello,

I'm trying to convert character values of a variable to numeric using the below code:

data my_new;

set my _old;

new_var=input (old_var,8.);

run;

But I get this note in the log: numeric values have been converted to character values at the places given by :

(line):(column).

100:22 100:29

I don't understand why. The column for my variable of interest is column 2.

Every time I run the code I'll get the same SAS note for different line and column.

Would somebody helps me with this please ? Thanks!

Re: Problem in converting character value to numeric value

PeterClemmensen — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 19:31:57 GMT

As the Input Function Documentation says, the Input Function requires a character constant, variable, or expression. SAS issues this note if the argument is numeric.

Re: Problem in converting character value to numeric value

mamin088 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 19:46:48 GMT

I solved the problem! Actually what I was doing was to convert the values but keep the same variable (name). I was doing this:

data my_new;

set my _old;

var=input (var,8.)

run;

Then I was getting that note. I tried this code and it worked perfectly:

data my_new;

set my _old;

new_var=input (old_var,8.);

drop old_var;

rename new_var=old_var;

run;