topic Re: How to write a shorter code for variablelist1 = variablelist2 in SAS Programming

How to write a shorter code for variablelist1 = variablelist2

benjaminchua002 — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 07:01:11 GMT

I need year{i} to equal yearsum{i}. For now, I have it coded as below. It works but it's incredibly inefficient. Is there a shorter way to do this? I have two arrays: year1-year10 and yearsum1-yearsum10. Yearsum is the sum of values in each year (1 to 10).

if last then do;

Variable = 'Total';

year1 = yearsum1;
year2 = yearsum2;
year3 = yearsum3;
year4 = yearsum4;
year5 = yearsum5;
year6 = yearsum6;
year7 = yearsum7;
year8 = yearsum8;
year9 = yearsum9;
year10 = yearsum10;
output;
end;

I can't use a DO i = 1 to 10 as 'Total' will show up 10 times. I only want one row of 'Total'.

Re: How to write a shorter code for variablelist1 = variablelist2

ChrisNZ — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 00:39:26 GMT

Using an array would be even less efficient, and would make the code harder to read.

Using a rename statement would be the most efficient.

Re: How to write a shorter code for variablelist1 = variablelist2

PaigeMiller — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 11:51:02 GMT

@benjaminchua002 wrote:

I need year{i} to equal yearsum{i}. For now, I have it coded as below. It works but it's incredibly inefficient. Is there a shorter way to do this? I have two arrays: year1-year10 and yearsum1-yearsum10. Yearsum is the sum of values in each year (1 to 10).
if last then do;

Variable = 'Total';

year1 = yearsum1;
year2 = yearsum2;
year3 = yearsum3;
year4 = yearsum4;
year5 = yearsum5;
year6 = yearsum6;
year7 = yearsum7;
year8 = yearsum8;
year9 = yearsum9;
year10 = yearsum10;
output;
end;
I can't use a DO i = 1 to 10 as 'Total' will show up 10 times. I only want one row of 'Total'.

Restructuring your data in this fashion, to create a wide data set, is rarely needed, and there are easier ways to get the final result with 10 years going across and variable going down the left side with a total row below. PROC REPORT will get you there without the need to code each year separately or rename variables.

Re: How to write a shorter code for variablelist1 = variablelist2

Quentin — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 14:06:06 GMT

What do you mean by incredibly inefficient?

If you would like to use your arrays so that your program is shorter, you can. This decreases the amount of code to write, but would not decrease the execution time, because you're still doing 11 assignment statements.

Untested:

if last then do;
  Variable= "Total" ;
  do i=1 to dim(year) ;
    year{i}=yearsum{i} ;
  end ;
  output ;
end;

As of others have mentioned, this type of wide dataset often creates the need for clunky code like this. Typically code is easier when data are structured vertically. If you had a variable for Year, and variables for Wages Retirement Medical, then you would create a Total variable as just Total=sum(Wages,Retirement,Medical).

I feel like I spent the first 5 years of my SAS programming learning how to use arrays, and then spent the second 5 years learning to recognize when my thought to use an array was an indication of a data structure problem.