topic How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file in SAS Programming

How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file

learn_SAS_23 — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 10:41:37 GMT

Hello All,

Am trying read a freeform text from one field in a website and store in a table and trying to printout to a .txt file

below text entered in the description field :

Testname Testname Ry text to test very long characters and pragaraph and sentences whether it fits to the website and table and more .

Testname Testname RY 11111111-1
FI96 1111 1111 1111 1111
Rita Zamamamam
ES54 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111, NTSBESM1

while writing to file out.txt it splits to random lines like below

Code used :

%let _INPUT_table= Test_table;
%let form_attachment_path='\casedetails\casedescription.txt;
data _null_;
set &_INPUT_table. (obs=1 firstobs=1);
file "&form_attachment_path" TERMSTR=CRLF lrecl=100;
 put 'Description of damagae: ' description;
run;

Please help me to write data in expected format with out random line breaks

Re: How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file

Kurt_Bremser — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 10:50:00 GMT

Works with a suitable LRECL:

data have;
infile datalines truncover;
input description $200.;
datalines;
Testname Testname Ry text to test very long characters and pragaraph and sentences    whether it fits to the website and table and more .
Testname Testname RY 11111111-1
FI96 1111 1111 1111 1111
Rita Zamamamam
ES54 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111, NTSBESM1
;

data _null_;
set have;
file "~/test.txt" lrecl=200;
put description;
run;

Output file, when downloaded from ODA and opened with TextExit on the Mac:

Testname Testname Ry text to test very long characters and pragaraph and sentences    whether it fits to the website and table and more .
Testname Testname RY 11111111-1
FI96 1111 1111 1111 1111
Rita Zamamamam
ES54 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111, NTSBESM1

Just set the LRECL high enough that the longest line is accommodated.

Re: How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file

learn_SAS_23 — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 11:07:48 GMT

Wow , Works as expected . Thanks a lot

Re: How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file

learn_SAS_23 — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 11:34:58 GMT

Some times it not working as expected for a very long data as in the attached file. The data splits in to multiple lines

with below option

file "&attachment_path" TERMSTR=CRLF lrecl=300;

Shall i increase the lrecl=2000 ? does it have any side effects ?

Re: How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file

Kurt_Bremser — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 11:52:37 GMT

Maxim 1: Read the Documentation.

In this case, for the FILE Statement , where it says

LRECL=logical-record-length

specifies the logical record length of the output file.

Default	If you omit the LRECL= option, SAS chooses a value based on the operating environment's file characteristics.
Interaction	Alternatively, you can specify a global logical record length by using the LRECL system option. In SAS 9.4, the default value for the global LRECL system option is 32767. If you are using fixed-length records (RECFM=F), the default value for LRECL is 256.

(emphasis by me)

So you should first try to work without a specific LRECL, and only set it when you get an overflow.

Note that, for the default RECFM=V, only the bytes needed will end up on each line, regardless of a larger LRECL.

Re: How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file

Kurt_Bremser — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 11:56:13 GMT

PS on UNIX systems (see here), the maximum value for LRECL is 1GB, while the default is 32767.

Re: How to avoid random splitting of lines while writing output to a .txt file

learn_SAS_23 — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 12:25:38 GMT

Now it's more clear , thanks for quick help