topic Re: Data step with 'contains' logic in SAS Programming

Data step with 'contains' logic

Paul_NYS — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:42:39 GMT

When using PROC SQL, there is operator for 'contains' in addition to equals. Is there a way to use 'contains' functionality in a data step? I have the below data step that I apparently need to use something like 'contains' as there are data values that are not returned, but look exactly like those that are returned when using equals (possible spaces after 'Issue Joined', maybe).

Paul

data work.issuejoinedevents;

set sasD.court_events;

if event_detail_1 = 'Issue Joined';

run;

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

PaigeMiller — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:44:42 GMT

Use the INDEX function

If Index function returns a number > 0, then it "contains" the desired text.

If Index function returns a zero, then it does not "contain" the desired text.

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

Paul_NYS — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:07:36 GMT

I think that did it, thank you.

Paul

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

Astounding — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:08:11 GMT

The suggestion about INDEX is spot on. Just to help you understand, though, trailing blanks would not cause a problem. Other situations would, such as (1) leading blanks, (2) spelling/capitalization differences, or (3) other trailing characters such as carriage returns/line feeds if they appear in the data.

Goood luck.

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

art297 — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:17:19 GMT

Paul,

You might find the findw function to have some additional features you might want/need. Take a look at: http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lrdict/64316/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a002978282.htm

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

PaigeMiller — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:23:13 GMT

INDEX is more general than FINDW, which as I understand it searches for words, while INDEX can search for arbitrary character strings

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

art297 — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:48:15 GMT

: I think that findw can be configured to function the same way, but allow one to do such things as ignore case, etc. E.g.:

data want;

set sashelp.class;

x=findw(name,'an',,'ks');

run;

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

PaigeMiller — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:53:02 GMT

INDEX can be configure to ignore case as well

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

art297 — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:08:12 GMT

: Are you sure? I thought it could only do things like ignore case if one builds the statement to include additional functions.

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

PaigeMiller — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:10:46 GMT

Yes, that's what I meant

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

art297 — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:18:20 GMT

Paige, I sit corrected! I just did a comparison and, to my surprize, combining functions using the index function ran twice as fast as using the findw function.

I ran:

data class;

set sashelp.class;

do _n_=1 to 100000;

output;

end;

run;

data want;

set class;

x=findw(name,'AN',,'iks');

run;

data want;

set class;

x=index(upcase(name),'AN');

run;

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

PaigeMiller — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:32:44 GMT

Good to know. I wasn't even claiming a speed advantage, I just think INDEX is easier to program and easier to read than FINDW in this application.

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

Tom — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 16:12:27 GMT

If you code your data step to use WHERE statement instead of IF statement then you can use the CONTAINS operator. (NOTE: You can also use a ? in place of the keyword CONTAINS.)

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

Ksharp — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:34:22 GMT

A more recently function is FIND() which is better than INDEX() , bescause it has more arguments than INDEX() ,has more power .

So if you want , you can use FIND() replace INDEX().

Ksharp

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

PaigeMiller — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:15:12 GMT

Thanks,

Sometimes I wish I would spend more time learning the new features of each SAS release, because I didn't know about FIND() ... I did know about FINDW()

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

art297 — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 01:48:56 GMT

: FYI, the find() function appears to process faster than any of the other alternatives, with or without using any of its options.

Re: Data step with 'contains' logic

Ksharp — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:57:08 GMT

Hi , Paige

The best resource is SAS Documentation. Typical at the first couples of pages in Documenation, There are some new features and functions introduced in the current released SAS version . It is a fast way to enhance our knowledge.

Xia Keshan