topic Why is my IF THEN statement not valid? in SAS Programming

Why is my IF THEN statement not valid?

eslb2022 — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 19:35:55 GMT

My code is below. The error message is also shown. How do I fix the code so it will delete Group B.

Code:

DATA patients;
INPUT PatientID Group $ ;
DATALINES;
4165 A
2255 B
3312 C
5689 C
1287 A
5454 A
6672 C
8521 B
8936 C
5764 B
;
IF Group = 'B' THEN DELETE;
RUN;

Error:

ERROR 180-322: Statement is not valid or it is used out of proper order.

Re: Why is my IF THEN statement not valid?

sbxkoenk — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 19:37:45 GMT

Your IF statement is in the wrong place!

DATA patients;
INPUT PatientID Group $ ;
IF Group = 'B' THEN DELETE;
DATALINES;
4165 A
2255 B
3312 C
5689 C
1287 A
5454 A
6672 C
8521 B
8936 C
5764 B
;
RUN;

Koen

Re: Why is my IF THEN statement not valid?

Tom — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 20:17:53 GMT

When you have in-line data the data step ends when the data begins.

So you have put your IF statement in between the data step and the next step.

That is why I would suggest that you get in the habit of NOT adding a RUN: statement after the in-line data lines. It just confuses novice SAS programmers into thinking it is part of the data step.

DATA patients;
  INPUT PatientID Group $ ;
  IF Group = 'B' THEN DELETE;
DATALINES;
4165 A
2255 B
3312 C
5689 C
1287 A
5454 A
6672 C
8521 B
8936 C
5764 B
;