topic Re: variable type in SAS Programming

variable type

aloou — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 12:56:23 GMT

Hello,

do you know why i get this ?

length COL2 varchar(*) COL3 varchar(*) COL4 varchar(*) annee_min 8 annee_max 8;

ERROR: Cannot change variable type that is already defined for variable COL2.

Re: variable type

Tom — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 14:48:45 GMT

@aloou wrote:

Hello,

do you know why i get this ?

length COL2 varchar(*) COL3 varchar(*) COL4 varchar(*) annee_min 8 annee_max 8;

ERROR: Cannot change variable type that is already defined for variable COL2.

The message is saying that the variable COL2 is already defined.

But your syntax does not look valid. You cannot have a variable named varchar(*) , unless you have validvarname option set to any, but even then you would need to use a name literal.

If you want to define COL2 as character then you have to specify the actual LENGTH you want it to have.

length col2 $10 col3 $15 col4 $20 ...

Re: variable type

ballardw — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 15:05:13 GMT

Suggestion: Show an entire data step or procedure, not just one line of the code. Copy the entire thing from the LOG and paste the copied text into a text box opened on the forum with the </> icon.

Typically I would say that you are using a data set that already has a variable named Col2 that is numeric. Then your code would be attempting to change a property of that existing variable, which SAS won't do.