topic Re: How to convert a character to ascii code in SAS Programming

How to convert a character to ascii code

Jose7 — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 00:27:29 GMT

Hi experts

I'd like to convert a normal text to ascii code, for example: in my dataset I have the letter "t" and the value that i want is 116 and so on with the other letters or numbers.

do you know a way to do it? the final result that I want is a file in that format.

Re: How to convert a character to ascii code

Tom — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 00:41:41 GMT

The easiest way is to display the values in HEX instead of decimal.

data have;
  input string $20.;
cards;
The rain in Spain
falls mainly on 
the plain.
;

data want;
  set have;
  codes = put(string,$hex40.);
run;

Results

Obs    string                                codes

 1     The rain in Spain    546865207261696E20696E20537061696E202020
 2     falls mainly on      66616C6C73206D61696E6C79206F6E2020202020
 3     the plain.           74686520706C61696E2E20202020202020202020

Re: How to convert a character to ascii code

Patrick — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 00:45:29 GMT

The rank function returns the ascii code for a character.

data _null_;
  file print;
  ascii_code=rank('t');
  put ascii_code;
run;

the final result that I want is a file in that format.

Like a text file with all the characters replaced with their respective ASCII code? And I guess that all ASCII codes would need to take-up 3 positions so you know where they start and end.

Why ASCII codes which is very unusual and not HEX values?

....and just thinking: May-be tell us what the purpose for such conversion is. There might be other ways for achieving the same goal.