topic Re: Explanation of point and nobs in SAS Programming

Explanation of point and nobs

GeorgeSAS — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:08:02 GMT

Hello,

Here is the example code:

DATA What;

IF _N_=1 THEN DO;

DO I=1 TO abc;

SET sashelp.class POINT=I NOBS=abc;

x=i;

*output;

END;

RUN;

Pleae helpe me explain _n_=1 and point= here.

Thanks!

Re: Explanation of point and nobs

ballardw — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:27:45 GMT

_n_ is an automatic variable for the input line (simplified). So the If _n_=1 is "do this only once at the beginning"

Point refers to a specific observation in a data set. This so you can read a specific (hopefully you know why you want that observation) observation into the working data vector.

Nobs creates a temporary variable (in this case ABC) with the number of observations in the data set sashelp.class.

Re: Explanation of point and nobs

GeorgeSAS — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 17:18:26 GMT

I guess the aim is just to get value of abc as total obs of sashelp.class