topic string matching two character vectors in SAS/IML Software and Matrix Computations

string matching two character vectors

rbettinger — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 17:46:15 GMT

I have two character vectors. Let's call them Source and Pattern. For each entry in Pattern, I want to know if it is represented in Source. Here is an example:

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Pattern = 'trapmf' // 'trimf' // 'pimf' ;
Source = 'dsigmf' // 'trapmf' // 'pimf' // 'gaussmf' ;

print Pattern Source ;

do i = 1 to nrow( Pattern ) ;
Match = any( Pattern[i] = Source ) ;
print Match ;
end ;

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Then the expected results are: Match = 1,0, 1 as expected. But I have to use a loop, which I consider to be inelegant. How can I use SAS/IML matrix manipulation to create an "outer product" character match?

Re: string matching two character vectors

Rick_SAS — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 18:31:57 GMT

Use the ELEMENT function:

b = element(Pattern, Source);
print b;

BTW, that performs a case-sensitive comparison. If you want a case-insensitive comparison, use the UPCASE function.

Re: string matching two character vectors

rbettinger — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 19:38:06 GMT

Exactly what I wanted! Thank you very much!