topic Re: Convert data type to character--even if it's already character in SAS Procedures

Convert data type to character--even if it's already character

Louis44 — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:57:18 GMT

When importing data into SAS, there is a field that is sometimes numeric, and sometimes character. How can I always convert it to character? It seems like there is not a way to convert a character to a character.

Is there a way to do this on the import, such as declaring the field a character datatype when I import the file?

Re: Convert data type to character--even if it's already character

PGStats — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 02:05:20 GMT

If the field is in a text file you can simply import it into a character variable :

data myData;

infile "myPath\myFile.txt";

length myField $12;

input x myField y;

run;

If the field is an Excel worksheet column then you must include the mixed=yes option in the libname statement

libname xl Excel "myPath\myFile.xls" mixed=yes;

data myData;

set xl.'Sheet1$'n;

run;

Re: Convert data type to character--even if it's already character

Tom — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 04:58:45 GMT

Best way is to not use IMPORT. Instead have the files supplied to you in a known format and read them using a program. Then you have control over how the variables are named and the type.

Re: Convert data type to character--even if it's already character

Louis44 — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:01:44 GMT

I ended up using CATS() in the proc sql to convert the field to a character. This works even if it was already a character to begin with.