https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/Cat-result-type/m-p/21252#M4484 Hi,<BR /> <BR /> Can anybody explain me why variable b become numeric??<BR /> <BR /> data bbb;<BR /> b=cat(b,'1');<BR /> run;<BR /> <BR /> Thnx. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:22:14 GMT deleted_user 2009-11-24T10:22:14Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/Cat-result-type/m-p/21252#M4484 Hi,<BR /> <BR /> Can anybody explain me why variable b become numeric??<BR /> <BR /> data bbb;<BR /> b=cat(b,'1');<BR /> run;<BR /> <BR /> Thnx. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:22:14 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/Cat-result-type/m-p/21252#M4484 deleted_user 2009-11-24T10:22:14Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/Cat-result-type/m-p/21253#M4485 Since you did not provide a type for b in it's first use [cat(b,'1')], SAS assumed it was numeric. Numeric variables are legitimate arguments to the CAT function. The documentation states that it does not provide an error or warning on conversion. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:09:13 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/Cat-result-type/m-p/21253#M4485 Doc_Duke 2009-11-24T14:09:13Z