topic Re: when the character variable contains different formats then how to convert that into numeric in SAS Procedures

when the character variable contains different formats then how to convert that into numeric

Ravikumarkummari — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:46:59 GMT

Hi all,
can any one know the format for this
i have the dataset like this

product amount
account value
fixed 1,52,132
variable 2,50,478
annual rate
product 4.5%
variable 5.6%
this over all is one dataset.
i have read this data from excel using libname statement.
and the variable amount is in character type.
now i have to convert the data i.e. amount into numeric.
can any one know the process please comment.

Re: when the character variable contains different formats then how to convert that into numeric

ballardw — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 17:51:52 GMT

Is all of this in one column (variable) in the SAS data set? If so this is likely to be a mess. SAS can only have one characteristic per variable, either numeric or character. So you will have to create new variables using a data step. You may need to provide a bit more data for input example AND an example of what the output should look like.

It looks like you actually have 3 values for the rows that start with Fixed and Variable, is that the actual case? or did we lose something in pasting into the forum?

Re: when the character variable contains different formats then how to convert that into numeric

Kurt_Bremser — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 07:41:38 GMT

Read the column into a char variable, then check that variable for its layout and select the proper conversion.

It would be nice if you could provide an example of the data in csv form, so that we can determine the actual positioning of the data in the cells.

(ie is "product amount" in one or 2 cells?)

Re: when the character variable contains different formats then how to convert that into numeric

RW9 — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:32:26 GMT

Am linking this thread: https://communities.sas.com/thread/75128

Here, as its exactly the same question.

Re: when the character variable contains different formats then how to convert that into numeric

Ksharp — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:47:49 GMT

data have;
input p $ a : $20.;
cards;
fixed 1,52,132
variable 2,50,478
product 4.5%
variable 5.6%
;
run;
data want;
 set have;
 length fmt $ 20;
 if findc(a,',') then fmt='comma32.';
  else if findc(a,'%') then fmt='percent12.';
   else fmt='best32.';
 v=inputn(a,fmt);
 run;

Xia Keshan