topic Re: Subset '30'-'33' (character variable) in SAS Procedures

Subset '30'-'33' (character variable)

apple — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 08:54:57 GMT

Iam using SAS 7.1

I am quite new to SAS, so pardon if my question sounds basic.

i have a range of character variable.

EG:

Food_Type

'24', '30' , '31', '32', '33', '34'

I only want to select the data for Food_Type = '30' - '33'

SAS Code 1:

data test;

set test;

where Food_Type in ('30' -'33');

run;

SAS Code 2:

data test;

set test;

where Food_Type in ('30') or Food_Type in ('31') or Food_Type in ('32') or Food_Type in ('33') ;

run;

SAS Code 1 doesn't work but SAS code 2 does. However, it is very tedious to type out all the Food_Type values I want. Is there a faster way I could select '30' - '33'?

Thank you

Re: Subset '30'-'33' (character variable)

kannand — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 09:23:08 GMT

Try this:

where '30' LE Food_Type LE '33';

Hope it helps.... Good Luck...!!!

Re: Subset '30'-'33' (character variable)

slchen — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 16:40:36 GMT

data want;

set have;

where food_type between '30' and '33'; *or where '30'<=food_type<='33';

run;

Re: Subset '30'-'33' (character variable)

Patrick — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 21:52:17 GMT

where food_type in ('24',  '30' , '31', '32', '33', '34')

Even if only dealing with digits don't use ranges with character variables as you might get unexpected results like below:

data _null_;
  if '99'>'100' then put '99>100';
  else put '99<=100';
run;

Result in log:
99>100

Re: Subset '30'-'33' (character variable)

Astounding — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 23:11:55 GMT

While you have many solutions that will work with the example you gave, heed Patrick's warning. There are many cases where you would run into trouble. For example, if your FOOD_TYPE variable is actually 3 characters long, the solutions proposed would also include '301'. That falls within the range of "30" to "33".

Once your first digit can change, the problems get worse. For example, if you tried this:

where ('39' <= food_type <= '41');

That range also includes a few values you might not want, such as "4" and either "3F' or "4F" (depends on the operating system).

You will get by in this particular case, but you will need to understand how SAS compares character strings to be safe in the future.

Re: Subset '30'-'33' (character variable)

gergely_batho — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 07:31:45 GMT

This works even when your first digit changes:

where 30 <=input(Food_Type, 3.) <= 100

Re: Subset '30'-'33' (character variable)

Steelers_In_DC — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 12:12:54 GMT

This selects the range, including 30 and 33:

data want;
set have;
where food_type between 30 and 33;
run;