topic PROC FORMAT - "ABCD" vs "AB" - Can SAS tell the difference or do I need to add spaces? in SAS Procedures

PROC FORMAT - "ABCD" vs "AB" - Can SAS tell the difference or do I need to add spaces?

GBL__ — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:44:39 GMT

Good Morning!

I am using formats extensively within my project to assign values/descriptions to codes within variables. My question specifically is if I need to add spaces on the left side of the format definitions so SAS identifies the correct code, or if that is not necessary?

i.e. Will SAS format this correctly:

"A" = "Something"

"ABC" = "Something Else"

"ABCD01" = "The Other Thing"

Or do I need to add spaces:

"A " = "Something"

"ABC " = "Something Else"

"ABCD01" = "The Other Thing"

ETA: I am using these formats to create new variables after importing the raw data files with a PUT statement:

PUT(raw_data_codes, $my_format.) AS NEW_VARIABLE ,

Thank you in advance for your help! Much Appreciated!

Re: PROC FORMAT - "ABCD" vs "AB" - Can SAS tell the difference or do I need to a

Lucy1 — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:50:35 GMT

The characters that are looked for in the data are exact matches, they do not need to be the same length. Have you tried running this will code?

Here is an example you could run for proof:

proc format;
 value $myfmt "A"   =  "Something"
              "ABC" =  "Something Else"
            "ABCD01"=  "The Other Thing";
run;

data have;
   length var $10;
   var='A';output;
   var='ABCD01';output;
   var='AB';output;
run;

data want;
 set have;
 new_var=put(var, $myfmt.);
run;

and the output

Re: PROC FORMAT - "ABCD" vs "AB" - Can SAS tell the difference or do I need to a

novinosrin — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:50:50 GMT

Hi @GBL__ I'd think both forms are equivalent as trailing blanks do not matter, rather the problem is leading blank. So when assigning a format label using put function, it's always a good idea to use put(key,label. -l) Left align so that we present no scope of an occurrence of a leading blank

Re: PROC FORMAT - "ABCD" vs "AB" - Can SAS tell the difference or do I need to a

GBL__ — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:58:34 GMT

This is great! Thank you for your reply, @Lucy1

Re: PROC FORMAT - "ABCD" vs "AB" - Can SAS tell the difference or do I need to a

GBL__ — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 15:01:14 GMT

Thank you @novinosrin ! I did not remember about the alignment overrides. Much Appreciated!