https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/leading-blanks/m-p/32481#M7825 Hi:<BR /> Partly the answer depends on what you want to do with ID and whether ID is character or numeric. If ID is numeric, then SAS will not -store- leading zeroes -- however, you can -display- leading zeroes by simply using a FORMAT statement (probably best in this case to permanently associate a format with the ID variable).<BR /> [pre]format ID z5.;<BR /> [/pre]<BR /> <BR /> If you put that format statement in the program where you read the text file (assuming you're using a DATA step program), then SAS would format the ID to be 5 digits, with leading zeroes. So the internally stored number '123' would display on all reports as '00123', for example. If you are importing the data without a DATA step, then you can always modify the format attribute with PROC DATASETS, after the dataset is created.<BR /> <BR /> However, if you read ID as a character variable and then store it as a character variable, SAS will both -store- and -display- the leading zeroes without needing a user defined format. <BR /> <BR /> cynthia<BR /> [pre]<BR /> data leadzero;<BR /> infile datalines;<BR /> input name $ as_num_id as_char_id $;<BR /> format as_num_id z5.;<BR /> return;<BR /> datalines;<BR /> alan 00123 00123<BR /> bob 00234 00234<BR /> cathy 00345 00345<BR /> dana 00456 00456<BR /> ;<BR /> run;<BR /> <BR /> proc print data=leadzero;<BR /> run;<BR /> [/pre] Fri, 15 May 2009 15:01:53 GMT Cynthia_sas 2009-05-15T15:01:53Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/leading-blanks/m-p/32480#M7824 I am importing a txt file to sas. the ID field has leading zeros which i wish to retain. after importing i find that the zeros are not being imported. how can I imported the data while retaining the zeros. <BR /> <BR /> thanks Fri, 15 May 2009 13:56:58 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/leading-blanks/m-p/32480#M7824 Hart 2009-05-15T13:56:58Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/leading-blanks/m-p/32481#M7825 Hi:<BR /> Partly the answer depends on what you want to do with ID and whether ID is character or numeric. If ID is numeric, then SAS will not -store- leading zeroes -- however, you can -display- leading zeroes by simply using a FORMAT statement (probably best in this case to permanently associate a format with the ID variable).<BR /> [pre]format ID z5.;<BR /> [/pre]<BR /> <BR /> If you put that format statement in the program where you read the text file (assuming you're using a DATA step program), then SAS would format the ID to be 5 digits, with leading zeroes. So the internally stored number '123' would display on all reports as '00123', for example. If you are importing the data without a DATA step, then you can always modify the format attribute with PROC DATASETS, after the dataset is created.<BR /> <BR /> However, if you read ID as a character variable and then store it as a character variable, SAS will both -store- and -display- the leading zeroes without needing a user defined format. <BR /> <BR /> cynthia<BR /> [pre]<BR /> data leadzero;<BR /> infile datalines;<BR /> input name $ as_num_id as_char_id $;<BR /> format as_num_id z5.;<BR /> return;<BR /> datalines;<BR /> alan 00123 00123<BR /> bob 00234 00234<BR /> cathy 00345 00345<BR /> dana 00456 00456<BR /> ;<BR /> run;<BR /> <BR /> proc print data=leadzero;<BR /> run;<BR /> [/pre] Fri, 15 May 2009 15:01:53 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/leading-blanks/m-p/32481#M7825 Cynthia_sas 2009-05-15T15:01:53Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/leading-blanks/m-p/32482#M7826 thanks format z7. did the trick Fri, 15 May 2009 18:56:15 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Procedures/leading-blanks/m-p/32482#M7826 Hart 2009-05-15T18:56:15Z