How do I read messy CSV data in SAS without using PROC Import?

[kekou]

I have CSV data. Can anyone help reading it in SAS without using proc import?

[art297]

If you run proc import SAS will write and run the data step that you would otherwise have to write to read in the file.

Proc import saves you the time of getting the variable names from the first records, determining which variables are numbers and which are characters, and identifying each variable's length.

Art, CEO, AnalystFinder.com

[kekou]

please without using proc import

[art297]

If you run proc import it will not only do the job, but show you the code that answers your question. 

On the other hand, if you want a lesson, take a look at: https://support.sas.com/techsup/technote/ts673.pdf

Art, CEO, AnalystFinder.com

[Vince_SAS]

Why can't you use PROC IMPORT?

Vince DelGobbo

SAS R&D

[Reeza]

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@kekou wrote:

i have a CSV data.  can anyone help reading it in SAS without using proc import?

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Is this a file that should be public and available to anyone or does it contain confidential information? If this is a work file you may have violated confidentiality rules. 

[Tom]

CSV files are easy to read. Something like your file with only three variables is easier to read WITHOUT using PROC IMPORT.

data want ;
  infile 'zipcode.csv' dsd truncover firstobs=2;
  input var1-var3 ;
run;

Now if you want you can use more meaningful names for your variables.

If it really was a messy file then you could try reading the fields as characters strings and adding extra code to convert the strings into the types of values you need.