I want to add a simple sequence number to a data set with no 'by' variable. Does anyone know how to identify the first observation in a data set so I can set this to zero and everything following it will just be an increment?
Paul
if _n_=1 then do ..
or initialize with retain statement
retain obs 0
You can also try:
Sequence=_n_;
if _n_=1 then do ..
or initialize with retain statement
retain obs 0
You can also try:
Sequence=_n_;
That works fine: if _n_=1 then do ... Thanks Reeza. One somewhat related follow up, when I increment using lag, it is not working in this instance. Do yo or anyone usually use lag for something like this?
Paul
data uniquemediator1;
set uniquemediator;
if _n_=1 then do;
MedNum=1;
end;
if _n_ ne 1 then do;
MedNum=lag(MedNum)+1;
end;
run;
Lag doesn't work in conditional if/then statements. There are papers written on this topic so you can search for those if you're interested.
I would use the following myself:
MedNum=_n_;
Thanks Reeza. I think I remember that now actually. Sorry and thanks again.
And the _n_ works nicely when you don't need a 'by' variable grouping.
Paul
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