DATA temp1; input subj 1-4 num_val 6 result $8-20 ; DATALINES; 1024 1 manual 1167 1 manual 1168 2 testing 1201 2 testing 1302 3 plain 1302 4 natural ; data fmtdata; set temp1 (rename=(num_val=start result=label)); by start; retain fmtname 'ncodes' type 'N'; if first.start; run; proc format cntlin = fmtdata; run;
How to call the format?
I am using format num_val $ncodes.;
But it doesnt work
You've created ncodes as a numeric format - it's character formats which have the $ sign at the start so drop that and you should be fine.
Thanks, Can the length be increased for the format name for fmtname as the formats are getting truncated
You shouldn't really need to do that - can you post the data and code you're using to apply the format?
You can control the number of characters of the formatted value that print. All of these would be legitimate uses of the same format:
format num_val ncodes.;
format num_val ncodes4.;
format num_val ncodes8.;
That's the reason that you can't create a format name ending in a digit ... it gives you the flexibility later to add a width when applying the format.
can i sort the formatted character value on basis of numeric.
For example format num_val ncodes.; is there anyway i can sort on basis of numeric values?
proc sort will use the raw, unformatted value of a variable. If you want to sort by formatted values, create a new variable that holds those formatted values and sort by that.
Certain SAS procedures can be told to use formatted values in their calculations (ie proc freq).
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