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NKormanik
Barite | Level 11

The following works great:

data nicholas._21603_;

modify nicholas._21603_;

if Combo="23601" then remove;

run;

But what I want to now do is change the "=" sign to "contains":

if Combo contains "23601" then remove;

ERROR 388-185: Expecting an arithmetic operator.

ERROR 76-322: Syntax error, statement will be ignored.

Great luck, huh.

So..., what gives?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
Fraktalnisse
SAS Employee

Hi!

The Contains operator is not limited to Proc Sql. It can be used in the data step, but only in a Where statement.

I suggest the following:

data nicholas._21603_;

modify nicholas._21603_;

if find(Combo,"23601") then remove;

run;

View solution in original post

16 REPLIES 16
RichardinOz
Quartz | Level 8

Contains is available only in Proc SQL and is there for compatibility.  There are other functions such as variants of the Index function that can be used in a data step to achieve the same result.

Richard

Fraktalnisse
SAS Employee

Hi!

The Contains operator is not limited to Proc Sql. It can be used in the data step, but only in a Where statement.

I suggest the following:

data nicholas._21603_;

modify nicholas._21603_;

if find(Combo,"23601") then remove;

run;

ghastly_kitten
Fluorite | Level 6

Find function is a bit slower than index at least in some SAS versions.

I'm not sure about 9.3, but checking for modifiers and startposition spends some time, especially on huge datasets.

Anyway, better check out the help for additional info, who knows what you will need it for.

NKormanik
Barite | Level 11

Sweet!!  Thanks a million.

data nicholas._21603_;

modify nicholas._21603_;

if find(Combo,"23601") then remove;

if find(Combo,"23602") then remove;

if find(Combo,"23603") then remove;

run;

NOTE: There were 78939 observations read from the data set NICHOLAS._21603_.

NOTE: The data set NICHOLAS._21603_ has been updated.  There were 0 observations rewritten, 0 observations added and 5733 observations deleted.

data_null__
Jade | Level 19

How about using the WHERE statment with CONTAINS.

data class;
   set sashelp.class;
   run;
data class;
   modify class;
   where name contains 'il';
  
remove;
  
run;

Linlin
Lapis Lazuli | Level 10

Hi DN,

What is the difference between delete and remove?

Thanks!

data_null__
Jade | Level 19

DELETE is RETURN without implied OUTPUT

REMOVE is for deleting records with MODIFY statement.

DELETE and RETURN are the same in a data step with explicit OUTPUT.

Linlin
Lapis Lazuli | Level 10

Thank you DN!

I think you meant

DELETE and REMOVE are the same in a data step with explicit OUTPUT.

Linlin
Lapis Lazuli | Level 10

Thank you! I have never used REMOVE. I need to read more about it. - Linlin

data_null__
Jade | Level 19

Until you have used MODIFY you don't need REMOVE.

Xiaoningdemao
Quartz | Level 8
Hi data_null_,
I have a similar problem, but I want to remove observations with sting 'aaa' and 'bbb' at thre same time, how to do that? Can I write two where at the same time?
Thanks in advance!
data_null__
Jade | Level 19

Start a new thread and give example data.

Xiaoningdemao
Quartz | Level 8
Hi data_null__,
I post the question named as "Delete obsvations with certain strings".
Thanks a lot!

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