if index_year=1990 then &name.0=&name.1990;
Hi all,
I am a relatively new SAS user and currently working with longitudinal data. In order to shape my data I am running a number of repetitive commands daily. For example, I need to assign time point depending on the index year. If index year is 1990, then timepoint starts from 1990. I have many variables and 28 time points and this makes my codes are just so bulky. Do you have any suggestions how I can apply macros or loops to save space and writing time? Thank you.
%let name=_alcdep;
DATA db;
set db;
if index_year=1990 then &name.1=&name.1991;
if index_year=1990 then &name.2=&name.1992;
if index_year=1990 then &name.3=&name.1993;
if index_year=1990 then &name.4=&name.1994;
if index_year=1990 then &name.5=&name.1995;
...
if index_year=1991 then &name.0=&name.1991;
if index_year=1991 then &name.1=&name.1992;
if index_year=1991 then &name.2=&name.1993;
if index_year=1991 then &name.3=&name.1994;
if index_year=1991 then &name.4=&name.1995;
....
run;
Using arrays?
array names {0:5} &name.0-&name.5;
array oldnames {0:5} &name.1990-&name.1995;
if index_year=1990 then do i = 1 to 5;
names{i} = oldnames{i};
end;
and I guess you could expand that logic even for your index_year values.
Edit: deleted a mis-typed character;
Making long tables will end you up in awkward programming situations, so avoid it whenever possible.
But for your case, wrap your code into a macro, and use a %do loop to assign the year to your variables dynamically.
Using arrays?
array names {0:5} &name.0-&name.5;
array oldnames {0:5} &name.1990-&name.1995;
if index_year=1990 then do i = 1 to 5;
names{i} = oldnames{i};
end;
and I guess you could expand that logic even for your index_year values.
Edit: deleted a mis-typed character;
Thank you so much! this is exactly what I was looking for.
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