Help with indentation in datalines statement

[AdarshR9]

Below I have two codes but with slight difference - one has observation entered after indentation and other without indentation. I am not able to figure out why one character is getting missed out when using indents. Isn't SAS supposed to be insensitive to indentation or is it because SAS takes indent (used tab button) as a character when providing character observations. Didn't face this issue while entering numerical observations after indentation.

datalines with indentation

with indentation results in one missing character from PAT_ID variable

everything same as previous but without indentation

no missing character in PAT_ID variable when using without indentation

[sbxkoenk · Accepted solution]

Hello,

SAS is insensitive to indentation, but not in the datalines (cards) obviously.

You should always start entering the data in the left-most column of your editor.

I have never experimented with it, but I guess the tab becomes part of your string.

Cheers,

Koen