Hold value down to next missing rows

[ashkum]

id name salary

1 ash   1500

2 ani     *

3 ayu  2000

4 shw   *

5 ami  1200

6 su    *

in the above question I  want to replace * with just previous value. what would be the syntax in sas?

e.g In 2nd observation * is replaced by 1500 and in 4th observation * is replaced by 2000 and so on.

[RW9]

Something like:

data want (drop=lst);
  set have;
  retain lst $200;
  lst=ifc(salary ne "*",salary,lst);
  salary=ifc(salary="*",lst,salary);
run;

Note not tested, I assume salary is character as * is not numeric, post test data in the form of a datastep in future.

[ashkum]

salary is nuemric here

[RW9]

Numeric variables cannot hold the symbol *, therefore either the variable is character or you have changed the missing option.  Either way, this is why we always ask for test data in the form of a datastep to avoid these needless backwards and forwards guessing your data.

[FreelanceReinh · Accepted solution]

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@ashkum wrote:

salary is nuemric here

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Then just edit RW9's code accordingly: Delete (and forget) $200, use ifn in place of ifc and replace "*" by . (the period denotes a numeric missing value) or whatever numeric value was displayed as an asterisk (assuming it was always the same value).