You apparently want to read in raw data, with the desired variables for each record arranged in a column.
If the variables are arranged the same way for every observation (i.e. 5 lines of data for each obs), then use "line pointer controls" such as
- / which tells SAS to advance one data line
- #n which tells SAS to advance to the n'th line in a group
So, crudely speaking, you could
data want;
input x1 / x2 x3 / x4;
run;
which tells SAS to expect 3 lines for each observations, with variable X1 on the first line, X2 and X3 on the 2nd line, and X4 on the third line.
If this is not a correct interpretation of your problem, please show actual data as you have it, and actual data layout as you want it.