Arraying variables that have character and numeric codes

[r4321]

Hey guys, 

Im trying to array some codes that I have that I need to later merge on. The codes are numeric and sometimes use characters to form the code as well (e.g., 111222, 111A11, 222333, 22B044, 22-B11). 

The code I'm using is this: 

data all.matches2;
set all.matches1;
array vars{30} match1-match30;
obs = _n_;
do i = 1 to 30;
match = vars{i};
if not missing(match) then output all.matches2;
end;
drop i match1-match30;
run;

However, I get this error message: 

76 data all.matches2;
77 set all.matches1;
78 array vars{30} match1-match30;
ERROR: All variables in array list must be the same type, i.e., all numeric or character.
ERROR: All variables in array list must be the same type, i.e., all numeric or character.
ERROR: All variables in array list must be the same type, i.e., all numeric or character.
79 obs = _n_;
80 do i = 1 to 30;
81 match = vars{i};
82 if not missing(match) then output all.matches2;
83 end;
84 drop i match1-match30;
85 run;

NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
WARNING: The data set ALL.MATCHES2 may be incomplete. When this step was stopped there were
0 observations and 11 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
real time 0.02 seconds
cpu time 0.03 seconds

What can I do in order to make my code work? 

Thanks for your help. 

[novinosrin]

Add a $ to your array statement:

array vars{30} $30 match1-match30;

edited: Sorry ignore mine, Reeza is right, i didn;t look at your program properly

[Reeza · Accepted solution]

They do need to be all the same type as well. If they aren't then you'll need to use multiple arrays OR convert them to the same type.

[r4321]

How can I convert them to the same type? I suppose I want them to all be character variables (even if they = 222111). 

Thanks 

[Astounding]

Here's a handy syntax that will let you create two arrays (one for numeric variables, and one for character).  This way, you don't need to know which variables are which type:

array nums {*} match1-numeric-match30;

array chars {*} match1-character-match30;

Then later:

do i=1 to dim(nums);    or    do i=1 to dim(chars);

However, you still need to figure out what to do from that point.  You can't have a single variable named MATCH that is sometimes numeric and sometimes character.