Adding a column to a SAS Table

[tmm]

I  am trying to add a column to an existing column and the length is not working right. I have this:

proc sql;

add pl_desc char label='pl_desc' length=40 format=$40.;run;

When I look at how the column looks in view, It says length is only 8.

[ballardw · Accepted solution]

I think you are looking for CHAR(40) to create a 40 character variable. without a width specified the default for char is 8