Convert data type to character--even if it's already character

[Louis44]

When importing data into SAS, there is a field that is sometimes numeric, and sometimes character.  How can I always convert it to character?  It seems like there is not a way to convert a character to a character.

Is there a way to do this on the import, such as declaring the field a character datatype when I import the file?

[PGStats]

If the field is in a text file you can simply import it into a character variable :

data myData;

infile "myPath\myFile.txt";

length myField $12;

input x myField y;

run;

If the field is an Excel worksheet column then you must include the mixed=yes option in the libname statement

libname xl Excel "myPath\myFile.xls" mixed=yes;

data myData;

set xl.'Sheet1$'n;

run;

PG

[Tom]

Best way is to not use IMPORT.  Instead have the files supplied to you in a known format and read them using a program.  Then you have control over how the variables are named and the type.

[Louis44]

I ended up using CATS() in the proc sql to convert the field to a character.  This works even if it was already a character to begin with.