Data Cleaning: character vs. numeric variables

[jcis7]

if 01<code>60 then code_error=1;

G' day!

I inherited code that checks the range of a variable, example above.

This variable, code has a length of 2 and is character with leading zeroes: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, etc.

If a code exists that is 61, then the SAS program identifies it as being >60 and the code_error=1.

But, my question is:  is it's a character variable with leading zeroes, how does SAS know whether the variable value is <01 (i.e., 00) or <60? 

Thank you!

[Astounding · Accepted solution]

Recommendation:  Fix the code.  It's just plain bad code.  Would you know how SAS would handle these bad data values?

"7" (instead of "07")

"3A" (instead of "30")

It's better to fix the code than to try to think of all the possibilities where the code might give the wrong result.

[jcis7]

Got it - Thanks!