Delete negative values ( NOT '.')

[Astounding]

In agreement with the validity if previous posts, here is how it is usually done:

if (.Z < variable < 0) then delete;

Good luck.

[Haikuo]

Ksharp's has already provided a safe approach:

if var<0 and not missing(var)  then delete;

This will include all kinds of missing values ranging from '._' to '.Z'.

Regards,

Haikuo

[kevgermany]

Your problem is that you're mixing up numeric and character data. And SAS' automatic conversions are trying to help.

By saying it deletes when variable = '  ', this means variable is character. So comparing to 0 forces an automatic conversion to numeric. (check the warnings in the log)...

So you need to use the following delete statement

if put(variable,5.) < 0 and put(variable,5.) ne . then delete. 

SAS will still complain about invalid numeric data, but your tests will work correctly. Use an appropriate numeric format instead of the 5. if that's not appropriate.