Drop/Keep errors

[smilingmelbourne]

Hi,

I need to run the codes like below many times over.

data abc;
set abc (keep a b c d);
run;

I have a lot of datasets like abc. Trouble is, I don't want to check every dataset that it has variable a, b, c, or d. In most cases, all the datasets have the same variables/columns such as the month when data is avaible. Sometimes, it doesn't have a variable, like when I collect yearly data for 2011 which doesn't have yearly data yet.

When I run the program above, it gives errors like "variable d has never been referenced" and the result dataset has ZERO obs.

My question: How can I run the program above even though the datast might not have variable "d", that is, the program keeps running and reading the data despite absence of variable "d"?

[art297]

You could use something like:
[pre]
data have;
set sashelp.class (drop=height);
run;
proc sql noprint;
select name into :vars separated by " "
from dictionary.columns
where libname eq "WORK" and
memname="HAVE"
and upcase(name) in ("AGE" "HEIGHT" "WEIGHT");
;
quit;
%put &vars.;
data want;
set have (keep=&vars.);
run;
[/pre]
HTH,
Art
---------
> Hi,
>
> I need to run the codes like below many times over.
>
> data abc;
> set abc (keep a b c d);
> run;
>
> I have a lot of datasets like abc. Trouble is, I
> don't want to check every dataset that it has
> variable a, b, c, or d. In most cases, all the
> datasets have the same variables/columns such as the
> month when data is avaible. Sometimes, it doesn't
> have a variable, like when I collect yearly data for
> 2011 which doesn't have yearly data yet.
>
> When I run the program above, it gives errors like
> "variable d has never been referenced" and the result
> dataset has ZERO obs.
>
> My question: How can I run the program above even
> though the datast might not have variable "d", that
> is, the program keeps running and reading the data
> despite absence of variable "d"?

[Ksharp]

Art.T is right.
Every time before you run this code, you can execute the code offered by Art.T to check the variable list, and put this list where as Art.T do.

Ksharp

[data_null__]

There is an option for that, DKRICOND.

 782 data y2010(keep=a b c d) y2011(keep=a b);
 783 retain a b c d 0;
 784 run;

 NOTE: The data set WORK.Y2010 has 1 observations and 4 variables.
 NOTE: The data set WORK.Y2011 has 1 observations and 2 variables.
 NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
 real time 0.01 seconds
cpu time 0.01 seconds


 785 proc options option=DKRICOND;
 786 run;

 SAS (r) Proprietary Software Release 9.2 TS2M0

 DKRICOND=ERROR Action for DROP/KEEP/RENAME error conditions on input SAS data sets
 NOTE: PROCEDURE OPTIONS used (Total process time):
 real time 0.03 seconds
cpu time 0.00 seconds


 787 data all;
 788 set
 789 y2010(keep=a b c d)
 790 y2011(keep=a b c d)
 791 ;
 ERROR: The variable c in the DROP, KEEP, or RENAME list has never been referenced.
 ERROR: The variable d in the DROP, KEEP, or RENAME list has never been referenced.
 792 run;

 NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
WARNING: The data set WORK.ALL may be incomplete. When this step was stopped there were 0 observations and 4 variables.
 WARNING: Data set WORK.ALL was not replaced because this step was stopped.
 NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
 real time 0.01 seconds
cpu time 0.01 seconds


 793
 794 option DKRICOND=NOWARN;
 795 data all;
 796 set
 797 y2010(keep=a b c d)
 798 y2011(keep=a b c d)
 799 ;
 800 run;

 NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.Y2010.
 NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.Y2011.
 NOTE: The data set WORK.ALL has 2 observations and 4 variables.
 NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
 real time 0.04 seconds
cpu time 0.01 seconds


 801 option DKRICOND=ERROR;