how to deal with the blank when input data?

[littlestone]

Hello, All

Suppose I input just one variable Var:

Data Test;
Informat Var $10.;
input Var;
Cards;
abcdefg
ab cdefg
;

I got the following result:

abcdefg
ab

It seems to me that the informat does not work for records 2 in which only the first two characters were recognized because the third character is a blank.

How to let SAS know that the blank character is also part of the data?

[OS2Rules]

Hi:

You can use:

input @001 var $char10.;

as long as the data lines start in cc01.

[littlestone]

Thank you all for helping me.

By the way: what is the difference between input @1 and input @001 ?

[FriedEgg]

nope

[Tom]

No difference.  They might have used the extra zeros to just make the code look more consistent.

INPUT

  @001 var1 $120.

  @121 var2 5.

...

;

[data_null__]

You can also add & after VAR in INPUT statement.  INPUT VAR &;

You should read about LIST, FORMATTED, COLUMN and NAMED input to understand the nuances of the INPUT statement and the interaction of INFORMAT INPUT and INFILE etc.

[Ksharp · Accepted solution]

You can also use a helpful informat $varying.Such as:

data temp;

infile datalines length=len;

input var $varying200. len;

datalines;

............

Ksharp

[littlestone]

I apologize for repling late.

Thank you all for great help.