please help with troubleshooting: reading raw data into SAS, confusion about use of dsd, truncover, etc.

[study_SAS]

Dear community,

I am studying the basic data steps and still have confusion about using dsd, missover, truncover and colon modifier.  Could you please be so kind to explain to me what went wrong with my codes when reading in raw data? 

/* 1 what’s wrong with my codes? */

data Customer1;

infile datalines;

input ID $9. Name $10. Phone $14. Date mmddyy8. Price dollar8.2;

format Date mmddyy10.;

datalines;

542857845 Susan     (510)893-2541 10/10/08 $2.50

754857485 David     (415)785-9685 01/12/05 $12.2

854748578 Catherine (408)254-6523 04/03/07 $1,009

;

/* sample codes provided */

data test1;

     infile datalines;

     input SSN $9. Name $11-20 Phone $21-33 +1 Reg MMDDYY8. Amount Dollar8. ;

     format Reg MMDDYY10. ;

datalines;

542857845 Susan     (510)893-2541 10/10/08 $2.50

754857485 David     (415)785-9685 01/12/05 $12.2

854748578 Catherine (408)254-6523 04/03/07 $1,009

;

run;

/* 2 what’s wrong with my codes? */

data Customer2;

infile datalines dsd truncover;

input Name: $10. ID $9. Phone $14. Date mmddyy8. Price dollar9.2;

format Date mmddyy10.;

datalines;

Susan 542857845 (510)893-2541 10-10-08 $2.50

David 754857485 (415)785-9685 1-12-05 $12.2

Catherine 854748578 (408)254-6523 4-3-07 $1,009

;

Many thanks!

best,

Lil

[Ksharp]

You should use list input method , not formatted input method :

Phone : $14.

[study_SAS]

Thank you so much for the response, Keshan!  I will give it a try.

best,

Lil

[ballardw]

Note that in your first two examples that the columns of data align neatly. The formatted input on an input statement is very literal about reading the specified number of columns sometimes and the data used in your third case doesn't align.

In very many cases it is preferable to assign the informat in a separate statement from the input. Especially if your data sources have a tendency to change column widths unexpectedly which is a very common issue with name type data.

[study_SAS]

Thank you for the response!  really appreciated it.

best,

Lil

[ChrisHemedinger]

Here's a very helpful article from Charley Mullin (SAS Tech Support) on this topic:

• Turning text files into SAS data sets—6 common problems and their solutions

You'll learn about DSD, TRUNCOVER, TERMSTR, DLM (delimiters), and ENCODING.

Chris

[study_SAS]

Thanks Chris for the article!  It helped.

Best,

Lil