prxmatch

[sam369]

Hi All,

I have thousands of different string in variable "var". I want to pick only those records having (/ or missing)

data have;

input grp $40.     var $20.;

cards;

AAAAA               Par_diff

BBBB                 rag*diff

CCCC                rAg/diff

DDDD             

EEEEE              run_diF

;

run;

want: records with var (/,missing)

output:

CCCC        rag/diff

DDDD     

i am using

prxmatch("m/ragdiff/io",compress(var,'/'))>0 & Missing(var)

Thanks

Sam

[FriedEgg]

You main issue is having 'and' where it should be 'or.'  I would not recommend using the regular expression, given your example (which I would also rewrite as prxmatch('#/|^\s+$#o', var) given your explained requirements).

where index(var, '/') or missing(var);

[sam369]

Thank you FriedEgg, i am under learning curve. i would like to achieve that using regular expression

Thanks

Sam

[FriedEgg]

A good thing to learn would be that this is an inefficient use-case for regular expression.

[Haikuo]

Well, this seems working for me , it came to me as a surprise:

data have;

     input grp :$40.     var :$20.;

     cards;

AAAAA               Par_diff

BBBB                 rag*diff

CCCC                rAg/diff

DDDD             .

EEEEE              run_diF

;

run;

data want;

     set have;

     if prxmatch('/\/|^$/', strip(var))>0;

run;

[FriedEgg · Accepted solution]

You can accomplish the same thing without the strip by looking for a string containing only spaces.

where prxmatch('#/|^\s+$#o', var);

[sam369]

Thanks to both!!! Work like champ!!!!

COuld you please explain what special character matches (/) & space?  From the variable var....In the above regular expression

Thanks

sam

[FriedEgg]

\/|^\s+$

Match either the regular expression below (attempting the next alternative only if this one fails) «\/»

   Match the character “/” literally «\/»

Or match regular expression number 2 below (the entire match attempt fails if this one fails to match) «^\s+$»

   Assert position at the beginning of a line (at beginning of the string or after a line break character) «^»

   Match a single character that is a “whitespace character” (spaces, tabs, and line breaks) «\s+»

      Between one and unlimited times, as many times as possible, giving back as needed (greedy) «+»

   Assert position at the end of a line (at the end of the string or before a line break character) «$»