tel me the length of the variable

[King]

data te;

author='Agatha Christie';

sc=scan(author,1,',');

run;

this is the dataset tel me the length of the varaible sc and also why?

[Cynthia_sas · Accepted solution]

Hi:

  The returned value, without any LENGTH statement should be $200, which you can verify by running PROC CONTENTS. The doc explains why the length is 200:

http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lrdict/64316/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a000214639.htm when it says:

"In a DATA step, if the SCAN function returns a value to a variable that has not yet been given a length, then that variable is given a length of 200 characters. If you need the SCAN function to assign to a variable a word that is longer than 200 characters, then you should explicitly specify the length of that variable."

And, of course, if you want the SCAN function to assign a length SHORTER than 200, you should also explicitly specify the length of the new variable in a LENGTH statement.

cynthia

[King]

thnks alot  ms Cynthia.