Add (0) in prefix wherever the length less then “3” for Character variable using sas

[sivastat08]

Hi,

I want to Add zero(0) in prefix wherever the length(Have) less then “3”  and blank as blank.

Have	Length	Want	Length
112	3	112	3
12	2	012	3
12345	5	12345	5
cg.56	5	cg.56	5
87	2	087	3
1	1	001	3
112	3	112	3
1frt.	5	1frt.	5
e	1	00e	3
0	1	000	3

kindly help.

Thanks,

Siva

[Shmuel · Accepted solution]

both have and want variables should be a char type: (code fixed)

length want $10;   /* adapt length to max length of have */

len = length(strip(have));

if len < 3 then want = substr('00',1,3-len) || left(have);

else have = want;

[sivastat08]

Thanks for the replay.

[Astounding]

Here's one approach, within a DATA step:

select (lengthn(have));

   when (1) want = '00' || have;

   when (2) want = '0' || have;

   otherwise want=have;

end;

[sivastat08]

Thanks for the replay.

[data_null__]

---

@sivastat08 wrote:

Hi,

I want to Add zero(0) in prefix wherever the length(Have) less then “3”  and blank as blank.

Have	Length	Want	Length
112	3	112	3
12	2	012	3
12345	5	12345	5
cg.56	5	cg.56	5
87	2	087	3
1	1	001	3
112	3	112	3
1frt.	5	1frt.	5
e	1	00e	3
0	1	000	3

kindly help.

Thanks,

Siva

---

How about SUBSTR on the left side of assignment statement equal sign.

data l0;
   infile cards missover;
   input Have $ Length1 xWant $ Length2;
   l = lengthn(have);
   if 0 eq l or l ge 3 then want = have;
   else do;
      want = '000';
      substr(want,3-l+1)=have;
      end;
   z = compare(xwant,want);
   cards;
112 3 112 3
12 2 012 3
12345 5 12345 5
cg.56 5 cg.56 5
87 2 087 3
1 1 001 3
112 3 112 3
1frt. 5 1frt. 5
   
e 1 00e 3
0 1 000 3
;;;;
   run;
proc print;
   run;

[sivastat08]

Thanks for the result.

[RW9]

Simple substr() function will do it:

data want;
  input have $;
  want=substr(cats("00",have),lengthn(cats("00",have))-2);
datalines;
112
12
1
;
run;

[sivastat08]

Thanks for the replay Mr.RW9.

[Tom]

@RW9 If you want your solution to support strings longer than 3 characters then add a MIN() function.

data want;
  length have want $10;
  input have $;
  want=substr(cats('00',have),min(3,length(cats('00',have))-2));
  put have= want= ;
datalines;
112x
12
1
;;;;

[art297]

I would change your choice of solution to any one of the other solutions offered, since @Shmuel's proposed solution simply won't work.

Art, CEO, AnalystFinder.com

[Shmuel]

@art297, you are right, I havn't noticed that have can be short alphabetic. My mistake.

[data_null__]

---

@Shmuel wrote:

@art297, you are right, I havn't noticed that have can be short alphabetic. My mistake.

---

@Shmuel you could edit your reply to make it work for the OPs data.

[Shmuel]

@data_null__, thanks.

I have edited the post and fixed it.