Converting numeric to character

[ChickenLittle]

I have a table with several observations with 16-digit numeric codes that I need to convert to text because when I send my output from EG to an excel, I don't want the last digit of my numbers being converted to 0 (since excel can only handle 15 numeric numbers but no constraints on texts). However, when I convert these 16-digit numeric codes to text, the new column cuts down my numbers.

Dataset "ABC":

obs     code

1           1234567890123456

2           2345678901234567

Code:

data temp;
set ABC;
New_code= put(code, $16.);
format New_code $16.;
run;

Results:

obs    Code                               New_code

1         1234567890123456    123456789012

2        2345678901234567   234567890123

The results I want:

obs    Code                               New_code

1         1234567890123456    1234567890123456

2        2345678901234567   2345678901234567 

[mkeintz · Accepted solution]

If variable CODE is really numeric, then the program you present should generate a warning message.

Did you actually try this program code?  What do you see in the sas log?

But even in spite of this warning message, I cannot reproduce your results.  I see what you initially expected.  See below:

Data ABC;
input obs     code;
datalines;
1           1234567890123456
2           2345678901234567
run;
 
data temp;
set ABC;
New_code= put(code, $16.);
format New_code $16.;
put (_all_) (=);
run;

which produces 16 character values for new_code, per the log below:

32   data temp;
33   set ABC;
34   New_code= put(code, $16.);
WARNING: Variable code has already been defined as numeric.
35   format New_code $16.;
36   put (_all_) (=);
37   run;

obs=1 code=1.2345679E15 New_code=1234567890123456
obs=2 code=2.3456789E15 New_code=2345678901234567

And of course to eliminate the warning, the new_code= assignment statement should be

New_code= put(code, 16.);

[Kurt_Bremser]

Why is code created as numeric in the first place? This points to a faulty data import process, most probably caused by the use of PROC IMPORT.

[ChickenLittle]

Yes, I initially converted an excel file to a CSV file, then used proc import. The field in the excel file was in a text format, but when I imported it, it became a numeric field in the sas data set. Do you know how to keep that field a text field when converting it to a sas data set?

[Tom]

---

@ChickenLittle wrote:

Yes, I initially converted an excel file to a CSV file, then used proc import. The field in the excel file was in a text format, but when I imported it, it became a numeric field in the sas data set. Do you know how to keep that field a text field when converting it to a sas data set?

---

Write the data step to read the file yourself.  Then you have complete control over how the variable is defined.

So if you have this CSV file:

obs,code
1,1234567890123456
2,2345678901234567 

The code is just:

data want;
  infile CSV dsd firstobs=2 truncover;
  input obs code :$16.;
run;