Datalines VS Cards.

[kuridisanjeev]

Hi All..

Is there any any difference between Card and Dataline  Statements ????

Please Clarify me...

Thanks & Regards..

Sanjeev.K

[data_null__]

Only the spelling.

[kuridisanjeev]

Thanks for your detailed explanation..:-)

[ballardw]

I wouldn't put a big bet on it but I believe in ancient days, SAS 5 perhaps, CARDS meant 80 column input to simulate punch cards, hence the name.

[kuridisanjeev]

Hi..

Did't get you completely...

Regards..

Sanjeev.K

[art297]

: I think it started WAY earlier than that!  I seem to recall that being the same syntax that was used in the Statistical Analysis System out of North Carolina State University.

But we've progressed!  Now we get to type 9 characters, rather than 5, to specify "cards".

[TomKari]

From my trusty SAS 1979 manual (I believe the last time that all of SAS fit into one book), CARDS and CARDS4 statements only, no DATALINES.

I remember reading once that if I wanted to use an infile statement to provide options (I frequently use dlm='09'x for tab delimited), I had to use datalines NOT cards. But I just ran a test, and cards works on an infile statement also, so I guess this assumption is out of date (like I'm beginning to feel!).

Tom

[art297]

: Do you want to feel young?  My first computer program looked like the one in this picture:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://lewisshepherd.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/ibm-402-plugboar...

[TomKari]

I doff my chapeau to you sir! We studied them in school, but I will bow down and admit I've never used one, nor have I ever seen one.

Extremely cool!

  Tom

[art297]

: Somehow I think the IBM 402 accounting boards must be where the term spaghetti code originated.

[ajuhack]

Actually datalines is an alias of cards and vice-versa as per sas documentation.....

[Wolfen244]

Tom,

>>...SAS 1979 manual...all of SAS fit into one book...

I had Gayle Sayers autograph mine as I only had that at hand when I was working at Hitachi in Brisbane, Ca. He asked me what the book was and after I told him he just smiled and said, "Okay".

[bnarang]

Your sense of humour is great.

[art297]

: Apparently, if you are using an older version of SAS, there may be one difference.

The following 2007 SGF paper, by last year's SGF chair (Andy Kuligowski) http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/forum2007/220-2007.pdf, describes a case where one worked while the other didn't:

data _null_;

  set sashelp.class;

  file cards;

  put name;

run;

data _null_;

  set sashelp.class;

  file datalines;

  put name;

run;

However, this is one case where SAS decided not to insure that code working on one version would continue to work on the next version.  With 9.3 both of the above will result in an error.

[data_null__]

I guess my verion of 9.3 is a little different from your.  I get the Kuligowski result.  It is interesting to see what SAS says the name of the file is.

29         data _null_;
30            set sashelp.class;
31            file datalines filename=fname;
32            put fname=;
33            put name;
34            stop;
35            datalines;

fname=CARDS
Alfred
NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set SASHELP.CLASS.