BookmarkSubscribeRSS Feed
ballakaay
Calcite | Level 5

Hello,

I work for a lab and I have a dataset which contains lab code string with delimiter "*". I have found that only the first "*" is valid (the othres are typo or not useful) and I would like to remove the rest "*" to clean the data. For example,

 

*code1 code2 *code3

code1**code2 code3

code1 *code2 *code3

 

I want it to be

*code1 code2 code3

code1*code2 code3

code1 *code2 code3

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance

1 REPLY 1
Tom
Super User Tom
Super User

Removed? Or replaced with a space?

 

I would say find where the first one is, then change them all to spaces, then put the first one back again.

loc= index(string,'*');
string=translate(string,' ','*');
if loc then substr(string,loc,1)='*';

hackathon24-white-horiz.png

2025 SAS Hackathon: There is still time!

Good news: We've extended SAS Hackathon registration until Sept. 12, so you still have time to be part of our biggest event yet – our five-year anniversary!

Register Now

How to Concatenate Values

Learn how use the CAT functions in SAS to join values from multiple variables into a single value.

Find more tutorials on the SAS Users YouTube channel.

SAS Training: Just a Click Away

 Ready to level-up your skills? Choose your own adventure.

Browse our catalog!

Discussion stats
  • 1 reply
  • 464 views
  • 5 likes
  • 2 in conversation