Proc export delimiter issue

[helannivas88]

Hi,

I'm trying to create a .txt file using proc export from sas dataset using pipe delimiter. But in data, there is a pipe value in the field causing us the major problem.

Is there a way  can we introduce a escape char or single / doubles quotes in the field where we get the pipe value. Please advise.

Thanks

[Reeza]

PROC EXPORT will mask delimiters in the character fields automatically, by adding quotes around it.

A data step export will not. Please show your code & log if you're having issues with PROC EXPORT. Note that PROC EXPORT is not the same as the GUI tasks either, especially in EG and Studio.

[ballardw]

---

@helannivas88 wrote:

Hi,

I'm trying to create a .txt file using proc export from sas dataset using pipe delimiter. But in data, there is a pipe value in the field causing us the major problem.

Is there a way  can we introduce a escape char or single / doubles quotes in the field where we get the pipe value. Please advise.

Thanks

---

Please describe the "major problem" you are having. Any value that contains a delimiter character that is exported with Proc Export will have the entire string enclosed in quotes.

If you run this code (modified to export to a location on your system)

data pipe;
   x='string with| in the middle';
   y='String without';
run;

proc export data=pipe
   outfile="<path>\pipe.txt"
   dbms=dlm replace;
   delimiter='|';
run;

The resulting file will look like:

x|y
"string with| in the middle"|String without

So, we kind of need to know the exact problem you have with using the file.

[SRAAM]

I used same code and ran it in Linux. I did not see data enclosed in double quotes . Why the default behavior not working in Linux for me

[smantha]

This code already puts the data in quotes

data _new;
informat have $32.;
input have $ var2;
want=compress(compress(have,' +/*-%','A'));
cards;
BIOL1012|8DCWc	10128
ANT102	102
PSY125	125
SOC101	101
SPAN2330	2330
HIST1500	1500
BCS-205	205
BCS-132	132
;;;
run;

proc export data=_new outfile='test.csv'
dbms=dlm replace ;
delimiter='|' ;
run;

[Reeza]

Please don't use CSV extension on files that are not comma or semicolon delimited.