Removing multiple comparison operators from a character string and converting to numeric

[smackerz1988]

Hello so I'm attempting to modify code from a solution on the community to remove operators from a lab result variable (LBSTRESC) and then convert it to numeric , if possible, within one step. Here is what  I have so far

data have;
input id lbstresc $40.;

datalines;
1 >=9.0     
2 >=500     
3 >75
4 <0.03        
5 <= 500             
;
run;

data want;
   set have;
   n_name = lbstresc;
   length word $40 ;
   do word='>', '>=', '<', '<=';
      n_name = tranwrd(' '||n_name,' '||strip(word)||' ', ' ');
  end;
   n_name = compbl(n_name);
   drop word ;
run;

This approach only works for row 5 as there is a space between the operator and the numerical result.

However, this is only a row I've inserted to highlight the problem and LBSTRESC for rows 1 to 4 are reflective of the actual data. What do I do to modify the tranwrd statement so the operators are removed in n_name?

[PeterClemmensen]

You just want the numbers 9.0, 500 and so on in a numeric type, correct?

[smackerz1988]

Yes, that's right

[PeterClemmensen]

Does my code below work for you?

[PeterClemmensen · Accepted solution]

Is so then simply do

data have;
input id lbstresc $40.;
datalines;
1 >=9.0  
2 >=500  
3 >75    
4 <0.03  
5 <= 500 
;

data want;
   set have;
   w = input(compress(lbstresc, '.', 'kd'), 8.);
run;