Retain values down columns

[AMFR]

Hi everyone,

I have a dataset in the first table and i have to retain values from the previous row to blank rows. How can i do that? Thanks in advance

Identifier	Date	NPO_Order	NPO_OrderedInstant
112	2/2/2023	NPO DIET	02FEB23:22:48:00
112	2/3/2023		.
112	2/4/2023	NPO DIET	04FEB23:07:24:00
112	2/5/2023		.
112	2/6/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	06FEB23:06:43:00
112	2/6/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	06FEB23:07:52:00
112	2/7/2023	NPO DIET	07FEB23:17:06:00
112	2/8/2023		.
112	2/9/2023		.
112	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:09:41:00
113	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:09:54:00
113	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:10:27:00
113	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:10:27:00
113	2/10/2023	NPO DIET	10FEB23:13:48:00
113	2/11/2023
113	2/12/2023		.
113	2/13/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	13FEB23:09:14:00
113	2/14/2023		.
113	2/15/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	15FEB23:09:44:00
113	2/16/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	16FEB23:08:46:00
113	2/17/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	17FEB23:10:06:00
113	2/18/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	18FEB23:07:59:00

Identifier	Date	NPO_Order	NPO_OrderedInstant
112	2/2/2023	NPO DIET	02FEB23:22:48:00
112	2/3/2023	NPO DIET	02FEB23:22:48:00
112	2/4/2023	NPO DIET	04FEB23:07:24:00
112	2/5/2023	NPO DIET	04FEB23:07:24:00
112	2/6/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	06FEB23:06:43:00
112	2/6/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	06FEB23:07:52:00
112	2/7/2023	NPO DIET	07FEB23:17:06:00
112	2/8/2023	NPO DIET	07FEB23:17:06:00
112	2/9/2023	NPO DIET	07FEB23:17:06:00
112	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:09:41:00
113	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:09:54:00
113	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:10:27:00
113	2/10/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	10FEB23:10:27:00
113	2/10/2023	NPO DIET	10FEB23:13:48:00
113	2/11/2023	NPO DIET	10FEB23:13:48:00
113	2/12/2023	NPO DIET	10FEB23:13:48:00
113	2/13/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	13FEB23:09:14:00
113	2/14/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	13FEB23:09:14:00
113	2/15/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	15FEB23:09:44:00
113	2/16/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	16FEB23:08:46:00
113	2/17/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	17FEB23:10:06:00
113	2/18/2023	DIET TUBE FEEDING ONLY (NPO)	18FEB23:07:59:00

[PaigeMiller · Accepted solution]

Please help us by modifying the subject on your original message to "Retain values down columns"

data want;
    set have;
    retain npo_orderedinstant1;
    if not missing(npo_orderedinstant) then npo_orderedinstant1=npo_orderedinstant;
run;

You can do the same thing for variable npo_order, so I leave that as a homework assignment for you.

[AMFR]

Thank you very much, highly appreciate it.

And I will fix the subject

[Tom]

Search for methods to implement Last Observation Carried Forward (LOCF).

You can normally do this very easily by using the UPDATE statement to treat the data as a series of transactions.  Include an OUTPUT statement to preserve the individual observations instead of just the final result of applying all of the transactions.

data want;
  update have(obs=0) have;
  by identifier;
  output;
run;

[AMFR]

Thank you, i will look into that