SELECT INTO numeric macro variable

[sfmeier]

Hello!

I am trying to create a marco variable x, that countains numbers. However there are always leading blanks. As i want to use the macro variable later in a table name, it must not contain blanks. I found a solution to this Problem using %sysfunc. However, I am wondering: Is there an "easier" war to do that?

Thank you,

S.

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/* kleinste Primzahl bestimmen */

            title 'Primzahl';

            proc sql;

                  select min(primzahl) INTO x

                  from temp;

                  /* Primzahl aus der Liste entfernen */

                  delete from temp

                  where primzahl=&x;

            quit;

      /* kleinste Primzahl formatieren */

      %LET X = %sysfunc(cat(&x));

      %put Primzahl = &x;

/* Quadrate mod x bestimmen */

      data tempi;

            do Basis = 1 to &x;

                  Quadrat_mod_&x = mod(Basis ** 2, &x);

                  output;

            end;

      run;

[Keith · Accepted solution]

One way is simply to add the CAT function to the SQL statement

     select cat(min(primzahl))

[Haikuo]

Thanks, Keith. That is a really neat way to use cat() or cats().

If going for the 'more' text-book style approach, OP can also try:

select left(put(min(primzahl),8.))

Regards,

Haikuo

[sfmeier]

Hello Hai.kou,

thank you very much for your help! is there any advantage to your code except for its textbookness? 😉

Regards, Stefan

[Haikuo]

I doubt that, as my approach involves one more function than Keith's. That being said, if you want to know the truth difference in term of efficiency, you probably need to benchmark it.

Regards,

Haikuo

[sfmeier]

Thank you, Keith! it works 🙂

[Ksharp]

select put(min(primzahl),32.-L))

or

%LET X = %left(&x);

[ScottBass]

A "trick" I learned a while back (via SAS-L) is to use "separated by".  For a single numeric return value, it will strip leading and trailing blanks.

data one;

  x=1;

run;

proc sql noprint;

  select x into :mvar separated by " " from one;

quit;

%put *&mvar*;

HTH,

Scott