Searching Within a Concatenated Variable

[DLF22]

Hi,

I am very new to sas an trying to search within a concatenated var ("COMBINATION") which is in the form (product1 + product2 + product 3) for any part of the previously used combination.  I am trying to establish how many changes in combinations are a complete change (vs an addition to an existing regimen);

data completley_new_products;

set combination_products;

by cust_id combination;

lag_combination= lag(combination);

where combination not contains lag_combination;

run;

Any help or guidance much appreciated!

[andreas_lds]

It is not clear what you have and what you expect as result. So please follow the guidelines and include data in usable form, see How to convert datasets to data steps for details.

[s_lassen]

You will probably have to split the new combination into the various product codes, and check them one by one, something like:

data completely_new_products;
  set combination_products;
  by cust_id combination;
  lag_combination= lag(combination);
  if not first.cust_id then do _N_=1 to countw(combination);
    if indexw(lag_combination,scan(combination,_N_)) then
      delete;
    end;
run;