Split individual sentences in a paragraph into separate columns using SAS arrays

[jatxn]

Hi, I would like to create separate columns (Line1 to LineN) to split individual sentences in a paragraph (column name is Comments) using SAS arrays. This is how I envisioned it to be:

Comment:

Traffic data for South Entrance is estimated. Traffic counter was inoperable from December 1-7 due to new counter installation. Estimated data generated by taking daily average from December 8-31...

Line1:

Traffic data for South Entrance is estimated.

Line2:

Traffic counter was inoperable from December 1-7 due to new counter installation.

Line3:

Estimated data generated by taking daily average from December 8-31...

Using the code below, I was able to identify that the maximum number of sentences there is in a Comment value is 17. I assume this will be the dimension for my array (?)

proc sql noprint;
select max(NumSentences) into :max_cnt trimmed
from work.SouthRim;
quit;
%put &=max_cnt;

I am thinking of using count, find and substr functions but do not know how and where to start. Can you please help me? Many thanks in advance!

[PaigeMiller]

How would you identify a sentence? Does the sentence end with a period, or can it end with a question mark or exclamation point or emoji? How many sentences are in this example text:

I went to visit Dr. Jones on Feb. 22, 2023

Why does the solution have to use an array (which seems to me to be particularly un-useful in this case)? If a solution was available without arrays, would that work?

[jatxn]

Hi, for this case study, a sentence ends with a period only.

The solution doesn't have to be using arrays - it's just the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of a solution. Any approach is welcome! 🙂

[PaigeMiller]

data have;
text='Traffic data for South Entrance is estimated. Traffic counter was inoperable from December 1-7 due to new counter installation. Estimated data generated by taking daily average from December 8-31...';
run;

data want;
    set have;
    length word $ 1024;
    word='AAA';
    i=0;
    do while(not missing(word));
        i=i+1;
        word=cats(scan(text,i,'.'));
        if not missing(word) then output;
	end;
    drop i text;
run;

Despite the fact that your subject line asks for separate columns, the example you give produces separate rows, so that's what I did.

Hint: if any approach will work, do not specify to use arrays, or to use any other SAS technique