change variable with list of items to variable with single item

[gzr2mz39]

Hi,
I have a variable with lists of items in it.
For example,
a,b
a,b,e
b
e,f,g,h

Does anyone know how to create a new variable with each item having its own row like this:
a
b
a
b
e
b
e
f
g
h

Thank you.

[ballardw · Accepted solution]

The basic approach is to parse the string and for each piece extract a value and execute an Output statement. However the actual content may cause issues but for your example, assuming the variable is named Text some thing like this in a data step:

Data want;

     set have;

length ShortText $ 10; /* or some value large enough to capture the longest substring in Text*/

Do i = 1 to Countw(Text,',');

     ShortText=scan(text,i,',');

     output;

End;

drop i;

Run;