drop all variables with same suffix--letters only in name

[SarahBOtto]

Hi. I am trying to drop all variables in a data set when the name ends with 'obs' (eg. ASQ2CM_A5obs  or ASQ60GM_C2obs) . Below is the code I am using:

proc contents data=out3 out=contents(keep=name) noprint ; run;
proc sql noprint ;
select name into :droplist separated by ' '
from contents
where upcase(name) like '%^OBS' escape '^'
;
quit;
data out4 ;
set out3 (drop=&droplist);
run;

But, I get the following error message

ERROR: Like pattern is not a valid pattern due to the invalid use of the escape pattern.

I know a similar question has been asked already but I am having trouble figuring out the escape pattern issue. Thank you!

[Tom · Accepted solution]

Why do you have the ^ in your like string?

The only thing you can escape are the wildcards % and _ and the escape character itself.

So you either need

upcase(name) like '%^_OBS' escape '^'

to match names that end in _OBS

Or if you are using VALIDVARNAME=ANY then perhaps

upcase(name) like '%^^OBS' escape '^'

to match names that end in ^OBS

If you want to match a pattern of underscore then 0 or more characters and then OBS then use:

upcase(name) like '%^_%OBS' escape '^'

If you only want it match when there are exactly 5 characters after the _ then use:

upcase(name) like '%^___OBS' escape '^'

[SarahBOtto]

Thank you!

'%OBS' was exactly what I needed. I thought I had tried that but apparently not.