how to rearrange output cols order

[stataq]

Hello,

I tried to build multiple tables which always have 'Label' col and COLX, which x is non repeated number select from 1 to 99.

Is it a way I can always recorder or output my outputs use 'Label' as 1st col and COLs in the order from small number to 99?

Currently my outputs are always in a random col order. Any suggest or macro that can solve this?

For example: my output contain following cols:

DS1:

'Label', 'COL1', 'COL7', 'COL8', 'COL11', 'COL99'

DS2:

'COL7', 'COL1', 'COL88', 'COL99', COL1', 'Label'.

[PaigeMiller]

More explanation is needed. How are you going to do this "output"? What SAS PROC or other SAS command is going to produce this "output"? Is this "output" a SAS data set or a printed report or something else?

[stataq]

Maybe just output another dataset that contain correct col order?
data ds1_update;
set ds1;
...
Run;

[PaigeMiller]

---

@stataq wrote:
Maybe just output another dataset that contain correct col order?
data ds1_update;
set ds1;
...
Run;

---

Seems pointless to me to re-arrange columns within a data set. What is the reason you want this? How would this help?

[stataq]

I hope to achieve a status that my outputs are organized in a good col order as a dataset. when I need to output them in file, I can directly use them without reorder the cols.  Maybe also easier for me to review the results when I just look at the dataset without proc print step. might be silly but make sense to me.😅

[mkeintz]

---

@PaigeMiller wrote:

Seems pointless to me to re-arrange columns within a data set. What is the reason you want this? How would this help?

---

I often do pay attention to establishing column order, for two reasons:

1. To examine the data with a data set viewer
   
   
2. In anticipation of using the double-dash technique for generating a variable list.  Say I have a dataset with (from left to right), an ID, some demographic variables, some financial variables, some education variables.  I often find myself using expressions like
              leftmost_demographic_variable -- rightmost_demographic_var
   to save a lot of typing where a list of variables would otherwise need to be explicitly typed.

[Tom · Accepted solution]

The simplest way to reorder the variables is to take advantage of the fact that the RETAIN statement places the variables into the dataset, but does not define a type for them (unless you include an initial value in the RETAIN statement).

data want;
  retain label col1 col47 col99 ;
  set have;
run;

If you want to automate that then find a rule that sets the order of the columns in the way you want.  For your example I might be tempted to do something like:

proc contents data=have noprint out=contents; run;
proc sql noprint;
  select nliteral(name) into :varlist separated by ' '
  from contents
  ;
quit;
data want;
  retain label col1-col99;
  set have;
  keep &varlist;
run;