how to use data_null_ to see a few of observations of a external file

[YangYY]

Hi, 

I would like to know how to use the data_null_to have a look at the first few lines of a external file.

I know I should use option obs and statement List, but I have no idea how to let sas read the file by using data_null.

Regards

[Kurt_Bremser]

You can do this:

data _null_;
infile "insert full path here";
input;
put _infile_;
if _n_ = 5 then stop;
run;

But I find it much better to use a proper text editor (eg notepad++) to inspect files.

[YangYY]

Thank you for your rely and it is helpful!

But I've found another problem after trying this.

I was asked to use data_null_and OBS and LIST to have a look at the first few lines of the given file.

My code is 

data _null_;
infile world obs=10;
input continent $1-20 abbreviation $21-29 country_name $30-50;
list;
run;

The log shows as picture 1 and it is different from the first few lines of the given file.

The given file is also been uploaded.

[YangYY]

My log shows as

RULE: ----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7----+----8----+----9----+----0

2 Europe AL Albania 36

4 Australia AS American Samoa 43

6 Africa AO Angola 35

8 Antarctica AQ Antarctica 39

10 South America AR Argentina 38

NOTE: 10 records were read from the infile WORLD.

The minimum record length was 35.

The maximum record length was 48.

and the files shows as

South America BO Bolivia
North America BQ Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
Europe BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
Africa BW Botswana
Antarctica BV Bouvet Island
South America BR Brazil
Asia IO British Indian Ocean Territory
Asia BN Brunei
Europe BG Bulgaria
Africa BF Burkina Faso
Africa BI Burundi
Asia KH Cambodia
Africa CM Cameroon
Africa CM_NG Cameroon/Nigeria
North America CA Canada
Africa CV Cape Verde
North America KY Cayman Islands
Africa CF Central African Republic
Africa TD Chad
South America CL Chile
Asia CN China
Asia CN_IN China/India
Asia CN_TW China/Taiwan_POC
Asia CN_VN China/Viet_Nam
Asia CX Christmas Island

Thank you so much for your help

[Kurt_Bremser]

Do not post infile data in the main posting window, use the {i} button for this. This is necessary to keep horizontal positioning and special characters (eg tabs) as is.

And once again, it is much easier to view the text file with a good editor to see what it contains. Such editors have options to view the hex codes, which help greatly in determining what is used for delimiters etc.

[Reeza · Accepted solution]

Your file isn't showing delimiters that I can see, my guess is it's tab delimited?

How will American Samoa be read in because of the spaces? I suspect that's causing your issues. 

When you're reading in a file to see the format you should not specify the variables in the INPUT statement. When you do that you're already making assumptions on the data which could be incorrect. 

You want to see the actual values so a plain INPUT statement is what you need. Modify your code as following and see if it works for you:

data _null_;
infile world obs=10;
input;
list;
run;

---

@YangYY wrote:

Thank you for your rely and it is helpful!

But I've found another problem after trying this.

I was asked to use data_null_and OBS and LIST to have a look at the first few lines of the given file.

My code is 

data _null_;
infile world obs=10;
input continent $1-20 abbreviation $21-29 country_name $30-50;
list;
run;

The log shows as picture 1 and it is different from the first few lines of the given file.

The given file is also been uploaded.

---

[YangYY]

Thank you so much!!!
My problems got solved!!