lead

[SAS_inquisitive]

Hello,

I want to populate var2 with subsequent record value if the var1 is missing.

data test;
input var1 $ ;
cards;
.
abc
;
run;

data want;
  set test;
  var2=substr(var1,1,1);
run;

Desired output:

var1         var2

.                a

abc           a

[Kurt_Bremser · Accepted solution]

Merge the dataset with itself, but start one observation later:

data want;
merge
  test
  test (firstobs=2 rename=(var1=var1x))
;
if var1 = ' '
then var2 = substr(var1x,1,1);
else var2 = substr(var1,1,1);
drop var1x;
run;