proc sql length

[deleted_user]

How do I specify the length of v?

proc sql noprint;
select rate
into :v
from test1;
quit;

[deleted_user]

hi, you can try the system option of MVARSIZE, see http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/hostwin/61924/HTML/default/win-sysop-mvarsize.htm

[sbb]

Most likely you will want to use a FORMAT= on the SELECT clause, specified after the SAS variable name -- this would be if you are attempting to truncate a CHARACTER variable or if you want to "format" the output of a NUMERIC variable.

Scott Barry
SBBWorks, Inc.

[DanielSantos]

Simply as this:
[pre]
proc sql noprint;
select rate length=8
into :v
from test1;
quit;
[/pre]
But I suspect that's not what you need.
As Scott suggested, I'm guessing you want to format rate in some specific way.

Cheers from Portugal.

Daniel Santos @ www.cgd.pt

[Peter_C]

same as normal
format the source, and that is what appears in the destination
proc sql noprint;
select rate format= best20.
into :v
from test1;
quit;

of course, if you want to remove leading/trailing blanks

%let v = &v ; Message was edited by: Peter.C trim lead/trailing blanks

[deleted_user]

This is what I want.
I just used format=5.2 instead of best20.
Thanks.