%scan not reading all characters

[Batman]

I have a macro array of formats, however the %scan function is dropping the "$" and ".", how can I get %scan to read those characters?

27 %put macro array of format values is &formats;
macro array of format values is $2. 8. $6. $55. DATETIME19. DATETIME19. $1.
28 %put fourth scanned format value is %scan(&formats,4);
fourth scanned format value is 55

[Quentin · Accepted solution]

Specify that %scan should only use a blank, %str( ) as the delimiter, e.g.:

1    %let formatlist=$2. 8. $6. $55. DATETIME19. DATETIME19. $1.  ;
2    %put %scan(&formatlist,4,%str( )) ;
$55.

[ballardw]

Read the friendly manual. The documentation for %scan includes this bit clearly showing that the $ character by default treated as a delimiter.

If you use the %SCAN function with only two arguments, then the default delimiters depend on whether your computer uses ASCII or EBCDIC characters.

• If your computer uses ASCII characters, then the default delimiters are as follows:

  blank ! $ % & ( ) * + , - . / ; < ^¦

  In ASCII environments that do not contain the ^ character, the %SCAN function uses the ~ character instead.
• If your computer uses EBCDIC characters, then the default delimiters are as follows:

  blank ! $ % & ( ) * + , - . / ; < ¬ | ¢¦