simple question on subsetting data

[ramfan55]

Hi Everyone!

I am new to SAS but I am trying to create a program but Im not getting any output, which tells me I'm doing something wrong. I have two data sets and I want to subset the data and find only the transactions that ...for the variable 'X' starts with 4. Here is what I tried...

Data trans_data;

SET fy.13transdata;

WHERE substr (X, 1,4) = '4';

run;

Im confused as to how I should structure my where statement. Can someone help?

Thx!

EP

[Reeza · Accepted solution]

WHERE substr (X, 1,4) = '4';

What would you expect the 4 in the substr function to do?

I think it should be 1,

WHERE substr (X, 1,1) = '4';

Try reading the documentation on Substr again:

http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi25/25/cc/25p088.pdf

SAS(R) 9.2 Language Reference: Dictionary, Fourth Edition

[ramfan55]

Thanks I saw that link I thought the 4 represents how many characters? But I believe it means the number of characters Sas should read. Thx agn!