substr function

[PrinceAde]

Hi everyone, please I need clarification with how Substr functions works

data want;

set have;

if sub = "(112)1245674" then do;
code1= substr(sub, 2, 4);
code2 = substr(sub, 6);
end;

run;

I expect code1 variable to be 112, but it gave me 112);

while code1= substr(sub, 2, 3); gave 112.

any explanation as to why?

[andreas_lds]

It always a good idea to have a look at the documentation when in doubt about the parameters of a function. The third argument of substr is the number of chars to extract.

[PrinceAde]

Yes I did,

if sub = "(112)1245674" 

I expect code1= substr(sub, 2, 4); to extract 112.

The first "(" is 1 the from there 2,4 should be 112.

So I'm not why it is generating 112).

Thanks.

[Kurt_Bremser · Accepted solution]

Why do you expect to get 3 characters when you tell the function to extract 4 characters?

Note that the second parameter is not a position, it is a length.

[PrinceAde]

Oh. Now clear. I forgot the third argument is the no character specified in length.

Thanks a lot;