what does x4 do?

[SASPhile]

data ek;

x1=5;

x2=6;

x3=7;

x4=(x1|x2|x3);

run;

x4=1 in output

[joehinson]

x4=(x1|x2|x3 ) is the same as x4=(x1 OR x2 OR x3)

which is TRUE and therefore 1 (because it is an assignment statement and will always be true).

Furthermore, any number OR'ed with another number   would give 1, except (0 OR 0) which would give 0.

So, (34 OR 987765)=1

[Reeza]

It won't always be true, what if all are 0?

In SAS false is 0 and anything else is true.

data ek;

x1=0;

x2=0;

x3=0;

x4=(x1|x2|x3);

put x4;

run;

[Astounding]

Also, don't forget missing values are also false.

x1=.;

x2=.A;

x3=.Z;

x4=(x1|x2|x3);

x4 will be 0.