working with variable names:numeric

[michokwu]

Hello,

I want to calculate 5-year average on a time series dataset with Years as the variable names. How do I correctly input the variable names in my code?

My data:

Company	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
A	9470	6920	3540	8247	8177	8001	7047	5829	5388	6491
B	8141	8511	6755	7427	6252	6551	8634	6489	5715	7338
C	506	90	1073	183	217	1432	699	382	253	340
D	1027	1521	1319	390	667	1101	371	1201	273	1311

What I want

Company	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2001-2005	2006-2010
A	9470	6920	3540	8247	8177	8001	7047	5829	5388	6491	7270.8	6551.2
B	8141	8511	6755	7427	6252	6551	8634	6489	5715	7338	7417.2	6945.4
C	506	90	1073	183	217	1432	699	382	253	340	413.8	621.2
D	1027	1521	1319	390	667	1101	371	1201	273	1311	984.8	851.4

Thank you,

Data want;
set have;
'2001-2005'n=mean(of 2001-2005);
'2006-2010'n=mean(of 2006-2010);
run;

[Reeza · Accepted solution]

Don't. Use variable labels instead that can be exported instead of names but programming with variable names like that is a recipe for making silly mistakes like adding two raw values together because you forgot the quotes. It's really hard to find those errors. 

If you set the following, SAS will import the data with valid SAS names.

options validvarname = V7;

If you have to stick with this, for whatever reason, use the same notation you used on the right hand side of the equal sign.

data want;
set have;
Mean_2001_2005 = mean(of '2001'n-'2005'n);
label mean_2001_2005 = "Mean: 2001 to 2005";
run;

proc print data=want LABELS;
run;

---

@michokwu wrote:

Hello,

I want to calculate 5-year average on a time series dataset with Years as the variable names. How do I correctly input the variable names in my code?

My data:

Company	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
A	9470	6920	3540	8247	8177	8001	7047	5829	5388	6491
B	8141	8511	6755	7427	6252	6551	8634	6489	5715	7338
C	506	90	1073	183	217	1432	699	382	253	340
D	1027	1521	1319	390	667	1101	371	1201	273	1311

What I want

Company	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2001-2005	2006-2010
A	9470	6920	3540	8247	8177	8001	7047	5829	5388	6491	7270.8	6551.2
B	8141	8511	6755	7427	6252	6551	8634	6489	5715	7338	7417.2	6945.4
C	506	90	1073	183	217	1432	699	382	253	340	413.8	621.2
D	1027	1521	1319	390	667	1101	371	1201	273	1311	984.8	851.4

Thank you,

Data want;
set have;
'2001-2005'n=mean(of 2001-2005);
'2006-2010'n=mean(of 2006-2010);
run;

---

[michokwu]

Thank you