Are you sure that you are getting exactly what you want? I may have missed something but your data _null_ module should have double&. That should cure your warning message. In your example the macro processor replaces the &i and the &theID at the "same time" so SAS is looking for &i which it can find but it can't find &theID b/c it doesn't exist. With a double ampersand, SAS resolves the && to a single &. So when the macro facility sees &&theID&i, the first iteration will look like &theID1 then &theID1 gets resolved. Cynthia and others on this site have offered much more elegant explainations. See my examples Try this: data _null_; %do i=1 %to &obscnt; %SingleUpdate("&&theID&i", "&&theDesc&i"); %end; run; See my example to show how the && and & resolve data test; input id desc $; datalines; 1 NORTH 2 SOUTH 3 EAST 4 WEST ; run; %macro test_macro; data _null_; set test end=eof; call symput('theID'||strip(put(_n_,best.)),strip(put(id,best.))); call symput('theDESC'||strip(put(_n_,best.)),strip(desc)); if eof then call symput ('obscnt',strip(put(_n_,best.))); run; proc sql; select * from dictionary.macros where name like 'THEID%' or name like 'THEDESC%' or name eq 'OBSCNT'; quit; %put Will Generate a Warning; %do i=1 %to &obscnt; %put '&theID&i'=&theID&i '&theDESC&i'=&theDESC&i; %end; %put; %put Will Not Generate a Warning; %do i=1 %to &obscnt; %put '&&theID&i'=&&theID&i '&&theDESC&i'=&&theDESC&i; %end; %mend test_macro; %test_macro; -Regards/ Darryl ... View more

I think you may have a data problem or two. Unless I am reading your log wrong, i see the lhead=0.38. which is not a "numeric" the 2 periods will not work. Also, It looks like there is no end of line marker since 0.38.pampel's run into each other -Darryl ... View more

Try the MISSOVER option in the INFILE statement. Missover helps if there is missing values. If that doesn't work try the TRUNCOVER option in the INFILE statement. I believe that TRUNCOVER works similar to MISSOVER but is a bit different in the details. And of course you can't use both. -Darryl ... View more

Hello First of all, SAS is a fantastic data processing tool and once you understand some techniques and syntax you can do just about anthing. There are many ways to do this in SAS. Unfortunately for the new SAS users all the methods will be challenging. The method below is something SAS calls "by group processing" and in my opinion this one of the most powerful data processing functions of SAS. It woul behoove you to throughly understand it. The SAS documentation does a good on this. Below are the link and navigation. The documentation can be difficult to navigate, but you'll get used to it after awhile. Go to http://support.sas.com/onlinedoc/913/docMainpage.jsp On the menu go to Base SAS -> SAS Language Reference: Concepts -> DATA Step Concepts -> BY-Group Processing in the DATA Step Now for the Example * Create a SAS Data Set; data one; length id_client date 8 connected $ 3; input id_client date connected $; Format date ddmmyy10.; informat date ddmmyy10.; datalines; 1 10-10-2007 Yes 1 10-11-2007 No 1 10-12-2007 Yes 2 08-10-2007 Yes 2 15-11-2007 Yes 2 20-12-2007 Yes 3 25-10-2007 Yes 3 30-10-2007 No ; run; * Sort by client and date; proc sort data=one; by id_client date; run; * This is an advanced technique for a SAS newbie, but it works; data two; set one; by id_client; /* enables by group processing in which SAS creates 2 boolean internal variables: 1) first.id_client = 1 for the first occurence of id_client, else=0 2) last.id_client= 1 for the last occurence of id_client, else=0 */ retain number ; * the retain statements "retains" the previous value unless you specifically tell it not too; if first.id_client=1 then number=0; /* for the occurence of id_client your counter is set to 0 */ if connected eq 'Yes' then number=number+1; /* once you see a Yes the counter is incremented by 1 */ run; /* to see what the first. and last. automatic variables are doing, see this code */ /* for learning purpose of by group processing */ data WhatSASisDoing; set one; by id_client; retain number; first=first.id_client; /* SAS won't output internal/automatice variables unless you assign it to another variable */ last=last.id_client; if first.id_client=1 then number=0; /* for the occurence of id_client your counter is set to 0 */ if connected eq 'Yes' then number=number+1; /* once you see a Yes the counter is incremented by 1 */ run; -Darryl ... View more

Hey what we've done is create a stored process in EG and then have .NET call it. This may point you in the right direction http://support.sas.com/rnd/itech/doc9/dev_guide/dist-obj/winclnt/windotnet.html -Darryl ... View more

Jim By using temporary arrays you can do what you want. A temporary array creates a set of values without creating variables. As with all arrays you can loop through them. See the online doc for details http://support.sas.com/onlinedoc/913/docMainpage.jsp My strategy was to look at your string as a collection of 6 one position characters. Then build upon that framework to get what you want. My first exampe creates is the general case. The second example should solve you specific problem. Also my indention didn't make it while i copy/paste the code. * General; data One; /* strategy, create a temporary array with all alphas and loop through to get all posible values */ array Alphas (26) $ 1 _temporary_ ('A' 'B' 'C' 'D' 'E' 'F' 'G' 'H' 'I' 'J' 'K' 'L' 'M' 'N' 'O' 'P' 'Q' 'R' 'S' 'T' 'U' 'V' 'W' 'X' 'Y' 'Z'); do p1=1 to 26; /* Position 1 of the string being created */ do p2=1 to 26; /* Position 2 of the string being created */ do p3=1 to 26; /* Position 3 of the string being created */ do p4=0 to 999; /* Position 4-6 of the string being created, fortunately creating numbers is easy with SAS formats */ char=alphas[p1]||alphas[p2]||alphas[p3]; /* || = concatenation */ num=put(p4,z3.); /* converts the value of p4 into a text string with leading zeros */ Value=char||num; output; end; end; end; end; run; ** Specific Problem; data Two; array Alphas (26) $ 1 _temporary_ ('A' 'B' 'C' 'D' 'E' 'F' 'G' 'H' 'I' 'J' 'K' 'L' 'M' 'N' 'O' 'P' 'Q' 'R' 'S' 'T' 'U' 'V' 'W' 'X' 'Y' 'Z'); do p1=1 to 3; /* Position 1 of the string being created, stops at C */ do p2=1 to 4; /* Position 2 of the string being created, stops at D */ do p3=1 to 5; /* Position 3 of the string being created, stops at R */ do p4=0 to 999; /* Position 4-6 of the string being created */ char=alphas[p1]||alphas[p2]||alphas[p3]; num=put(p4,z3.); Value=char||num; output; end; end; end; end; run; -Darryl ... View more

DaveC, Yes there is a way and with SAS there are multiple ways to do things. Below is a method, not neccessarily the best but for a new to SAS user this will show you some of the data processing power of SAS. Also read the documentation again and again and again. When I code in SAS I always have the documentation page up in my browser. http://support.sas.com/onlinedoc/913/docMainpage.jsp I would check out in the documentation Base SAS -> SAS Language Reference: Concepts -> DATA Step Concepts Now for your solution. data One; input Household_ID $ Sex; datalines; 0001 1 0001 1 0002 1 0002 2 0003 1 0004 1 ; run; proc sort data=One; by Household_ID Sex; run; data Two; set One; by Household_ID Sex; if first.sex ne last.sex; run; * for extra fun...; data Behind_the_scenes; set one; by Household_ID sex; /* first. = 1 for the first occurrence of the value last. = 1 for the last occurrence of the value so in your example: obs1 and 2 are duplicates Houshold_ID =0001 for obs=1, Houshold_ID =0001 sex=1, first.household_id=1 and last.household_id=0 first.sex =1 and last.sex=0 for obs=2, Houshold_ID =0001 sex=1, first.household_id=0 and last.household_id=1 first.sex =0 and last.sex=1 .. Notices: for obs=5, Houshold_ID =0003 sex=1, first.household_id=1 and last.household_id=1 first.sex =1 and last.sex=1 since there is only 1 record for household_id 0003 the first and last occurence is the same record hence first.household_id=last.household_id */ first_Household_ID=first.Household_ID; last_Household_ID=last.Household_ID; first_sex=first.sex; last_sex=last.sex; run; ... View more

First, You need to re-read Chuck's post on how the lag function works. His explaination is right on target, especially with using lag with conditional logic. Second, The first time that the lag function is called is during the 2 observation, since this is the first time the lag function is called there is no value to fetch. Recall from Chuck's post that lag is not the previous value, lag effectivilty places values in a queue. So you need to think what value is in the queue at any given record. Also see 15 100019900833 96.869 08MAY2008 XS0195487912 -0.018 16 100056520533 99.625 04JAN2008 PTSEMCOE0006 0.000 17 100056520533 99.616 08JAN2008 PTSEMCOE0006 2.747 Notice that the valor=99.616 for obs(17) and valor=99.625 for obs(16). I assume that you want the diff to be 99.616-99.625=-0.009. What is being calculated is for obs(17) minus valor for obs(15) 99.616-96.869=2.747. This is because the last value of valor in the lag queue is for obs(15). Your code skips the lag function for the first.codit. My guess is that you don't want to do that. I would do something like this. The below example has the additional benefit of creating another column (prior_valor) that holds the previous example. You can open up the table and see what values are being used in your calcuations. Don't be afraid to make as many variables as you need during development, you can always cull them down once you are certain all is well. data mylib.TAcc_Obriga; set mylib.TAcc_Obri; by codfonte codtit dtalt; prior_valor=lag(valor); if first.codtit then diff=0; if not first.codtit then diff = valor - prior_valor; run; -Darryl ... View more

Nanita you sorted by codfonte codtit dtalt, so in your data set you need the same by sequence in the data step set mylib.TAcc_Obri; by codfonte codtit; ...... -Darryl ... View more

My guess is that updating the local symbol table takes some time. But check this out.... I created 18828 macro variables using a plain old "do loop" and it took less than a second. When I 18828 macro variables via a macro do loop it took almost 7 seconds. Hmmmmm... 14 data _null_; 15 do i=1 to 18828; 16 call symput('var'||strip(put(i,8.)),i); 17 end; 18 run; NOTE: Numeric values have been converted to character values at the places given by: (Line):(Column). 16:41 NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time): real time 0.29 seconds cpu time 0.29 seconds 19 20 %macro test; 21 data _null_; 22 %do i=1 %to 18828; 23 call symput(cats('testvar',strip(put(&i.,8.))),strip(put(&i.,8.))); 24 %end; 25 run; 26 %mend test; 27 %test; NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time): real time 6.90 seconds cpu time 6.90 seconds ... View more

Everytime you create a macro variable an entry gets written in the macro symbol table either global or local depending on the scope. With your exampe you are creating 18828 global macro variables. To see what I'm writing about, go to sashelp.vmacro and you will see all 18828 macro variables. As mentioned in this forum before, the macro facilty is a way for SAS to generate SAS code and then that generated code gets executed. In the back ground somewhere SAS is generating "a line of code" for each iteration of your loop and then executes it. For an alternative method of looping, I would investigate CALL EXECUTE routine inside of the data step. -Darryl ... View more

You need a semi-colon after the do replace if region(i)='HEAD' then do trhead(i)=ais(i); end; with if region(i)='HEAD' then do; trhead(i)=ais(i); end; -Darryl ... View more

I think I meant trhead but try to define them all as character -Darryl ... View more

My first guess would be that the array region is defined as numeric. replace array region{22} region_1 - region_22; array region{22} $ region_1 - region_22; See what happens. -Darryl ... View more