Hi,   Sample data and code: data sample_values; input letter $; datalines; A B C run; data lower_values; set sample_values; x = %lowcase(letter); y = lowcase(letter); run; proc print data=lower_values; run; The result: Obs letter x y 1 A A a 2 B B b 3 C C c Question 1: For the first observation, the %lowcase didn't work, Is it because the %lowcase executed at compile time and the value for LETTER is still missing?    Question 2: What happened during the 2nd iteration for x? x = %lowcase(letter); If %lowcase is executed only once, what would the above line be equivalent to in the 2nd iteration?   Thanks! ... View more

Hi, I am reading through the SAS Specialist Guide book and I am a bit confused about whether or not SAS resets the values in the PDV for each new iteration: Earlier in the book, it says the variable values in the PDV are reset to missing for each iteration. Sample code used in book: data work.update; set cert.invent; Total=instock+backord; SalePrice=(CostPerUnit*0.65)+CostPerUnit; format CostPerUnit SalePrice dollar6.2; run; The variables InStock BackOrd CostPerUnit Total SalePrice are shown in a table with initialized missing values in the book for each starting iteration.  Then the NEXT section in the book has: When PROC IMPORT reads raw data, SAS sets the value of each variable in the DATA step to missing at the beginning of each cycle of execution, with these exceptions: variables that are named in a RETAIN statement variables that are created in a sum statement automatic variables In contrast, when reading variables from a SAS data set, SAS sets the values to missing only before the first cycle of execution of the DATA step. Therefore, the variables retain their values until new values become available (for example, through an assignment statement or through the next execution of a SET or MERGE statement). Variables that are created with options in a SET or MERGE statement also retain their values from one cycle of execution to the next.   My questions: 1. In the NEXT section, is it referring to situation for PROC IMPORT? If so, why would you use a PROC IMPORT on a SAS data set? If not, then it contradicts to earlier section in the book. 2. From the book, Variables that are created with options in a SET or MERGE statement, what variables can you create with options other than the in= variables? 3. Can I use the PUTLOG before and after the SET statement to test whether the variables are initialized to missing? Unfortunately for me, I don't have access to SAS. Is there a student version anywhere for people learning SAS? Thanks! ... View more

Hi,   When I store user-defined formats permanently, I define the location of where they are stored. So when I want to view them, I can do something like: libname myfmtlib 'c:\SAS\mylib'; proc format library=myfmtlib fmtlib; run; How do I do this if I want to access the location of where SAS defined dates, comma etc if I don't know the path of where they are stored?   I have tried View -> Explorer -> Work, there is no Format catalog.  Thanks ... View more

Hi,   data a; input ID x; datalines; 1 a 1 b 3 c run; data b; input ID y; datalines; 1 a 1 b 1 c run; data c; merge a b; by ID; run; The result is: obs ID x y 1 1 a a 2 1 b b 3 1 b c 4 3 c My question is, is there a way to produce an output as follows: obs ID x y 1 1 a a 2 1 b b 3 1 c 4 3 c Thanks ... View more

Hi,   So the PUT can print a data variable and its value to the log and the %PUT can do the same for Macro variables. Is there a way to do this for libname vars?   For example, if I have a libname defined as the following: libname x "%SYSGET(dir)"; If the above code is written as: %let x = %sysget(dir); I can get the value of x by using %PUT x; What can I do if %LET is replaced with LIBNAME? I know in a SAS log, it'll print out the definition of a libname defined in the program. I guess my question is, if you can print a Macro variable or a SAS data step variable, can you do something similar for a libname var?   Thanks ... View more

Hi,   If I have two datasets: dataset ONE: ID fruits 1    apple 1    peach 2   orange 3   pineapple   dataset TWO: ID a b c d e   dataset WANT: ID fruits a    apple a   peach b   orange c   pineapple   So, I am trying to replace all the values in dataset ONE for column ID from the column ID in dataset TWO. However, the difficult part for me is that there are multiple rows with the same ID in dataset ONE. For those repeating IDs, they need to be replaced with the same ID from dataset TWO. Like the example shown above, in dataset WANT, there should be two a's since there are two 1's. How do I do that?   Thanks! ... View more

Hi,   The following example is from the SAS Help Center:   %let x=1; %let items=2; %macro test(val); data _null_; call symputx('items', ' leading and trailing blanks removed ', 'L'); call symputx(' x ', 123.456); run; %put local items &items; %mend test; %test(100) %put items=!&items!; %put x=!&x!; Question: Why is there a parameter val used for the macro test? What does that 100 do when used for val? I couldn't tell from the log.    Thanks!   ... View more

Hi,   Here are two examples from the SAS Help Center:   data u1(keep=x); seed=104; do i=1 to 5; call ranuni(seed, x); output; end; call symputx('seed', seed); run; data u2(keep=x); seed=&seed; do i=1 to 5; call ranuni(seed, x); output; end; run; Question 1: The call symputx in the u1, is used for the data step in u2?   If I modify the code from u1 to the one below: data u1(keep=x); do seed=1 to 5; call ranuni(seed, x); output; end; run; Question 2: Why doesn't the modified code provide 5 different numbers? Each time the seed has a new value, which is like the seed in dataset u2, except it's not a macro variable.   Thanks!   ... View more