@Ksharp :   If I expected double blanks in a character field (thereby defeating the benefit of the ampersand in the informat for city) , then I would use DLM=','  dropping the blank as a field delimiter.  This prevents consecutive internal blanks being interpreted as delimiters.  However it would then force me to read in the first three fields as consistently formatted:   data want ; infile datalines dlm=','; input (shipid received shipped) ($5. +1 yymmdd10. +1 yymmdd10.) city :$20. st :$2. zipcode $5.; format received yymmdd10. shipped yymmdd10.; datalines; X8742 2018/03/14 2018/03/17 Little River City, KS, 67457 X8742 2018/03/14 2018/03/17 Little River City, KS, 67457 R9028 2018/06/12 2018/07/10 Bartlett, KS, 67332 run;       ... View more