@Kurt_Bremserit says that the variable SIC is character    yeah I figured proc contents is not the solution. This is the first time I used this so I'm not sure what to do exactly. so after going youtube and taking in you guys' suggestions   this is what I've got so far: CODE libname mydata '/folders/myfolders/Company data'; data work.banks;  set mydata.UK_Quarterly;  keep SIC CONML; proc freq data=mydata.uk;   tables work.banks;   where SIC =: '6000'; data mydata.uk;  set mydata.uk;  if SIC= '6000' then output;  run;   LOG 1          OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 72         73         libname mydata '/folders/myfolders/Company data'; NOTE: Libref MYDATA was successfully assigned as follows:        Engine:        V9        Physical Name: /folders/myfolders/Company data 74         data work.banks; 75         set mydata.UK_Quarterly; NOTE: Data file MYDATA.UK_QUARTERLY.DATA is in a format that is native to another host, or the file encoding does not match the        session encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used, which might require additional CPU resources and might reduce        performance. 76         keep SIC CONML; 77         78           NOTE: There were 135194 observations read from the data set MYDATA.UK_QUARTERLY. NOTE: The data set WORK.BANKS has 135194 observations and 2 variables. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):        real time           24.62 seconds        cpu time            10.96 seconds          79         proc freq data=mydata.uk; 80           tables work.banks;                      __________                      22                      201 ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: a name, (, _ALL_, _CHARACTER_, _CHAR_, _NUMERIC_.  ERROR 201-322: The option is not recognized and will be ignored. 81           where SIC =: '6000'; ERROR: Variable NAME not found. 82           NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors. NOTE: PROCEDURE FREQ used (Total process time):        real time           0.01 seconds        cpu time            0.00 seconds            83         data mydata.uk; 84         set mydata.uk; 85         if SIC= '6000' then output; 86         run;   NOTE: There were 0 observations read from the data set MYDATA.UK. NOTE: The data set MYDATA.UK has 0 observations and 474 variables. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):        real time           0.06 seconds        cpu time            0.02 seconds          87         88         OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 100          DO you know if there's a website that do SAS for me?       ... View more

@AstoundingI've done that and the results still came out blank, does it mean that I have nothing satisfy the condition? ... View more

CODE: libname mydata '/folders/myfolders/Company data'; data work.banks;  set mydata.uk;  keep SIC CONML DCSFD DLC DLTT EBITDA;     proc contents data=mydata.uk; data mydata.uk;  set mydata.uk;  if SIC= '6000' then output;  run;   LOG:   1          OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 72         73 libname mydata '/folders/myfolders/Company data'; NOTE: Libref MYDATA refers to the same physical library as _TEMP0. NOTE: Libref MYDATA was successfully assigned as follows:        Engine:        V9        Physical Name: /folders/myfolders/Company data 74         data work.banks; 75         set mydata.uk; 76         keep SIC CONML DCSFD DLC DLTT EBITDA; 77         78         79           NOTE: There were 0 observations read from the data set MYDATA.UK. NOTE: The data set WORK.BANKS has 0 observations and 6 variables. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):        real time           0.07 seconds        cpu time            0.04 seconds          80         proc contents data=mydata.uk; 81         82           NOTE: PROCEDURE CONTENTS used (Total process time):        real time           9.37 seconds        cpu time            9.28 seconds          83         data mydata.uk; 84         set mydata.uk; 85         if SIC= '6000' then output; 86         run;   NOTE: There were 0 observations read from the data set MYDATA.UK. NOTE: The data set MYDATA.UK has 0 observations and 474 variables. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):        real time           0.14 seconds        cpu time            0.11 seconds          87         88         OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 100     My results is still blank, can you let me know if the coding is correct. because otherwise, there would be no results that satisfy the condition thanks:) ... View more

Thank you @Kurt_Bremser, im going to try working that out ... View more

@Kurt_Bremser    full log     1          OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 72         73 libname mydata '/folders/myfolders/Company data'; NOTE: Libref MYDATA refers to the same physical library as _TEMP0. NOTE: Libref MYDATA was successfully assigned as follows:        Engine:        V9        Physical Name: /folders/myfolders/Company data 74         data work.banks; 75         set mydata.uk; NOTE: Data file MYDATA.UK.DATA is in a format that is native to another host, or the file encoding does not match the session        encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used, which might require additional CPU resources and might reduce        performance. 76         keep SIC CONML DCSFD DLC DLTT EBITDA; 77         78         run;   NOTE: There were 38841 observations read from the data set MYDATA.UK. NOTE: The data set WORK.BANKS has 38841 observations and 6 variables. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):        real time           41.40 seconds        cpu time            28.60 seconds          79         80         proc sql; 81         select SIC, CONML 82         from mydata.uk 83         where SIC = '6000'; NOTE: Data file MYDATA.UK.DATA is in a format that is native to another host, or the file encoding does not match the session        encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used, which might require additional CPU resources and might reduce        performance. NOTE: No rows were selected. 84         85         quit; NOTE: PROCEDURE SQL used (Total process time):        real time           8.47 seconds        cpu time            3.38 seconds          86         87         OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 99     ... View more

1 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 72 73 libname mydata '/folders/myfolders/Company data'; NOTE: Libref MYDATA refers to the same physical library as _TEMP0. NOTE: Libref MYDATA was successfully assigned as follows: Engine: V9 Physical Name: /folders/myfolders/Company data 74 data work.banks; 75 set mydata.uk; NOTE: Data file MYDATA.UK.DATA is in a format that is native to another host, or the file encoding does not match the session encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used, which might require additional CPU resources and might reduce performance. 76 keep SIC CONML DCSFD DLC DLTT EBITDA; 77 78 run; NOTE: There were 38841 observations read from the data set MYDATA.UK. NOTE: The data set WORK.BANKS has 38841 observations and 6 variables. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time): real time 41.40 seconds cpu time 28.60 seconds 79 80 proc sql; 81 select SIC, CONML 82 from mydata.uk 83 where SIC = '6000'; NOTE: Data file MYDATA.UK.DATA is in a format that is native to another host, or the file encoding does not match the session encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used, which might require additional CPU resources and might reduce performance. NOTE: No rows were selected. 84 85 quit; NOTE: PROCEDURE SQL used (Total process time): real time 8.47 seconds cpu time 3.38 seconds 86 87 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 99 ... View more

Hi, thank you for your reply   this is the copy of my full code   libname mydata '/folders/myfolders/Company data'; data work.banks;  set mydata.uk;  keep SIC CONML DCSFD DLC DLTT EBITDA;   run; proc sql;  select SIC, CONML  from mydata.uk  where SIC = 6000;   quit;     the first part works, but the second part doesnt. ===ERROR: Expression using equals (=) has components that are of different data types.   ... View more