Hello, Continuing a little bit data _null_ explanation , when you have switched to FORMATTED INPUT , SAS reads from where the pointer is therefore it does not scan for the next value as the case when reading data with LIST INPUT. You may find these links useful: http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lrcon/62955/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a003209907.htm http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lrdict/64316/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a000144370.htm ... View more