Defining the Split Character

To control how words break in column headings, you can use a split character in the column label. When PROC REPORT encounters the split character in a column heading, it breaks the heading and continues the heading on the next line. The split character itself does not appear in the heading.

To use a split character, you can do either of the following:

• Use the default slash (/) as the split character.
• Define a split character by using the SPLIT= option in the PROC REPORT statement.

Example

Suppose you want to break headings so that only one word appears on a line. Using the default slash as the split character, you can submit this PROC REPORT step. Notice that the column width has been reduced.

     proc report data=flights.europe nowd;
        where dest in ('LON','PAR');
        column flight orig dest mail freight revenue;
        define revenue / format=dollar15.2;
        define flight / width=6 'Flight/Number';
        define orig / width=6 spacing=5 'Flight/Origin';
        define dest / width=11 spacing=5 'Flight/Destination';
     run;

Or you can submit this program, which uses the SPLIT= option and produces exactly the same output:

     proc report data=flights.europe nowd split='*';
        where dest in ('LON','PAR');
        column flight orig dest mail freight revenue;
        define revenue / format=dollar15.2;
        define flight / width=13 'Flight*Number';
        define orig / width=6 spacing=5 'Flight*Origin';
        define dest / width=11 spacing=5 'Flight*Destination';
     run;

Here are both types of output from both programs: