Using Formatted Input (1)

Reading Raw Data in Fixed Fields

Using Formatted Input

The General Form of Formatted Input

Formatted input is a very powerful method for reading both standard and nonstandard data in fixed fields.

General form, INPUT statement using formatted input:
INPUT pointer-control variable informat.;

where pointer-control positions the input pointer on a specified column
variable is the name of the variable being created
informat is the special instruction that specifies how SAS software reads raw data.

In this lesson, you'll be working with two column pointer controls.

The @n moves the input pointer to a specific column number.
The +n moves the input pointer forward, to a column number relative to the current position.

Let's first take a look at the @n column pointer control.