Modifying List Input (4)

Reading Free-Format Data

Modifying List Input

Processing the DATA Step

At compile time, the informat $12. in the example below sets the length of City to 12 and stores this information in the descriptor portion of the data set. During the execution phase however, the w value of 12 does not determine the number of columns that are read. This is different from the function of informats in the formatted input style.

     data perm.cityrank;
        infile topten;
        input Rank City & $12.
              Pop86 : comma.;
     run;

1---+----10---+----20---+--

1 NEW YORK  7,262,700

2 LOS ANGELES  3,259,340

3 CHICAGO  3,009,530

4 HOUSTON  1,728,910

5 PHILADELPHIA  1,642,900

1---+----10---+----20---+--
1 NEW YORK 7,262,700
2 LOS ANGELES 3,259,340
3 CHICAGO 3,009,530
4 HOUSTON 1,728,910
5 PHILADELPHIA 1,642,900

The & modifier indicates that the values for City should be read until two consecutive blanks are encountered. Therefore, the value NEW YORK is read from column 4 to column 11, a total of only 8 columns. When blanks are encountered in both columns 12 and 13, the value NEW YORK is written to the program data vector.

     data perm.cityrank;
        infile topten;
        input Rank City & $12.
              Pop86 : comma.;
     run;

12345678

1---+----10V--+----20---+--
1 NEW YORK 7,262,700
2 LOS ANGELES 3,259,340
3 CHICAGO 3,009,530
4 HOUSTON 1,728,910
5 PHILADELPHIA 1,642,900

The input pointer moves forward to the next nonblank column, which is column 13 in the first record. Now the values for Pop86 are read from column 13 until the next blank is encountered. The COMMAw.d informat removes the commas and the value is written to the program data vector.

     data perm.cityrank;
        infile topten;
        input Rank City & $12.
              Pop86 : comma.;
     run;

1---+----10---+----20-V-+--

1 NEW YORK  7,262,700

2 LOS ANGELES  3,259,340

3 CHICAGO  3,009,530

4 HOUSTON  1,728,910

5 PHILADELPHIA  1,642,900

1---+----10---+----20-V-+--
1 NEW YORK 7,262,700
2 LOS ANGELES 3,259,340
3 CHICAGO 3,009,530
4 HOUSTON 1,728,910
5 PHILADELPHIA 1,642,900

Notice that the character values for City and the nonstandard values for Pop86 are stored correctly in the data set.

SAS Data Set Perm.Cityrank

Rank City Pop86

1 NEW YORK 7262700

2 LOS ANGELES 3259340

3 CHICAGO 3009530

4 HOUSTON 1728910

5 PHILADELPHIA 1642900

6 DETROIT 1086220

7 SAN DIEGO 1015190

8 DALLAS 1003520

9 SAN ANTONIO 914350

10 PHOENIX 894070

Rank	City	Pop86
1	NEW YORK	7262700
2	LOS ANGELES	3259340
3	CHICAGO	3009530
4	HOUSTON	1728910
5	PHILADELPHIA	1642900
6	DETROIT	1086220
7	SAN DIEGO	1015190
8	DALLAS	1003520
9	SAN ANTONIO	914350
10	PHOENIX	894070