Line Pointer Controls

Creating a Single Observation from Multiple Records

Line Pointer Controls

You know that as SAS software reads raw data values, it keeps track of its position with an input pointer. You have used column pointer controls and column specifications to determine the column placement of the input pointer.

Column
Specifications
input Name $ 1-12 Age 15-16 Gender $ 18;

Column
Pointer Controls
input Name $12. @15 Age 2. @18 Gender $1.;

But you can also position the input pointer on a specific record by using a line pointer control in the INPUT statement.
input #2 Name $ 1-12 Age 15-16 Gender $ 18;

Raw Data File Admit

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

S. Thompson   37 M

L. Rochester  31 F

M. Sabatello  43 M

1---+----10---+----
S. Thompson 37 M
L. Rochester 31 F
M. Sabatello 43 M

There are two basic types of line pointer controls.

The forward slash (/) specifies a line location relative to the current one.

The #n specifies the absolute number of the line to which you want to move the pointer.

First we'll take a look at the forward slash (/). Later in the lesson, you'll learn how to use the #n and see how these two controls can be combined.

Creating a Single Observation from Multiple Records
Line Pointer Controls

Column Specifications	input Name $ 1-12 Age 15-16 Gender $ 18;
Column Pointer Controls	input Name $12. @15 Age 2. @18 Gender $1.;