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Programming Tips 8

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Pay attention to the following when using the INPUT function:

1. Use the Right Informat

Converting a variable from character to numeric is just a matter of finding the right informats.

Below is the list of informats that are commonly used:

You can also look up the list of informats on the SAS official website.


2. Invalid Data Error

When using the Input function, you might encounter a note from the Log tab: 

NOTE: Invalid argument to function INPUT at line 60 column 9.

This is often due to an incomplete data point from the variable.

Example

Data Conv; Input Date $10.; Datalines; 2015-01-01 2015-02-01 2015-03-01 2015-04-01 2015-05-01 2015-06-01 2015-07-01 2015- 2015-01-01 2015-10-01 2015-11-01 2015-12-01 ; Run;

The Date variable above contains an incomplete date (which is very common by the way). 

When converting the variable into numeric, SAS will show a note regarding the Invalid data.

Although this is not considered an error message, it is a good programming practice to clean it up before continuing your program.

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