Date:         Mon, 22 Nov 2004 10:29:28 -0800
Reply-To:     "Choate, Paul@DDS" <pchoate@DDS.CA.GOV>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Choate, Paul@DDS" <pchoate@DDS.CA.GOV>
Subject:      Re: Why my date names were cut short after using IMPORT proc
Comments: To: Fred <ieaggie2002@gmail.com>

Fred -

In SAS 9 you can - they are called "name literals" and were created for DBMS
compatibility.  You use quotes around the variable name followed by an "n".
Look them up on the SAS online.doc.  There is also a name literal function
you may be interested in NLITERAL(string).

/* must allow them (they are still experimental) */
Options VALIDVARNAME=ANY;

/* '1996xPxx'n is a variable name -
    when printed or exported it reads 1996xPxx */
Data whatever;
     '1996xPxx'n=1234;
run;

hth

Paul Choate
DDS Data Extraction
(916) 654-2160

-----Original Message-----
From: Fred [mailto:ieaggie2002@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 10:19 AM
To: Choate, Paul@DDS
Cc: sas-l@listserv.uga.edu
Subject: Re: Why my date names were cut short after using IMPORT proc

Thanks, Paul.

But I need to make the variable's name consistent with other data sources,
That is, I have to keep '1999PXX' or '200xPxx' as my date format.
So can I change the column's name from '_999Pxx'  and'_00xPxx' to '1999
and '200xPxx' after I imported the data file?

Fred




On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 09:46:57 -0800, Choate, Paul@DDS <pchoate@dds.ca.gov>
wrote:
>
>
> Fred - variable names can't start with a number!  Try Y1999P01, I use CY
and
> FY for calendar and fiscal years and FD for federal fiscal year.
>
> hth
>
>
> Paul Choate
> DDS Data Extraction
> (916) 654-2160
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Fred
> Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 9:35 AM
> To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Why my date names were cut short after using IMPORT proc
>
> Hi, all
>
> My orignal data file is a .txt file, like
>          1999P01   1999P02   1999P03 ....
> Group1  xxx            xxx          xxxxx
> Group2  xxx            xx            xxx
> ....
>
> My import proc code is:
> PROC IMPORT DATAFILE = 'data.txt'
>     OUT = test DBMS = TAB REPLACE;
> RUN;
>
> After running the code, the output data set becomes:
> Var1         _999P01      _999P02     _999P03    ...
> Group1     xxx              xxx            xxxxx
> Group2     xxx              xx              xxx
> ....
>
> How to make the imported dates (YearMonth) not to be cut off?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Fred