Date:         Fri, 2 Dec 2005 07:16:14 -0500
Reply-To:     Gerhard Hellriegel <ghellrieg@T-ONLINE.DE>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Gerhard Hellriegel <ghellrieg@T-ONLINE.DE>
Subject:      Re: length of id

Hi Dirk,
...especially because chars are more exact! In SAS you have only binary
float-numbers. You might not see the difference between 0.9999999999999 and
1.0000000012345, but e.g. a MERGE does not match these "IDs". In other
languages you have INTEGERs for that, in SAS you don't. So it's better to
convert all to chars.
However if you insist on numerics and you are aware of the no-matching
problems, you can ignore the warnings about the formats. Also with a format
nothing gets better.
Regards,
Gerhard


On Fri, 2 Dec 2005 06:16:45 -0500, Jim Groeneveld <jim1stat@YAHOO.CO.UK> wrote:

>Hi Dirk,
>
>You do not need to define the length of the variable, but (to associate)
>the appropriate format. Your value may get as high as 190,000,000, so a
>format might be: 9. or BEST9. (incl. the period). But as these numbers are
>only identification codes and have no meaning and will not be used in
>calculations I prefer ID's to be of character type, just text, even if
>consisting of only digits.
>
>Regards - Jim.
>--
>Y. (Jim) Groeneveld, MSc., Biostatistician, Vitatron b.v., NL
>Jim.Groeneveld_AT_Vitatron.com (replace _AT_ by AT sign)
>http://www.vitatron.com, http://home.hccnet.nl/jim.groeneveld
>
>My computer regards me as its master, but I seem to be its slave.
>
>[common disclaimer]
>
>On Fri, 2 Dec 2005 10:45:03 Z, Dirk Nachbar <Dirk.Nachbar@DWP.GSI.GOV.UK>
>wrote:
>
>>Dear all
>>
>>I am merging 12 tables by a PID. Now this variable can be as high as
>1.9E8. The
>>SAS log reports the following error.
>>
>>At least one W.D format was too small for the number to be printed. The
>decimal
>>may be
>>      shifted by the "BEST" format.
>>
>>I tried to define the length of PID in the merge-data-step, but SAS won't
>have
>>it.. What should I do?
>>
>>
>>Dirk Nachbar
>>Assistant Economist
>>Pensim2
>>Department for Work and Pensions
>>Level 4, The Adelphi
>>1-11 John Adam St
>>WC2N 6HT London
>>020 796 28531
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