Date:         Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:34:20 +0000
Reply-To:     toby dunn <tobydunn@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         toby dunn <tobydunn@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Convert from Character to Numeric
Comments: To: rndivo@GMAIL.COM
In-Reply-To:  <f1df4bab0707110812y5fb37d5dk44ecf1c3043b3cae@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Richard ,

You missed the point.

SAS has two types of variables Numeric and Character and you cant change one
on th efly, you have rename it and then apply the value to another variable
whos type is in your case numeric.  Now once you get to that point you have
three options:

1.) Do an Assignment statement and have SAS do a implicit conversion
2.) Multiply by 1 and SAS will do an implicit conversion first.
3.) USe the right freakin informat to start with.

1 and 2 can leave you with nasty little note sin your log which at some
shops arent allowed.  Secondly they can sometimes screw up on the
conversion.

3.) Now three is the best method because you the programmer are explicitly
converting it hopefully you have done so correctly, never the less the onus
is on the programmer and not left up to SAS to guess.  Dates and Times can
be a tricky thing while you cxan have some which are all numeric 20071228,
simply making them numeric isnt going to accomplish anything more than
leaveing them as a character.  In fact it will eat up more space.  If you
use the correct informat SAS will translate these into a numeric which has
meaning in SAS.  Thus you are now able to use a SAS defined format or user
defined format to express it in many different human readbale forms in your
output.



Toby Dunn

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.  Murphys Law #2.

The buddy system is essential to your survival; it gives the enemy somebody
else to shoot at.
Murphys Law #


Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe
you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be
sure.  Murphys Law #9






From: Richard Ndivo <rndivo@GMAIL.COM>
Reply-To: Richard Ndivo <rndivo@GMAIL.COM>
To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Convert from Character to Numeric
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:12:42 +0300

Hi All,
Still on the subject of converting from character to numeric; which is more
efficient: multiplying the variable by 1 (var2 = var1 * 1); or using the
input function (var2 = input(var1, x.);

Thanks.

On 6/29/07, toby dunn <tobydunn@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>USe the right informat, yymmdd
>
>
>
>Toby Dunn
>
>If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.  Murphys Law #2.
>
>The buddy system is essential to your survival; it gives the enemy
>somebody
>else to shoot at.
>Murphys Law #
>
>
>Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe
>you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be
>sure.  Murphys Law #9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>From: Job Seeker <entry_mid_level_sas@YAHOO.COM>
>Reply-To: Job Seeker <entry_mid_level_sas@YAHOO.COM>
>To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Convert from Character to Numeric
>Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:19:46 -0400
>
>Trying to Convert from Character to Numeric. Can anyone please let me know
>what may be possible wrong with the following coding:
>
>     format birthdtn DATE9.;
>     birthdtn=input(compress(birthdt, '-'), date9.);
>
>
>Getting following error:
>NOTE: Invalid argument to function INPUT at line 2308 column 14.
>SUBJID=0020033 SEX=Female BIRTHDT=19610424 birthdtn=. _ERROR_=1 _N_=1
>NOTE: Invalid argument to function INPUT at line 2308 column 14.
>SUBJID=0020033 SEX=Female BIRTHDT=19610424 birthdtn=. _ERROR_=1 _N_=2
>NOTE: Invalid argument to function INPUT at line 2308 column 14.
>
>Thank you.
>
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