Date:         Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:48:22 -0500
Reply-To:     Jack Clark <JClark@CHPDM.UMBC.EDU>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Jack Clark <JClark@CHPDM.UMBC.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Limit Bytes Being Read from Text File on Infile Statement?
Comments: To: "Terjeson, Mark" <Mterjeson@russell.com>
In-Reply-To:  <16FD64291482A34F995D2AF14A5C932C015A7AA2@MAIL002.prod.ds.russell.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Mark,

Thanks for the reply.

My text file is fixed length (7984 bytes), and I need to read in 2
fields.

data reas8;
   infile myfile missover lrecl=7984;
   input     @475    subreasn   $2.
             @477    ICN3       $17.
                 ;
run;


Maybe I am thinking of another language I used to use long ago?  But I
thought I had used something in SAS in the past to say "don't read all
the way out to 7,984 bytes because you only need to look in the first
500 bytes for what I need".  It would have been on either MVS or VSE
mainframe - SAS Version 6.

Jack Clark
Research Analyst
Center for Health Program Development and Management
University of Maryland, Baltimore County



-----Original Message-----
From: Terjeson, Mark [mailto:Mterjeson@russell.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:38 PM
To: Jack Clark; SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: RE: Limit Bytes Being Read from Text File on Infile Statement?

Hi Jack,

If the lines of text are a fixed length
then the LRECL= works good, if the lines
are not fixed length then the $VARYING is
handy.

If you want to fetch just the first 500
bytes of each line then the trick is to
get the record pointer to jump to the next
starting point.  The easiest way to do this
is to just go ahead and set your LRECL to
the physical line length and then just use
the   INPUT @1 mychunk $500.   to load only the
first 500 bytes, then the next starting point
will automatically be in the right place.

If you meant that the text lines are 8000
(and not the file size) then set your LRECL
to 8000 in order for the record pointer to
hop to each physical record and then just
use the INPUT statement options to read just
the pieces you want.

If varying line lengths just INPUT the line
with the $VARYING options and use SUBSTR()
to chop out the first 500 bytes, etc.
e.g.
filename yourfile 'c:\mycode.sas';
data theds(keep=theline);
  length theline $200;
  infile yourfile length=lenvar;
  input @1 theline $varying. lenvar;
  mychunk = substr(theline,1,500);
run;




Hope this is helpful.


Mark Terjeson
Senior Programmer Analyst, IM&R
Russell Investments


Russell Investments
Global Leaders in Multi-Manager Investing






-----Original Message-----
From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jack Clark
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:24 AM
To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Limit Bytes Being Read from Text File on Infile Statement?

Hello everyone,



Am I imagining things or isn't there some option/parameter on the INFILE
or INPUT statement that limits how many bytes of an external file is
read?



For example, if I have a text file that is 8,000 bytes long, and the
only variables I want to read in are in the first 500 bytes, isn't there
a way to tell SAS to only read the first 500 bytes?



It's been a while, but I thought I remembered something like that?  Or
maybe you just set the LRECL= the lower value with the
MISS/FLOW/TRUNCOVER option??



Thanks for any suggestions.



Jack Clark

Research Analyst

Center for Health Program Development and Management

University of Maryland, Baltimore County