Date:         Fri, 1 Apr 2011 04:54:31 -0400
Reply-To:     Gerhard Hellriegel <gerhard.hellriegel@T-ONLINE.DE>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Gerhard Hellriegel <gerhard.hellriegel@T-ONLINE.DE>
Subject:      Re: Invalid Variable Names from SPSS file

you can try it with

data fixnames;

      set DatasetName;

      rename "q1.6"n = q1_6;

run;

Gerhard





On Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:18:13 +1300, Mark Emmett <mark.emmett@TWENTY.CO.NZ>
wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I've imported a dataset from SPSS using proc import (dbms = SAV) and some
of
>the variable names have a period character in them (e.g. "q1.6").
>
>
>
>I need to rename these, as they can't be used in SAS, but I can't use a
>rename statement since SAS won't accept the name in the first place.  Any
>ideas?
>
>
>
>An example of my code and errors follows:
>
>
>
>
>
>proc import out=work.DatasetName
>
>  datafile='path\dataset.sav'
>
>  dbms=SAV replace;
>
>run;
>
>
>
>data fixnames;
>
>      set DatasetName;
>
>      rename "q1.6" = q1_6;
>
>run;
>
>
>
>1377      data fixnames;
>
>1378      set DatasetName;
>
>1379      rename "q1.6" = q1_6;
>
>                  ^
>
>ERROR: Found ""q1.6"" when expecting a name
>
>1380      run;
>
>
>
>NOTE: DATA step was not executed because of errors detected
>
>NOTE: The data step took :
>
>      real time : 00:00:00.015
>
>      cpu time  : 00:00:00.000
>
>
>
>Thanks!
>
>Mark
>
>
>
>Mark Emmett
>Senior Insights Analyst | twenty
>
>ddi | +64 9 302 7386
>mob | +64 21 320 205
>web | twenty.co.nz
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