While Toby's solution suffices, I like "extendible" approaches, too:

Data _null_ ;

Length Y $ 8 ;

Do x = 1 to 2.1 by 0.01 ;

If Mod( X , 1 ) ne 0 Then Y = Put( X , 8.2 ) ; Else Y = Put( X , 8.0 ) ;

If PRXMatch( "/^1\.?.*$/" , Strip( Y )) Then Put Y= ; Else Put "*" Y "*" ;

End ;

Run ;

The carrot ("^") says that the match must start at the beginning of the string while the dollar sign says that they match must also end at the end of the string. The "\." Is a match of the literal period ("."), but it must be escaped using the backslash ("\"). The next period "." matches any byte (character). I could have used \d for the digits 0-9, but this is flexible. However, I allow zero any number of matches by using the asterisk ("*").

This can be extended to the first ten visits only:

"/^\d+(\.0.)*$/"

i.e. x-x.09, but it may be overkill:

0 <= mod( Input( X , 8. ) , 1 ) <= 0.09

One always has several ways to do it...

HTH,

Kevin

Kevin Viel, PhD Senior Research Statistician Patient Safety & Quality International College of Robotic Surgery Saint Joseph's Translational Research Institute

Saint Joseph's Hospital 5671 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, NE, Suite 330 Atlanta, GA 30342

(678) 843-6076: Direct Phone (678) 843-6153: Facsimile (404) 558-1364: Mobile kviel@sjha.org

> -----Original Message----- > From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of sas > quest > Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 11:57 AM > To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU > Subject: capturing some visits > > hi all, > i have a dataset with visits > 1,1.01,1.02,2,2.02,2.03,3,3.01,3.02,3.03,3.04....until 15 or so. > If i need to capture say all visits that start with 1,or 3 how do i code > it > efficiently? > > I tried the colon operator but didnt work because it will include > 10,11,... > if visit in: (1,3); > > i can do this with index/find but dont want to keep guessing visits. > > Thanks Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including any attachments is the property of Catholic Health East and is intended for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). It may contain information that is privileged and confidential. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message, and reply to the sender regarding the error in a separate email.