Date:         Fri, 16 Aug 1996 08:25:17 EDT
Reply-To:     rhoadsm1@WESTATPO.WESTAT.COM
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         Mike Rhoads <rhoadsm1@WESTATPO.WESTAT.COM>
Subject:      Re[2]: CORRECTION: reading dollar amounts with SAS

[OK -- small correction to my original posting, in case anyone winds up
searching in vain for the mythical "DOLLAR" informat.  What I REALLY meant
was the COMMA informat, which among its many virtues removes dollar signs
from input data fields.  I guess there's a reason to try things out before
posting them ...]
 
          Mike Rhoads
 
     It was interesting to read Pete Lund's solution to Bill Kossack's question
about reading values such as 0000-$10.09 and 00$12345.43 in SAS.  (Pete's
solution and Bill's original question are included at the end.)  I had been
thinking of a different approach:  after reading the field as character, use a
DO-loop to replace all of the leading zeroes with blanks, and then use the INPUT
function with the COMMA informat.  I appreciate Pete's ingenious alternative,
and since it's at least as good as mine I felt relieved of the obligation to
actually implement my idea in code.
 
     One final thought:  we really should find the "someone" who created these
atrocities, and stop him (or her) before s/he strikes again!!!   (wink)
 
          Mike Rhoads
          Westat
          RhoadsM1@Westat.com
 
*** Pete Lund's response and Bill Kossack's original question ***
Bill-
  Try this.
 
data _null_;
  input dollars $12.;
  NewBucks = input(compress(dollars,'$-'),12.2) *
             (((indexc(dollars,'-') gt 0) * -2) + 1);
  put dollars= NewBucks=;
  cards;
0000-$10.09
00$12345.43
;
run;
 
with results...
 
DOLLARS=0000-$10.09 NEWBUCKS=-10.09
DOLLARS=00$12345.43 NEWBUCKS=12345.43
 
  Read in the dollar values as character.  The statement to convert the
dollars to numeric does the following:
   - COMPRESSes out the $ and the - sign and puts the number into a numeric
format - this will get rid of the leading zeros
   - checks to see if there's a - sign (INDEXC will return a zero if not or
the position of the - in the string), here's the logic:
     -> INDEXC(dollars,'-') gt 0 returns 0 if no '-', 1 if found
     -> multiply by -2 still gives 0 if not found, -2 if found
     -> add 1 gives 1 if not found, -1 if found
   - we can multiply the numeric portion of the dollar amount by this number
to get a negative if there was a '-' in the number and a positive if not
 
   You could also do the first part of the expression:
     NewBucks = input(compress(dollars,'$_'),12.2);
   and then:
     if indexc(dollars,'-') gt 0 then NewBucks = NewBucks * -1;
 
   But where's the fun in that?!?
 
Pete Lund
WA State Office of Financial Management
peterl@ofm.wa.gov
 ----------
From: Bill Kossack
Subject: reading dollar amounts with SAS
Date: Thursday, August 15, 1996 2:39PM
 
Someone has created a file containing a field with an amount of money.
The problem with reading the field is that they have written the field in
the following format.
 
        0000-$10.09
or
        00$12345.43
 
That is, the dollar amount has leading zeros with a sign if negative
and a dollar sign and a decimal and the cents.
 
The number of dollars can range from none to a large number.  This results
in the sign being in any possible location and the dollar sign following.
The kicker is the leading zeros.
 
How do I read this with SAS?
 
 
                                                William S. Kossack
                                                Lakewood, Colorado
                                                kossack@netcom.com