Rename all variable sas - sas

Question

I have a database where 12,000 variables are named "A0122_40", "A0122_45", "A0122_50" and so on. I would like to rename them by keeping in the initial name the numbers from 2 to 5. I would then like to create variables adding all the columns with the same name.

Answer 1

CASE 1
If you want to join two tables with same column names, and keep all data:
data class;
set sashelp.class (obs=2);
rename name=A0122_40
Sex=A0122_45
Weight=A0122_50
Height=A0122_55
;run;
Prepared Table:
+----------+----------+-----+----------+----------+
| A0122_40 | A0122_45 | Age | A0122_55 | A0122_50 |
+----------+----------+-----+----------+----------+
| Alfred | M | 14 | 69 | 112.5 |
| Alice | F | 13 | 56.5 | 84 |
+----------+----------+-----+----------+----------+
Code to rename:
%macro renameCols(lb , ds);
proc sql noprint;
select name
into :rn_vr1-
from dictionary.columns
where LIBNAME=upcase("&lb") AND MEMNAME=upcase("&ds")
AND NAME LIKE 'A0122%'
;
%let num_vars = &sqlobs.;
proc datasets library=&lb nolist nodetails nowarn;
modify &ds;
rename
%do i=1 %to &num_vars;
&&rn_vr&i=new_&&rn_vr&i
%end;
;
%mend renameCols;
%renameCols(work,class);
Result Table:
+--------------+--------------+-----+--------------+--------------+
| new_A0122_40 | new_A0122_45 | Age | new_A0122_55 | new_A0122_50 |
+--------------+--------------+-----+--------------+--------------+
| Alfred | M | 14 | 69 | 112.5 |
| Alice | F | 13 | 56.5 | 84 |
+--------------+--------------+-----+--------------+--------------+
As you see, all columns were renamed, exclude Age.
CASE 2
If you want to "append" all A0122_... in one , I suggest the next code:
data class;
set sashelp.class (obs=2);
rename name=A0123_40
Sex=A0123_45
Weight=A0122_50
Height=A0121_55
;
run;
Prepared Table:
+----------+----------+-----+----------+----------+
| A0123_40 | A0123_45 | Age | A0121_55 | A0122_50 |
+----------+----------+-----+----------+----------+
| Alfred | M | 14 | 69 | 112.5 |
| Alice | F | 13 | 56.5 | 84 |
+----------+----------+-----+----------+----------+
Code to rename:
%macro renameCols(lb , ds);
%macro d;
%mend d;
proc sql noprint;
select name
into :rn_vr1-
from dictionary.columns
where LIBNAME=upcase("&lb") AND MEMNAME=upcase("&ds")
AND NAME LIKE 'A012%'
;
%let num_vars = &sqlobs.;
/*Create a lot of tables with one column from one input*/
data
%do i=1 %to &num_vars;
&&rn_vr&i (rename=(&&rn_vr&i=%scan(&&rn_vr&i,1,_)) keep = &&rn_vr&i )
%end;
;
set &lb..&ds.;
run;
/*Count variable patterns and write it to macro*/
proc sql noprint;
select distinct scan(name,1,'_')
into :aggr_vars1-
from dictionary.columns
where LIBNAME=upcase("&lb") AND MEMNAME=upcase("&ds")
AND NAME LIKE 'A012%'
;
%let num_aggr_vars=&sqlobs.;
/*Append all tables that contains same column name pattern*/
%do i=1 %to &num_aggr_vars;
data _&&aggr_vars&i;
set &&aggr_vars&i:;
n=_n_;
run;
%end;
/*Merge that tables into one*/
data res (drop= n);
merge
%do i=1 %to &num_aggr_vars;
_&&aggr_vars&i
%end;
;
by n;
run;
run;
%mend renameCols;
%renameCols(work,class);
The res table:
+-------+-------+--------+
| A0121 | A0122 | A0123 |
+-------+-------+--------+
| 69 | 112.5 | Alfred |
| 56.5 | 84 | Alice |
| . | . | M |
| . | . | F |
+-------+-------+--------+

Answer 2

Is this what you are looking for:
proc contents data=have out=cols noprint;
run;
proc sql noprint;
select distinct substr(name,1,6) into :colgrps separated by " " from cols;
run;
%macro process;
data want;
set have;
%let ii = 1;
%do %while (%scan(&colgrps, &ii, %str( )) ~= );
%let grp = %scan(&colgrps, &ii, %str( ));
&grp._sum = sum(of &grp.:);
%let ii = %eval(&ii + 1);
%end;
run;
%mend;
%process;