SAS Export Issue as it is giving additional double quote - sas

I am trying to export SAS data into CSV, sas dataset name is abc here and format is
LINE_NUMBER DESCRIPTION
524JG 24PC AMEFA VINTAGE CUTLERY SET "DUBARRY"
I am using following code.
filename exprt "C:/abc.csv" encoding="utf-8";
proc export data=abc
outfile=exprt
dbms=tab;
run;
output is
LINE_NUMBER DESCRIPTION
524JG "24PC AMEFA VINTAGE CUTLERY SET ""DUBARRY"""
so there is double quote available before and after the description here and additional doble quote is coming after & before DUBARRY word. I have no clue whats happening. Can some one help me to resolve this and make me understand what exatly happening here.
expected result:
LINE_NUMBER DESCRIPTION
524JG 24PC AMEFA VINTAGE CUTLERY SET "DUBARRY"

There is no need to use PROC EXPORT to create a delimited file. You can write it with a simple DATA step. If you want to create your example file then just do not use the DSD option on the FILE statement. But note that depending on the data you are writing that you could create a file that cannot be properly parsed because of extra un-protected delimiters. Also you will have trouble representing missing values.
Let's make a sample dataset we can use to test.
data have ;
input id value cvalue $ name $20. ;
cards;
1 123 A Normal
2 345 B Embedded|delimiter
3 678 C Embedded "quotes"
4 . D Missing value
5 901 . Missing cvalue
;
Essentially PROC EXPORT is writing the data using the DSD option. Like this:
data _null_;
set have ;
file 'myfile.txt' dsd dlm='09'x ;
put (_all_) (+0);
run;
Which will yield a file like this (with pipes replacing the tabs so you can see them).
1|123|A|Normal
2|345|B|"Embedded|delimiter"
3|678|C|"Embedded ""quotes"""
4||D|Missing value
5|901||Missing cvalue
If you just remove DSD option then you get a file like this instead.
1|123|A|Normal
2|345|B|Embedded|delimiter
3|678|C|Embedded "quotes"
4|.|D|Missing value
5|901| |Missing cvalue
Notice how the second line looks like it has 5 values instead of 4, making it impossible to know how to split it into 4 values. Also notice how the missing values have a minimum length of at least one character.
Another way would be to run a data step to convert the normal file that PROC EXPORT generates into the variant format that you want. This might also give you a place to add escape characters to protect special characters if your target format requires them.
data _null_;
infile normal dsd dlm='|' truncover ;
file abnormal dlm='|';
do i=1 to 4 ;
if i>1 then put '|' #;
input field :$32767. #;
field = tranwrd(field,'\','\\');
field = tranwrd(field,'|','\|');
len = lengthn(field);
put field $varying32767. len #;
end;
put;
run;
You could even make this datastep smart enough to count the number of fields on the first row and use that to control the loop so that you wouldn't have to hard code it.

Related

Manually Reading in Data in SAS from CSV

So I have a large dataset that is rather oddly formatted and I want to read it in based on the header. It only has unique columns for each unique participant and each participant participated in multiple rounds of the study. The data is from some experiments and is formatted as having variables for each participant (e.g. "participant.code") then some session variables which I can drop and then the actual variables from the experiment. These are formatted as "study.[round number].player.[variable]"
Rather then repeating the variable for every round, I want to just take out the round number as a separate variable and have an observation for every round for each participant.
I want to read these in differently depending on the variable and pick it out. I would rather not have to manually mess with the source file since the experiment is going to be run multiple times.
If someone could just point me towards some relevant material or whatnot that would be great.
Thank you!
Edit: example of some of the raw data:
participant.id_in_session,participant.code,participant.label,participant._is_bot,participant._index_in_pages,participant._max_page_index,participant._current_app_name,participant._current_page_name,participant.time_started_utc,participant.visited,participant.mturk_worker_id,participant.mturk_assignment_id,participant.payoff,session.code,session.label,session.mturk_HITId,session.mturk_HITGroupId,session.comment,session.is_demo,session.config.real_world_currency_per_point,session.config.participation_fee,session.config.name,session.config.treatment,study.1.player.id_in_group,study.1.player.role,study.1.player.payoff,study.1.player.Seatfinal,study.1.player.finalpay,study.1.player.payroundpay,study.1.player.QCorrect,study.1.player.treatment,study.1.player.Q1a,study.1.player.Q1b,study.1.player.Q1c,study.1.player.Q2a,study.1.player.Q3,study.1.player.Q4,study.1.player.Q5,study.1.player.Q6,study.1.player.Q7,study.1.player.Q80,study.1.player.Q81,study.1.player.Q82,study.1.player.offer,study.1.player.OfferNum,study.1.player.OfferTaken,study.1.player.BuyerNumber,study.1.player.Seatnum2,study.1.player.Seatnum,study.1.player.pay,study.1.player.isoffertaken,study.1.player.hastakenoffer,study.1.player.consent,study.1.player.offerPrice,study.1.player.oprice,study.1.player.guess_num_seller,study.1.player.BoughtPrice,study.1.player.reward,study.1.player.guess_num_buyer,study.1.group.id_in_subsession,study.1.subsession.round_number,study.1.subsession.offersrem,study.1.subsession.game_finished,study.1.subsession.numbuyers,study.1.subsession.bnum,study.1.subsession.payround,study.2.player.id_in_group,study.2.player.role,study.2.player.payoff,study.2.player.Seatfinal,study.2.player.finalpay,study.2.player.payroundpay,study.2.player.QCorrect,study.2.player.treatment,study.2.player.Q1a,study.2.player.Q1b,study.2.player.Q1c,study.2.player.Q2a,study.2.player.Q3,study.2.player.Q4,study.2.player.Q5,study.2.player.Q6,study.2.player.Q7,study.2.player.Q80,study.2.player.Q81,study.2.player.Q82,study.2.player.offer,study.2.player.OfferNum,study.2.player.OfferTaken,study.2.player.BuyerNumber,study.2.player.Seatnum2,study.2.player.Seatnum,study.2.player.pay,study.2.player.isoffertaken,study.2.player.hastakenoffer,study.2.player.consent,study.2.player.offerPrice,study.2.player.oprice,study.2.player.guess_num_seller,study.2.player.BoughtPrice,study.2.player.reward,study.2.player.guess_num_buyer,study.2.group.id_in_subsession,study.2.subsession.round_number,study.2.subsession.offersrem,study.2.subsession.game_finished,study.2.subsession.numbuyers,study.2.subsession.bnum,study.2.subsession.payround,study.3.player.id_in_group,study.3.player.role,study.3.player.payoff,study.3.player.Seatfinal,study.3.player.finalpay,study.3.player.payroundpay,study.3.player.QCorrect,study.3.player.treatment,study.3.player.Q1a,study.3.player.Q1b,study.3.player.Q1c,study.3.player.Q2a,study.3.player.Q3,study.3.player.Q4,study.3.player.Q5,study.3.player.Q6,study.3.player.Q7,study.3.player.Q80,study.3.player.Q81,study.3.player.Q82,study.3.player.offer,study.3.player.OfferNum,study.3.player.OfferTaken,study.3.player.BuyerNumber,study.3.player.Seatnum2,study.3.player.Seatnum,study.3.player.pay,study.3.player.isoffertaken,study.3.player.hastakenoffer,study.3.player.consent,study.3.player.offerPrice,study.3.player.oprice,study.3.player.guess_num_seller,study.3.player.BoughtPrice,study.3.player.reward,study.3.player.guess_num_buyer,study.3.group.id_in_subsession,study.3.subsession.round_number,study.3.subsession.offersrem,study.3.subsession.game_finished,study.3.subsession.numbuyers,study.3.subsession.bnum,study.3.subsession.payround,study.4.player.id_in_group,study.4.player.role,study.4.player.payoff,study.4.player.Seatfinal,study.4.player.finalpay,study.4.player.payroundpay,study.4.player.QCorrect,study.4.player.treatment,study.4.player.Q1a,study.4.player.Q1b,study.4.player.Q1c,study.4.player.Q2a,study.4.player.Q3,study.4.player.Q4,study.4.player.Q5,study.4.player.Q6,study.4.player.Q7,study.4.player.Q80,study.4.player.Q81,study.4.player.Q82,study.4.player.offer,study.4.player.OfferNum,study.4.player.OfferTaken,study.4.player.BuyerNumber,study.4.player.Seatnum2,study.4.player.Seatnum,study.4.player.pay,study.4.player.isoffertaken,study.4.player.hastakenoffer,study.4.player.consent,study.4.player.offerPrice,study.4.player.oprice,study.4.player.guess_num_seller,study.4.player.BoughtPrice,study.4.player.reward,study.4.player.guess_num_buyer,study.4.group.id_in_subsession,study.4.subsession.round_number,study.4.subsession.offersrem,study.4.subsession.game_finished,study.4.subsession.numbuyers,study.4.subsession.bnum,study.4.subsession.payround,study.5.player.id_in_group,study.5.player.role,study.5.player.payoff,study.5.player.Seatfinal,study.5.player.finalpay,study.5.player.payroundpay,study.5.player.QCorrect,study.5.player.treatment,study.5.player.Q1a,study.5.player.Q1b,study.5.player.Q1c,study.5.player.Q2a,study.5.player.Q3,study.5.player.Q4,study.5.player.Q5,study.5.player.Q6,study.5.player.Q7,study.5.player.Q80,study.5.player.Q81,study.5.player.Q82,study.5.player.offer,study.5.player.OfferNum,study.5.player.OfferTaken,study.5.player.BuyerNumber,study.5.player.Seatnum2,study.5.player.Seatnum,study.5.player.pay,study.5.player.isoffertaken,study.5.player.hastakenoffer,study.5.player.consent,study.5.player.offerPrice,study.5.player.oprice,study.5.player.guess_num_seller,study.5.player.BoughtPrice,study.5.player.reward,study.5.player.guess_num_buyer,study.5.group.id_in_subsession,study.5.subsession.round_number,study.5.subsession.offersrem,study.5.subsession.game_finished,study.5.subsession.numbuyers,study.5.subsession.bnum,study.5.subsession.payround,study.6.player.id_in_group,study.6.player.role,study.6.player.payoff,study.6.player.Seatfinal,study.6.player.finalpay,study.6.player.payroundpay,study.6.player.QCorrect,study.6.player.treatment,study.6.player.Q1a,study.6.player.Q1b,study.6.player.Q1c,study.6.player.Q2a,study.6.player.Q3,study.6.player.Q4,study.6.player.Q5,study.6.player.Q6,study.6.player.Q7,study.6.player.Q80,study.6.player.Q81,study.6.player.Q82,study.6.player.offer,study.6.player.OfferNum,study.6.player.OfferTaken,study.6.player.BuyerNumber,study.6.player.Seatnum2,study.6.player.Seatnum,study.6.player.pay,study.6.player.isoffertaken,study.6.player.hastakenoffer,study.6.player.consent,study.6.player.offerPrice,study.6.player.oprice,study.6.player.guess_num_seller,study.6.player.BoughtPrice,study.6.player.reward,study.6.player.guess_num_buyer,study.6.group.id_in_subsession,study.6.subsession.round_number,study.6.subsession.offersrem,study.6.subsession.game_finished,study.6.subsession.numbuyers,study.6.subsession.bnum,study.6.subsession.payround,study.7.player.id_in_group,study.7.player.role,study.7.player.payoff,study.7.player.Seatfinal,study.7.player.finalpay,study.7.player.payroundpay,study.7.player.QCorrect,study.7.player.treatment,study.7.player.Q1a,study.7.player.Q1b,study.7.player.Q1c,study.7.player.Q2a,study.7.player.Q3,study.7.player.Q4,study.7.player.Q5,study.7.player.Q6,study.7.player.Q7,study.7.player.Q80,study.7.player.Q81,study.7.player.Q82,study.7.player.offer,study.7.player.OfferNum,study.7.player.OfferTaken,study.7.player.BuyerNumber,study.7.player.Seatnum2,study.7.player.Seatnum,study.7.player.pay,study.7.player.isoffertaken,study.7.player.hastakenoffer,study.7.player.consent,study.7.player.offerPrice,study.7.player.oprice,study.7.player.guess_num_seller,study.7.player.BoughtPrice,study.7.player.reward,study.7.player.guess_num_buyer,study.7.group.id_in_subsession,study.7.subsession.round_number,study.7.subsession.offersrem,study.7.subsession.game_finished,study.7.subsession.numbuyers,study.7.subsession.bnum,study.7.subsession.payround,study.8.player.id_in_group,study.8.player.role,study.8.player.payoff,study.8.player.Seatfinal,study.8.player.finalpay,study.8.player.payroundpay,study.8.player.QCorrect,study.8.player.treatment,study.8.player.Q1a,study.8.player.Q1b,study.8.player.Q1c,study.8.player.Q2a,study.8.player.Q3,study.8.player.Q4,study.8.player.Q5,study.8.player.Q6,study.8.player.Q7,study.8.player.Q80,study.8.player.Q81,study.8.player.Q82,study.8.player.offer,study.8.player.OfferNum,study.8.player.OfferTaken,study.8.player.BuyerNumber,study.8.player.Seatnum2,study.8.player.Seatnum,study.8.player.pay,study.8.player.isoffertaken,study.8.player.hastakenoffer,study.8.player.consent,study.8.player.offerPrice,study.8.player.oprice,study.8.player.guess_num_seller,study.8.player.BoughtPrice,study.8.player.reward,study.8.player.guess_num_buyer,study.8.group.id_in_subsession,study.8.subsession.round_number,study.8.subsession.offersrem,study.8.subsession.game_finished,study.8.subsession.numbuyers,study.8.subsession.bnum,study.8.subsession.payround,study.9.player.id_in_group,study.9.player.role,study.9.player.payoff,study.9.player.Seatfinal,study.9.player.finalpay,study.9.player.payroundpay,study.9.player.QCorrect,study.9.player.treatment,study.9.player.Q1a,study.9.player.Q1b,study.9.player.Q1c,study.9.player.Q2a,study.9.player.Q3,study.9.player.Q4,study.9.player.Q5,study.9.player.Q6,study.9.player.Q7,study.9.player.Q80,study.9.player.Q81,study.9.player.Q82,study.9.player.offer,study.9.player.OfferNum,study.9.player.OfferTaken,study.9.player.BuyerNumber,study.9.player.Seatnum2,study.9.player.Seatnum,study.9.player.pay,study.9.player.isoffertaken,study.9.player.hastakenoffer,study.9.player.consent,study.9.player.offerPrice,study.9.player.oprice,study.9.player.guess_num_seller,study.9.player.BoughtPrice,study.9.player.reward,study.9.player.guess_num_buyer,study.9.group.id_in_subsession,study.9.subsession.round_number,study.9.subsession.offersrem,study.9.subsession.game_finished,study.9.subsession.numbuyers,study.9.subsession.bnum,study.9.subsession.payround,study.10.player.id_in_group,study.10.player.role,study.10.player.payoff,study.10.player.Seatfinal,study.10.player.finalpay,study.10.player.payroundpay,study.10.player.QCorrect,study.10.player.treatment,study.10.player.Q1a,study.10.player.Q1b,study.10.player.Q1c,study.10.player.Q2a,study.10.player.Q3,study.10.player.Q4,study.10.player.Q5,study.10.player.Q6,study.10.player.Q7,study.10.player.Q80,study.10.player.Q81,study.10.player.Q82,study.10.player.offer,study.10.player.OfferNum,study.10.player.OfferTaken,study.10.player.BuyerNumber,study.10.player.Seatnum2,study.10.player.Seatnum,study.10.player.pay,study.10.player.isoffertaken,study.10.player.hastakenoffer,study.10.player.consent,study.10.player.offerPrice,study.10.player.oprice,study.10.player.guess_num_seller,study.10.player.BoughtPrice,study.10.player.reward,study.10.player.guess_num_buyer,study.10.group.id_in_subsession,study.10.subsession.round_number,study.10.subsession.offersrem,study.10.subsession.game_finished,study.10.subsession.numbuyers,study.10.subsession.bnum,study.10.subsession.payround,study.11.player.id_in_group,study.11.player.role,study.11.player.payoff,study.11.player.Seatfinal,study.11.player.finalpay,study.11.player.payroundpay,study.11.player.QCorrect,study.11.player.treatment,study.11.player.Q1a,study.11.player.Q1b,study.11.player.Q1c,study.11.player.Q2a,study.11.player.Q3,study.11.player.Q4,study.11.player.Q5,study.11.player.Q6,study.11.player.Q7,study.11.player.Q80,study.11.player.Q81,study.11.player.Q82,study.11.player.offer,study.11.player.OfferNum,study.11.player.OfferTaken,study.11.player.BuyerNumber,study.11.player.Seatnum2,study.11.player.Seatnum,study.11.player.pay,study.11.player.isoffertaken,study.11.player.hastakenoffer,study.11.player.consent,study.11.player.offerPrice,study.11.player.oprice,study.11.player.guess_num_seller,study.11.player.BoughtPrice,study.11.player.reward,study.11.player.guess_num_buyer,study.11.group.id_in_subsession,study.11.subsession.round_number,study.11.subsession.offersrem,study.11.subsession.game_finished,study.11.subsession.numbuyers,study.11.subsession.bnum,study.11.subsession.payround,study.12.player.id_in_group,study.12.player.role,study.12.player.payoff,study.12.player.Seatfinal,study.12.player.finalpay,study.12.player.payroundpay,study.12.player.QCorrect,study.12.player.treatment,study.12.player.Q1a,study.12.player.Q1b,study.12.player.Q1c,study.12.player.Q2a,study.12.player.Q3,study.12.player.Q4,study.12.player.Q5,study.12.player.Q6,study.12.player.Q7,study.12.player.Q80,study.12.player.Q81,study.12.player.Q82,study.12.player.offer,study.12.player.OfferNum,study.12.player.OfferTaken,study.12.player.BuyerNumber,study.12.player.Seatnum2,study.12.player.Seatnum,study.12.player.pay,study.12.player.isoffertaken,study.12.player.hastakenoffer,study.12.player.consent,study.12.player.offerPrice,study.12.player.oprice,study.12.player.guess_num_seller,study.12.player.BoughtPrice,study.12.player.reward,study.12.player.guess_num_buyer,study.12.group.id_in_subsession,study.12.subsession.round_number,study.12.subsession.offersrem,study.12.subsession.game_finished,study.12.subsession.numbuyers,study.12.subsession.bnum,study.12.subsession.payround,study.13.player.id_in_group,study.13.player.role,study.13.player.payoff,study.13.player.Seatfinal,study.13.player.finalpay,study.13.player.payroundpay,study.13.player.QCorrect,study.13.player.treatment,study.13.player.Q1a,study.13.player.Q1b,study.13.player.Q1c,study.13.player.Q2a,study.13.player.Q3,study.13.player.Q4,study.13.player.Q5,study.13.player.Q6,study.13.player.Q7,study.13.player.Q80,study.13.player.Q81,study.13.player.Q82,study.13.player.offer,study.13.player.OfferNum,study.13.player.OfferTaken,study.13.player.BuyerNumber,study.13.player.Seatnum2,study.13.player.Seatnum,study.13.player.pay,study.13.player.isoffertaken,study.13.player.hastakenoffer,study.13.player.consent,study.13.player.offerPrice,study.13.player.oprice,study.13.player.guess_num_seller,study.13.player.BoughtPrice,study.13.player.reward,study.13.player.guess_num_buyer,study.13.group.id_in_subsession,study.13.subsession.round_number,study.13.subsession.offersrem,study.13.subsession.game_finished,study.13.subsession.numbuyers,study.13.subsession.bnum,study.13.subsession.payround
1,kppf7hjb,,0,221,221,study,FinalPay,2022-04-16 22:08:18.471115,1,,,0.0,lew8kph3,,,,,0,1.0,0.0,externality_control,0,2,Seller,0.0,1,0,0,10,0,125,125,50,100,50,0,0,0,1,1,,,1,3,,0,1,1,100,0,0,,50.0,,,,,,1,1,6,1,5,6,4,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,1,,0,,,100,0,0,,45.0,,,,,,1,2,6,1,5,6,13,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,0,0,,0,,,100,0,0,,,,,,,,1,3,5,1,5,6,6,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,6,,0,,,138,1,0,,38.0,,,,,,1,4,6,1,5,6,3,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,2,,0,,,135,1,0,,35.0,,,,,,1,5,6,1,5,6,11,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,0,0,,0,,,100,0,0,,,,,,,,1,6,5,1,5,6,6,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,6,,0,,,132,1,0,,32.0,,,,,,1,7,6,1,5,6,4,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,5,,0,,,150,1,0,,50.0,,,,,,1,8,6,1,5,6,9,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,2,,0,,,100,0,0,,49.0,,,,,,1,9,6,1,5,6,10,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,5,,0,,,100,0,0,,39.0,,,,,,1,10,6,1,5,6,3,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,1,,0,,,132,1,0,,32.0,,,,,,1,11,6,1,5,6,10,2,Seller,0.0,,0,0,0,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,1,,0,,,130,1,0,,30.0,,,,,,1,12,6,1,5,6,8,2,Seller,0.0,1,192,132,10,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,2,,0,,,128,1,0,,28.0,,,,,,1,13,6,1,5,6,11
Your file is not really as complicated as it first seems. For example the bulk of the data is just 43 columns that repeat 13 times. The STUDY.1 columns, then STUDY.2 columns etc.
For this one just write a program to read it. There are 22 columns that are not "study" columns. Then 13 copies of the 43 study columns.
data want;
infile csv dsd truncover firstobs=2;
input var1 ..... var22 #;
do study=1 to 13;
input svar1 .... svar43 # ;
output;
end;
run;
So you turn each line into 13 observations (study=1 to study=13).
To complete the sketch of a data step above you just need figure out want names you want to use for the 65 (22 + 43) variables other than STUDY. And for each variable what type of variable it is, numeric or character, and when character what length it needs to store the longest possible value.
If you need to work with a lot of different variations of files in this style then it might be worth working on a program to analyze the headers and determine the role of the columns based on the pattern of the header name and perhaps generate the code to read the file.
You might start by building a dataset with just the header names.
data headers;
infile csv dsd obs=1 ;
length col 8 words 8 ;
col+1;
array header [4] $50 ;
input header1 :$50. ## ;
words=countw(header1,'.');
do _n_=words to 1 by -1;
header[_n_] = scan(header1,_n_,'.');
end;
run;
You can use that list of the headers to help you figure out what would be useful names for the variables.
If you want to let SAS guess how to define and name the variables you could try splitting the CSV file into two separate CSV files. One with the first 22 columns and one with the other 43. So first split the headers (perhaps removing the STUDY.N. prefix while you are at it). Then split the data. Add an ROW number to make it easy to join them later.
filename single temp;
filename multiple temp;
data _null_;
infile csv dsd obs=1 ;
input header :$50. ## ;
file single dsd ;
if _n_=1 then put 'ROW,' #;
if _n_<= 22 then put header #;
else do;
file multiple dsd;
if _n_=23 then put 'ROW,STUDY,'# ;
call scan(header,3,pos,len,'.');
header = substr(header,pos);
put header #;
end;
if _n_=22+43 then stop;
run;
data _null_;
infile csv dsd firstobs=2 truncover ;
row+1;
length s1-s43 $200 ;
input s1-s22 #;
file single dsd mod;
put row s1-s22 ;
file multiple dsd mod;
do study=1 to 13 ;
input s1-s43 # ;
put row study s1-s43 ;
end;
run;
Now you can use PROC IMPORT to GUESS how to read SINGLE and MULTIPLE and then you can join them back together.
proc import file=single dbms=csv out=single replace;
run;
proc import file=multiple dbms=csv out=multiple replace;
run;
data want;
merge single multiple;
by row;
run;

increase the column name limit when importing dbfs from a folder

I am using SAS 9.4
I have written a macro to read all .dbf files from a given library (a derived library I have specified), but it consistently truncates my column names to about 10 characters.
Is there an easy way to increase the column name character limit?
Ideally I would like the column names to be up to 30 characters long.
Hopefully there is enough info here, let me know if you need any more from me on this one. Pretty new to SAS.
macro:
%macro readindbf;
filename DIRLIST pipe "dir &rawdata.\*.dbf /b ";
data dirlist;
infile dirlist lrecl=200 truncover;
input file_name $100.;
run;
data _null_;
set dirlist end=end;
count+1;
call symputx('readdbf'||put(count, 4.-l), cats("&rawdata.\", file_name));
call symputx('dsetdbf'||put(count, 4.-l), scan(file_name, 1, '.'));
if end then call symputx('max', count);
run;
%do i=1 %to &max;
proc import datafile="&&readdbf&i"
out=derived.&&dsetdbf&i
dbms=dbf
replace;
run;
%end;
%mend readindbf;
edit:
I have tried setting: option validvarname=ANY in my autoexec file, which according to here should allow up to 32 byte length names, but it still truncates my names.
The fields names are not being truncated. 10 character field name is a limitation of the .dbf file format.
From SAS Help (my bold):
Note: A database field name can have no more than 10 characters. For this reason, SAS variable names are truncated to 10 characters when they are exported to dBASE.
From DBF File structure:
Field Subrecords Structure
Byte offset Description
0 - 10 Field name with a maximum of 10 characters.
If less than 10, it is padded with null characters (0x00).
11 Field type:
C - Character
Y - Currency
N - Numeric
…
As to
Is there an easy way to increase the column name character limit?
No. However, you can rename the columns after importing them
proc datasets nolist lib=work;
modify derived...;
rename
<dbf-field-name> = <sas-variable-name>
<dbf-field-name> = <sas-variable-name>
…
;
run;

This range is repeated or overlapped

Now the question I have is I have a bigger problem as I am getting "this range is repeated or overlapped"... To be specific my values of label are repeating I mean my format has repeated values like a=aa b=aa c=as kind of. How do I resolve this error. When I use the hlo=M as muntilqbel option it gives double the data...
I am mapping like below.
Santhan=Santhan
Chintu=Santhan
Please suggest a solution.
To convert data to a FORMAT use the CNTLIN= option on PROC FORMAT. But first make sure the data describes a valid format. So read the data from the file.
data myfmt ;
infile 'myfile.txt' dsd truncover ;
length fmtname $32 start $100 value $200 ;
fmtname = '$MYFMT';
input start value ;
run;
Make sure to set the lengths of START and VALUE to be long enough for any actual values your source file might have.
Then make sure it is sorted and you do not have duplicate codes (START values).
proc sort data=myfmt out=myfmt_clean nodupkey ;
by start;
run;
The SAS log will show if any observations were deleted because of duplicate START values.
If you do have duplicate values then examine the dataset or original text file to understand why and determine how you want to handle the duplicates. The PROC SORT step above will keep just one of the duplicates. You might just has exact duplicates, in which case keeping only one is fine. Or you might want to collapse the duplicate observations into a single observation and concatenate the multiple decodes into one long decode.
If you want you can add a record that will add the functionality of the OTHER keyword of the VALUE statement in PROC FORMAT. You can use that to set a default value, like 'Value not found', to decode any value you might encounter that was not in your original source file.
data myfmt_final;
set myfmt_clean end=eof;
output;
if eof then do;
start = ' ';
label = 'Value not found';
hlo = 'O' ;
output;
end;
run;
Then use PROC FORMAT to make the format from the cleaned up data file.
proc format cntlin = myfmt_final;
run;
To convert a FORMAT to a dataset use the CNTLOUT= option on PROC FORMAT.
For example if you had created this format previously.
proc format ;
value $myfmt 'ABC'='ABC' 'BCD'='BCD' 'BCD1'='BCD' 'BCD2'='BCD' ;
run;
then you can use another PROC FORMAT step to make a dataset. Use the SELECT statement if you format catalog has more than one format defined and you just want one (or some) of them.
proc format cntlout=myfmt ;
select $myfmt ;
run;
Then you can use that dataset to easily make a text file. For example a comma delimited file.
data _null_;
set myfmt ;
file 'myfmt.txt' dsd ;
put start label;
run;
The result would be a text file that looks like this:
ABC,ABC
BCD,BCD
BCD1,BCD
BCD2,BCD
You get this error because you have the same code that maps to two different categories. I'm going to guess you likely did not import your data correctly from your text file and ended up getting some values truncated but without the full process it's an educated guess.
This will work fine:
proc format;
value $ test
'a'='aa' 'b'='aa' 'c'='as'
;
run;
This version will not work, because a is mapped to two different values, so SAS will not know which one to use.
proc format;
value $ badtest
'a'='aa'
'a' = 'ba'
'b' = 'aa'
'c' = 'as';
run;
This generates the error regarding overlaps in your data.
The way to fix this is to find the duplicates and determine which code they should actually map to. PROC SORT can be used to get your duplicate records.

How to read many rows of text as the same oberseration into SAS?

I have a dataset stored as text. It looks like this:
data in text
I want to read this dateset into SAS like:
dataset I want it to be in SAS
This is my code now:
proc import datafile="myfile" out=mydata DBMS=dlm;
delimiter='09'x;
getnames=no;
run;
But the result just looks like which stored in text. How to revise the code? Thank you.
Your file looks to have one value per row. Assuming you want to read them into three columns then just let SAS do it for you. You can try to eliminate the any tabs or semi-colon by asking it to treat them as delimiters. You could try using the FLOWOVER option (which is the default) on the INFILE statement to have it automatically go to the next row.
data want ;
dlm='09'X || ';' ;
infile 'myfile' dlm=dlm flowover ;
input id $ val1 val2 ;
run;
Now if your data has blank rows you might get out of synch and begin trying to read the text strings like AA into the numeric variables. So if that it true you might try telling it to read exactly three rows for every observation.
data want ;
infile 'myfile' truncover ;
input id $ / val1 / val2 ;
run;

Print all columns SAS with delimiter

I am trying to print out a delimited file, without having to specify all of the columns. I can get close, but the numeric columns are always quoted:
DATA _NULL_;
SET SASHELP.CARS (obs = 5 keep = Make Model EngineSize);
FILE "foo.csv" DSD DLM=",";
PUT (_all_) (~);
RUN;
foo.csv
"Acura","MDX","3.5"
"Acura","RSX Type S 2dr","2"
"Acura","TSX 4dr","2.4"
"Acura","TL 4dr","3.2"
"Acura","3.5 RL 4dr","3.5"
How can I achieve either:
"Acura","MDX",3.5
"Acura","RSX Type S 2dr",2
"Acura","TSX 4dr",2.4
"Acura","TL 4dr",3.2
"Acura","3.5 RL 4dr",3.5
or:
Acura,MDX,3.5
Acura,RSX Type S 2dr,2
Acura,TSX 4dr,2.4
Acura,TL 4dr,3.2
Acura,3.5 RL 4dr,3.5
~ asks for quoting. So, you're getting quoting.
You can use & instead:
DATA _NULL_;
SET SASHELP.CARS (obs = 5 keep = Make Model EngineSize);
FILE "c:\temp\foo.csv" DSD DLM=",";
PUT (_all_) (&);
RUN;
& has effectively no impact on the data (we've had a question about it once upon a time, I don't recall the ultimate answer, but basically it seems to mostly be used for this specific purpose, even though that's not its purpose).