What I've got:
a table of 20 rows in SAS (originally 100k)
various binary attributes (columns)
What I'm looking to get:
A crosstable displaying the frequency of the attribute combinations
like this:
Attribute1 Attribute2 Attribute3 Attribute4
Attribute1 5 0 1 2
Attribute2 0 3 0 3
Attribute3 2 0 5 4
Attribute4 1 2 0 10
*The actual sum of combinations is made up and probably not 100% logical
The code I currently have:
/*create dummy data*/
data monthly_sales (drop=i);
do i=1 to 20;
Attribute1=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute2=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute3=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute4=rand("Normal")>0.5;
output;
end;
run;
I guess this can be done smarter, but this seem to work. First I created a table that should hold all the frequencies:
data crosstable;
Attribute1=.;Attribute2=.;Attribute3=.;Attribute4=.;output;output;output;output;
run;
Then I loop through all the combinations, inserting the count into the crosstable:
%macro lup();
%do i=1 %to 4;
%do j=&i %to 4;
proc sql noprint;
select count(*) into :Antall&i&j
from monthly_sales (where=(Attribute&i and Attribute&j));
quit;
data crosstable;
set crosstable;
if _n_=&j then Attribute&i=&&Antall&i&j;
if _n_=&i then Attribute&j=&&Antall&i&j;
run;
%end;
%end;
%mend;
%lup;
Note that since the frequency count for (i,j)=(j,i) you do not need to do both.
I'd recommend using the built-in SAS tools for this sort of thing, and probably displaying your data slightly differently as well, unless you really want a diagonal table. e.g.
data monthly_sales (drop=i);
do i=1 to 20;
Attribute1=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute2=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute3=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute4=rand("Normal")>0.5;
count = 1;
output;
end;
run;
proc freq data = monthly_sales noprint;
table attribute1 * attribute2 * attribute3 * attribute4 / out = frequency_table;
run;
proc summary nway data = monthly_sales;
class attribute1 attribute2 attribute3 attribute4;
var count;
output out = summary_table(drop = _TYPE_ _FREQ_) sum(COUNT)= ;
run;
Either of these gives you a table with 1 row for each contribution of attributes in your data, which is slightly different from what you requested, but conveys the same information. You can force proc summary to include rows for combinations of class variables that don't exist in your data by using the completetypes option in the proc summary statement.
It's definitely worth taking the time to get familiar with proc summary if you're doing statistical analysis in SAS - you can include additional output statistics and process multiple variables with minimal additional code and processing overhead.
Update: it's possible to produce the desired table without resorting to macro logic, albeit a rather complex process:
proc summary data = monthly_sales completetypes;
ways 1 2; /*Calculate only 1 and 2-way summaries*/
class attribute1 attribute2 attribute3 attribute4;
var count;
output out = summary_table(drop = _TYPE_ _FREQ_) sum(COUNT)= ;
run;
/*Eliminate unnecessary output rows*/
data summary_table;
set summary_table;
array a{*} attribute:;
sum = sum(of a[*]);
missing = 0;
do i = 1 to dim(a);
missing + missing(a[i]);
a[i] = a[i] * count;
end;
/*We want rows where two attributes are both 1 (sum = 2),
or one attribute is 1 and the others are all missing*/
if sum = 2 or (sum = 1 and missing = dim(a) - 1);
drop i missing sum;
edge = _n_;
run;
/*Transpose into long format - 1 row per combination of vars*/
proc transpose data = summary_table out = tr_table(where = (not(missing(col1))));
by edge;
var attribute:;
run;
/*Use cartesian join to produce table containing desired frequencies (still not in the right shape)*/
option linesize = 150;
proc sql noprint _method _tree;
create table diagonal as
select a._name_ as aname,
b._name_ as bname,
a.col1 as count
from tr_table a, tr_table b
where a.edge = b.edge
group by a.edge
having (count(a.edge) = 4 and aname ne bname) or count(a.edge) = 1
order by aname, bname
;
quit;
/*Transpose the table into the right shape*/
proc transpose data = diagonal out = want(drop = _name_);
by aname;
id bname;
var count;
run;
/*Re-order variables and set missing values to zero*/
data want;
informat aname attribute1-attribute4;
set want;
array a{*} attribute:;
do i = 1 to dim(a);
a[i] = sum(a[i],0);
end;
drop i;
run;
Yeah, user667489 was right, I just added some extra code to get the cross-frequency table looking good. First, I created a table with 10 million rows and 10 variables:
data monthly_sales (drop=i);
do i=1 to 10000000;
Attribute1=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute2=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute3=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute4=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute5=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute6=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute7=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute8=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute9=rand("Normal")>0.5;
Attribute10=rand("Normal")>0.5;
output;
end;
run;
Create an empty 10x10 crosstable:
data crosstable;
Attribute1=.;Attribute2=.;Attribute3=.;Attribute4=.;Attribute5=.;Attribute6=.;Attribute7=.;Attribute8=.;Attribute9=.;Attribute10=.;
output;output;output;output;output;output;output;output;output;output;
run;
Create a frequency table using proc freq:
proc freq data = monthly_sales noprint;
table attribute1 * attribute2 * attribute3 * attribute4 * attribute5 * attribute6 * attribute7 * attribute8 * attribute9 * attribute10
/ out = frequency_table;
run;
Loop through all the combinations of Attributes and sum the "count" variable. Insert it into the crosstable:
%macro lup();
%do i=1 %to 10;
%do j=&i %to 10;
proc sql noprint;
select sum(count) into :Antall&i&j
from frequency_table (where=(Attribute&i and Attribute&j));
quit;
data crosstable;
set crosstable;
if _n_=&j then Attribute&i=&&Antall&i&j;
if _n_=&i then Attribute&j=&&Antall&i&j;
run;
%end;
%end;
%mend;
%lup;
Related
I have a SAS data set t3. I want to run a data step inside a loop through a set of variables to create additional sets based on the variable value = 1, and rank two variables bal and otheramt in each subset, and then merge the ranks for each subset onto the original data set. Each rank column needs to be dynamically named so I know what subset is getting ranked. I know how to do proc rank and macros basically but do not know how to do this in the most dynamic way inside of a macro. Can you assist?
ID
bal
otheramt
firstvar
secondvar
lastvar
444
581
100
1
1
555
255
200
1
1
1
666
255
300
--------------
1
--------------
%macro dog();
data new;
set t3;
ARRAY Indicators(5) FirstVar--LastVar;
/*create data set for each of the subsets if firstvar = 1, secondvar = 1 ... lastvar = 1 */
/*for each new data set, rank by bal and otheramt*/
/*name the new rank columns [FirstVar]BalRank, [FirstVar]OtherAmtRank; */
/*merge the new ranks onto the original data set by ID*/
%mend;
%dog()
The Proc rank section would be something like this, but I would need the rank columns to have information about what subset I am ranking.
proc rank data=subset1 out=subset1ranked;
var bal otheramt;
ranks bal_rank otheramt_rank;
run;
Instead of using macro, use data transformation and reshaping that allows simpler steps to be written.
Example:
Rows are split into multiple rows based on flag so group processing in RANK can occur. Two transposes are required to reshape the results back a single row per id.
data have;
call streaminit(20230216);
do id = 1 to 100;
foo = rand('integer', 50,150);
bar = rand('integer', 100,200);
flag1 = rand('integer', 0, 1);
flag2 = rand('integer', 0, 1);
flag3 = rand('integer', 0, 1);
output;
end;
run;
data step1;
set have;
/* important: the group value becomes part of the variable name later */
if flag1 then do; group='flag1_'; output; end;
if flag2 then do; group='flag2_'; output; end;
if flag3 then do; group='flag3_'; output; end;
drop flag:;
run;
proc sort data=step1;
by group;
run;
proc rank data=step1 out=step2;
by group;
var foo bar;
ranks foo_rank bar_rank;
run;
proc sort data=step2;
by id group;
run;
* pivot (reshape) so there is one row per ranked var;
proc transpose data=step2 out=step3(drop=_label_);
by id foo bar group;
var foo_rank bar_rank;
run;
* pivot again so there is one row per id;
proc transpose data=step3 out=step4(drop=_name_);
by id;
var col1;
id group _name_;
run;
* merge so those 0 0 0 flag rows remain intact;
data want;
merge have step4;
by id;
run;
Since we don't have much sample data, I created test data from sashelp.class with some indicator variables like yours.
data have;
set sashelp.class;
firstvar=round(rand('uniform',1));
secondvar=round(rand('uniform',1));
thirdvar=round(rand('uniform',1));
drop sex weight;
run;
Partial output:
Name Age Height firstvar secondvar thirdvar
Alfred 14 69 1 0 1
Alice 13 56.5 0 1 1
Barbara 13 65.3 1 0 0
Carol 14 62.8 0 0 0
To dynamically rank data based on indicator variables, I created a macro that accepts a list of indicators and rank variables. The 2 lists help to create the specific variable names you requested. Here's the macro call:
%rank(indicators=firstvar secondvar thirdvar,
rank_vars=age height);
Here's part of the final output. Notice the indicators in the sample output above coincide with the ranks in this output. Also note that Carol is not in the output because she had no indicators set to 1.
Name Age Height firstvar_age_rank firstvar_height_rank secondvar_age_rank secondvar_height_rank thirdvar_age_rank thirdvar_height_rank
Alfred 14 69 8 11 . . 6.5 10
Alice 13 56.5 . . 3.5 2 4.5 2
Barbara 13 65.3 6.5 8 . . . .
Henry 14 63.5 . . 5.5 5 . .
The full macro is listed below. It has 3 parts.
Create a temp data set with a group variable that contains the number of the indicator variable based on the order of the variable in the list. Whenever an indicator = 1 the obs is output. If an obs has all 3 indicators set to 1 then it will be output 3 times with the group variable set to the number of each indicator variable. This step is important because proc rank will rank groups independently.
Generate the rankings on the temp data set. Each group will be ranked independently of the other groups and can be done in one step.
Construct the final data set by essentially transposing the ranked data into columns.
%macro rank(indicators=, rank_vars=);
%let cnt_ind = %sysfunc(countw(&indicators));
%let cnt_vars = %sysfunc(countw(&rank_vars));
data temp;
set have;
array indicators(*) &indicators;
do i = 1 to dim(indicators);
if indicators(i) = 1 then do;
group = i; * create a group based on order of indicators;
output; * an obs can be output multiple times;
end;
end;
drop i &indicators;
run;
proc sort data=temp;
by group;
run;
* Generate rankings by group;
proc rank data=temp out=ranks;
by group;
var &rank_vars;
ranks
%let vars = ;
%do i = 1 %to &cnt_vars;
%let var = %scan(&rank_vars, &i);
%let vars = &vars &var._rank;
%end;
&vars;
run;
proc sort data=ranks;
by name group;
run;
* Contruct final data set by transposing the ranks into columns;
data want;
set ranks;
by name;
* retain statement to declare new variables and retain values;
retain
%let vars = ;
%do i = 1 %to &cnt_ind;
%let ivar = %scan(&indicators, &i);
%do j = 1 %to &cnt_vars;
%let jvar = %scan(&rank_vars, &j);
%let vars = &vars &ivar._&jvar._rank;
%end;
%end;
&vars;
if first.name then call missing (of &vars);
* option 1: build series of IF statements;
%let vars = ;
%do i = 1 %to &cnt_ind;
%let ivar = %scan(&indicators, &i);
%str(if group = &i then do;)
%do j = 1 %to &cnt_vars;
%let jvar = %scan(&rank_vars, &j);
%let newvar = &ivar._&jvar._rank;
%str(&newvar = &jvar._rank;)
%end;
%str(end;)
%end;
if last.name then output;
drop group
%let vars = ;
%do i = 1 %to &cnt_vars;
%let var = %scan(&rank_vars, &i);
%let vars = &vars &var._rank;
%end;
&vars;
run;
%mend;
When constructing the final data set and transposing the rank variables, there are a couple of options. The first option shown above is to dynamically build a series of if statements. Here is what the code generates:
MPRINT(RANK): * option 1: build series of IF statements;
MPRINT(RANK): if group = 1 then do;
MPRINT(RANK): firstvar_age_rank = age_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): firstvar_height_rank = height_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): end;
MPRINT(RANK): if group = 2 then do;
MPRINT(RANK): secondvar_age_rank = age_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): secondvar_height_rank = height_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): end;
MPRINT(RANK): if group = 3 then do;
MPRINT(RANK): thirdvar_age_rank = age_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): thirdvar_height_rank = height_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): end;
The 2nd option is to use an array and mathematically calculate the index into the array by the group number and variable number. Here is the snippet of macro code to replace the if series code:
* option 2: create arrays and calculate index into array
* by group number and variable number;
array ranks(*) &vars;
array rankvars(*)
%let vars = ;
%do i = 1 %to &cnt_vars;
%let var = %scan(&rank_vars, &i);
%let vars = &vars &var._rank;
%end;
&vars;
%str(idx = dim(rankvars) * (group - 1);)
%str(do i = 1 to dim(rankvars);)
%str(ranks(idx + i) = rankvars(i);)
%str(end;)
Here is the generated code:
MPRINT(RANK): * option 2: create arrays and calculate index into array * by group number and variable number;
MPRINT(RANK): array ranks(*) firstvar_age_rank firstvar_height_rank secondvar_age_rank secondvar_height_rank thirdvar_age_rank
thirdvar_height_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): array rankvars(*) age_rank height_rank;
MPRINT(RANK): idx = dim(rankvars) * (group - 1);
MPRINT(RANK): do i = 1 to dim(rankvars);
MPRINT(RANK): ranks(idx + i) = rankvars(i);
MPRINT(RANK): end;
It takes a minute to understand the array option, but once you do, it is preferable over generating if statments. As the number of variables increases, the code generated by the array option is the same and operates more efficiently.
I've got pretty big table where I want to replace rare values (for this example that have less than 10 occurancies but real case is more complicated- it might have 1000 levels while I want to have only 15). This list of possible levels might change so I don't want to hardcode anything.
My code is like:
%let var = Make;
proc sql;
create table stage1_ as
select &var.,
count(*) as count
from sashelp.cars
group by &var.
having count >= 10
order by count desc
;
quit;
/* Join table with table including only top obs to replace rare
values with "other" category */
proc sql;
create table stage2_ as
select t1.*,
case when t2.&var. is missing then "Other_&var." else t1.&var. end as &var._new
from sashelp.cars t1 left join
stage1_ t2 on t1.&var. = t2.&var.
;
quit;
/* Drop old variable and rename the new as old */
data result;
set stage2_(drop= &var.);
rename &var._new=&var.;
run;
It works, but unfortunately it is not very officient as it needs to make a join for each variable (in real case I am doing it in loop).
Is there a better way to do it? Maybe some smart replace function?
Thanks!!
You probably don't want to change the actual data values. Instead consider creating a custom format for each variable that will map the rare values to an 'Other' category.
The FREQ procedure ODS can be used to capture the counts and percentages of every variable listed into a single table. NOTE: Freq table/out= captures only the last listed variable. Those counts can be used to construct the format according to the 'othering' rules you want to implement.
data have;
do row = 1 to 1000;
array x x1-x10;
do over x;
if row < 600
then x = ceil(100*ranuni(123));
else x = ceil(150*ranuni(123));
end;
output;
end;
run;
ods output onewayfreqs=counts;
proc freq data=have ;
table x1-x10;
run;
data count_stack;
length name $32;
set counts;
array x x1-x10;
do over x;
name = vname(x);
value = x;
if value then output;
end;
keep name value frequency;
run;
proc sort data=count_stack;
by name descending frequency ;
run;
data cntlin;
do _n_ = 1 by 1 until (last.name);
set count_stack;
by name;
length fmtname $32;
fmtname = trim(name)||'top';
start = value;
label = cats(value);
if _n_ < 11 then output;
end;
hlo = 'O';
label = 'Other';
output;
run;
proc format cntlin=cntlin;
run;
ods html;
proc freq data=have;
table x1-x10;
format
x1 x1top.
x2 x2top.
x3 x3top.
x4 x4top.
x5 x5top.
x6 x6top.
x7 x7top.
x8 x8top.
x9 x9top.
x10 x10top.
;
run;
I am using Proc HPBIN to split my data into equally-spaced buckets i.e. each bucket has an equal proportion of the total range of the variable.
My issue is when I have extremely skewed data with a large range. Almost all of my datapoints lie in one bucket while there is a couple of observations scattered around the extremes.
I'm wondering if there is a way to force PROC HPBIN to consider the proportion of values in each bin and make sure there is at least e.g. 5% of observations in a bin and to group others?
DATA var1;
DO VAR1 = 1 TO 100;
OUTPUT;
END;
DO VAR1 = 500 TO 505;
OUTPUT;
END;
DO VAR1 = 7000 TO 7015;
OUTPUT;
END;
DO VAR1 = 1000000 TO 1000010;
OUTPUT;
END;
RUN;
/*Use proc hpbin to generate bins of equal width*/
ODS EXCLUDE ALL;
ODS OUTPUT
Mapping = bin_width_results;
PROC HPBIN
DATA=var1
numbin = 15
bucket;
input VAR1 / numbin = 15;
RUN;
ODS EXCLUDE NONE;
Id like to see a way that proc hpbin or other method groups together the bins which are empty and allows at least 5% of proportion per bucket. However, I am not looking to use percentiles in this case (it is another plot on my pdf) because I'd see like to see the spread.
Have you tried using the WINSOR method (winsorised binning)? From the documentation:
Winsorized binning is similar to bucket binning except that both tails are cut off to obtain a smooth binning result. This technique is often used to remove outliers during the data preparation stage.
You can specify the WINSORRATE to impact how it adjusts these tails.
Quantile option and 20 bins should give you ~5% per bin
PROC HPBIN DATA=var1 quantile;
input VAR1 / numbin = 20;
RUN;
When the values of a bin need to be dynamically rebinned due overly high proportions in a bin (problem bins) you need to hpbin only those values in the problem bins. A macro can be written to loop around the HPBIN process, zooming in on problem areas.
For example:
DATA have;
DO VAR1 = 1 TO 100;
OUTPUT;
END;
DO VAR1 = 500 TO 505;
OUTPUT;
END;
DO VAR1 = 7000 TO 7015;
OUTPUT;
END;
DO VAR1 = 1000000 TO 1000010;
OUTPUT;
END;
RUN;
%macro bin_zoomer (data=, var=, nbins=, rezoom=0.25, zoomlimit=8, out=);
%local data_view step nextstep outbins zoomers;
proc sql;
create view data_zoom1 as
select 1 as step, &var from &data;
quit;
%let step = 1;
%let data_view = data_zoom&step;
%let outbins = bins_step&step;
%bin:
%if &step > &zoomlimit %then %goto done;
ODS EXCLUDE ALL;
ODS OUTPUT Mapping = &outbins;
PROC HPBIN DATA=&data_view bucket ;
id step;
input &var / numbin = &nbins;
RUN;
ODS EXCLUDE NONE;
proc sql noprint;
select count(*) into :zoomers trimmed
from &outbins
where proportion >= &rezoom
;
%put NOTE: &=zoomers;
%if &zoomers = 0 %then %goto done;
%let step = %eval(&step+1);
proc sql;
create view data_zoom&step as
select &step as step, *
from &data_view data
join &outbins bins
on data.&var between bins.LB and bins.UB
and bins.proportion >= &rezoom
;
quit;
%let outbins = bins_step&step;
%let data_view = data_zoom&step;
%goto bin;
%done:
%put NOTE: done # &=step;
* stack the bins that are non-problem or of final zoom;
* the LB to UB domains from step2+ will discretely cover the bounds
* of the original step1 bins;
data &out;
set
bins_step1-bins_step&step
indsname = source
;
if proportion < &rezoom or source = "bins_step&step";
step = source;
run;
%mend;
options mprint;
%bin_zoomer(data=have, var=var1, nbins=15, out=bins);
The dataset looks like this:
colx coly colz
0 1 0
0 1 1
0 1 0
Required output:
Colname value count
colx 0 3
coly 1 3
colz 0 2
colz 1 1
The following code works perfectly...
ods output onewayfreqs=outfreq;
proc freq data=final;
tables colx coly colz / nocum nofreq;
run;
data freq;
retain colname column_value;
set outfreq;
colname = scan(tables, 2, ' ');
column_Value = trim(left(vvaluex(colname)));
keep colname column_value frequency percent;
run;
... but I believe that's not efficient. Say I have 1000 columns, running prof freq on all 1000 columns is not efficient. Is there any other efficient way with out using the proc freq that accomplishes my desired output?
One of the most efficient mechanisms for computing frequency counts is through a hash object set up for reference counting via the suminc tag.
The SAS documentation for "Hash Object - Maintaining Key Summaries" demonstrates the technique for a single variable. The following example goes one step further and computes for each variable specified in an array. The suminc:'one' specifies that each use of ref will add the value of one to an internal reference sum. While iterating over the distinct keys for output, the frequency count is extracted via the sum method.
* one million data values;
data have;
array v(1000);
do row = 1 to 1000;
do index = 1 to dim(v);
v(index) = ceil(100*ranuni(123));
end;
output;
end;
keep v:;
format v: 4.;
run;
* compute frequency counts via .ref();
data freak_out(keep=name value count);
length name $32 value 8;
declare hash bins(ordered:'a', suminc:'one');
bins.defineKey('name', 'value');
bins.defineData('name', 'value');
bins.defineDone();
one = 1;
do until (end_of_data);
set have end=end_of_data;
array v v1-v1000;
do index = 1 to dim(v);
name = vname(v(index));
value = v(index);
bins.ref();
end;
end;
declare hiter out('bins');
do while (out.next() = 0);
bins.sum(sum:count);
output;
end;
run;
Note Proc FREQ uses standard grammars, variables can be a mixed of character and numeric, and has lots of additional features that are specified through options.
I think the most time consuming part in your code is generation of the ODS report. You can transpose the data before applying the freq. The below example does the task for 1000 rows with 1000 variables in few seconds. If you do it using ODS it may take much longer.
data dummy;
array colNames [1000] col1-col1000;
do line = 1 to 1000;
do j = 1 to dim(colNames);
colNames[j] = int(rand("uniform")*100);
end;
output;
end;
drop j;
run;
proc transpose
data = dummy
out = dummyTransposed (drop = line rename = (_name_ = colName col1 = value))
;
var col1-col1000;
by line;
run;
proc freq data = dummyTransposed noprint;
tables colName*value / out = result(drop = percent);
run;
Perhaps this statement from the comments is the real problem.
I felt like the odsoutput with proc freq is slowing down and creating
huge logs and outputs. think of 10,000 variables and million records.
I felt there should be another way of accomplishing this and arrays
seems to be a great fit
You can tell ODS not to produce the printed output if you don't want it.
ods exclude all ;
ods output onewayfreqs=outfreq;
proc freq data=final;
tables colx coly colz / nocum nofreq;
run;
ods exclude none ;
I have a dataset with some variables named sx for x = 1 to n.
Is it possible to write a freq which gives the same result as:
proc freq data=prova;
table s1 * s2 * s3 * ... * sn /list missing;
run;
but without listing all the names of the variables?
I would like an output like this:
S1 S2 S3 S4 Frequency
A 10
A E 100
A E J F 300
B 10
B E 100
B E J F 300
but with an istruction like this (which, of course, is invented):
proc freq data=prova;
table s1:sn /list missing;
run;
Why not just use PROC SUMMARY instead?
Here is an example using two variables from SASHELP.CARS.
So this is PROC FREQ code.
proc freq data=sashelp.cars;
where make in: ('A','B');
tables make*type / list;
run;
Here is way to get counts using PROC SUMMARY
proc summary missing nway data=sashelp.cars ;
where make in: ('A','B');
class make type ;
output out=want;
run;
proc print data=want ;
run;
If you need to calculate the percentages you can instead use the WAYS statement to get both the overall and the individual cell counts. And then add a data step to calculate the percentages.
proc summary missing data=sashelp.cars ;
where make in: ('A','B');
class make type ;
ways 0 2 ;
output out=want;
run;
data want ;
set want ;
retain total;
if _type_=0 then total=_freq_;
percent=100*_freq_/total;
run;
So if you have 10 variables you would use
ways 0 10 ;
class s1-s10 ;
If you just want to build up the string "S1*S2*..." then you could use a DO loop or a macro %DO loop and put the result into a macro variable.
data _null_;
length namelist $200;
do i=1 to 10;
namelist=catx('*',namelist,cats('S',i));
end;
call symputx('namelist',namelist);
run;
But here is an easy way to make such a macro variable from ANY variable list not just those with numeric suffixes.
First get the variables names into a dataset. PROC TRANSPOSE is a good way if you use the OBS=0 dataset option so that you only get the _NAME_ column.
proc transpose data=have(obs=0) ;
var s1-s10 ;
run;
Then use PROC SQL to stuff the names into a macro variable.
proc sql noprint;
select _name_
into :namelist separated by '*'
from &syslast
;
quit;
Then you can use the macro variable in your TABLES statement.
proc freq data=have ;
tables &namelist / list missing ;
run;
Car':
In short, no. There is no shortcut syntax for specifying a variable list that crosses dimension.
In long, yes -- if you create a surrogate variable that is an equivalent crossing.
Discussion
Sample data generator:
%macro have(top=5);
%local index;
data have;
%do index = 1 %to ⊤
do s&index = 1 to 2+ceil(3*ranuni(123));
%end;
array V s:;
do _n_ = 1 to 5*ranuni(123);
x = ceil(100*ranuni(123));
if ranuni(123) < 0.1 then do;
ix = ceil(&top*ranuni(123));
h = V(ix);
V(ix) = .;
output;
V(ix) = h;
end;
else
output;
end;
%do index = 1 %to ⊤
end;
%end;
run;
%mend;
%have;
As you probably noticed table s: created one freq per s* variable.
For example:
title "One table per variable";
proc freq data=have;
tables s: / list missing ;
run;
There is no shortcut syntax for specifying a variable list that crosses dimension.
NOTE: If you specify out=, the column names in the output data set will be the last variable in the level. So for above, the out= table will have a column "s5", but contain counts corresponding to combinations for each s1 through s5.
At each dimensional level you can use a variable list, as in level1 * (sublev:) * leaf. The same caveat for out= data applies.
Now, reconsider the original request discretely (no-shortcut) crossing all the s* variables:
title "1 table - 5 columns of crossings";
proc freq data=have;
tables s1*s2*s3*s4*s5 / list missing out=outEach;
run;
And, compare to what happens when a data step view uses a variable list to compute a surrogate value corresponding to the discrete combinations reported above.
data haveV / view=haveV;
set have;
crossing = catx(' * ', of s:); * concatenation of all the s variables;
keep crossing;
run;
title "1 table - 1 column of concatenated crossings";
proc freq data=haveV;
tables crossing / list missing out=outCat;
run;
Reality check with COMPARE, I don't trust eyeballs. If zero rows with differences (per noequal) then the out= data sets have identical counts.
proc compare noprint base=outEach compare=outCat out=diffs outnoequal;
var count;
run;
----- Log -----
NOTE: There were 31 observations read from the data set WORK.OUTEACH.
NOTE: There were 31 observations read from the data set WORK.OUTCAT.
NOTE: The data set WORK.DIFFS has 0 observations and 3 variables.
NOTE: PROCEDURE COMPARE used (Total process time)