What does the scan function do in SAS?

What does the scan function do in SAS?

The SCAN function in SAS provides a simple and convenient way to parse out words from character strings. The SCAN function can be used to select individual words from text or variables which contain text and then store those words in new variables.

Which is correct syntax of scan function?

Syntax of the SCAN Function: The n-word is the nth “word” in the string. An ‘n’ value greater than the number of words returns a value that contains no characters. For negative ‘n’ values, the character value is scanned from right to left, and a value of zero is invalid.

How do I find a specific character in a string in SAS?

You can find a specific character, such as a letter, a group of letters, or special characters, by using the index function. For example, suppose that you have a data file with names and other information and you want to identify only those records for people with “Harvey” in their name.

How do you split columns in SAS?

Split a Column In the Choose a Table window, expand the library that contains the data source that you want to use. Select the data source for the example and click OK. The selected data source now appears in the drop-down list. Select Split a column from the Method drop-down list.

Where is Upcase in SAS?

In a DATA step, if the UPCASE function returns a value to a variable that has not previously been assigned a length, then that variable is given the length of the argument. The UPCASE function copies a character argument, converts all lowercase letters to uppercase letters, and returns the altered value as a result.

How does scanf work with strings?

You can use the scanf() function to read a string. The scanf() function reads the sequence of characters until it encounters whitespace (space, newline, tab, etc.).

How do you use a comma as a delimiter in SAS?

To correct this, we can tell SAS only to use the comma as a delimiter so that “Van Slyke” will become the last name and Andy will be the given name: Now that the blanks are no longer considered delimiters and only the commas are, we get the desired result in our output data with “Andy” now in the firstname variable.

How do I use the scan function to check for delimiters?

The SCAN function will automatically check for any of the following characters as delimiters: When your data contains a delimiter between words not found in the default list, you can use the third argument with the SCAN function to specify your custom delimiter.

What is the return length of the SAS scan function?

SAS SCAN function extracts a specified word from a character expression, where the word is the characters separated by a set of specified delimiters. The length of the returned variables is 200 unless previously defined.

What are the delimiters in the string argument?

specifies that multiple consecutive delimiters, and delimiters at the beginning or end of the string argument, refer to words that have a length of zero. If the M modifier is not specified, then multiple consecutive delimiters are treated as one delimiter, and delimiters at the beginning or end of the string argument are ignored.