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SAS Statements under Windows

LENGTH Statement: Windows



Specifies the number of bytes SAS uses to store numeric variables.
Valid in: a DATA step
Windows specifics: Valid numeric variable lengths; valid values for length; valid values for n
See: LENGTH Statement in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax
Details
See Also

Syntax

LENGTH <variable-1><...variable-n> <$> <length> <DEFAULT=n>;

length

Under Windows, can range from 3 to 8 bytes for numeric variables.

DEFAULT=n

changes the default number of bytes used for storing the values of newly created numeric variables from 8 to the value of n. Under Windows, the value of n can range from 3 to 8 bytes.


Details

The LENGTH statement specifies the number of bytes SAS is to use for storing values of variables in each data set being created.

CAUTION:
Any length less than 8 bytes can result in a loss of precision for the value of the variable.   [cautionend]

See Also

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