Adding Variables

When you add a new variable, the New Variable dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3.5. You can add a new variable by choosing Edit Variables New Variable from the main menu.

Note: The Edit Variables menu also appears when you right-click on a variable heading.

Figure 3.5: The New Variable Dialog Box

The following list describes each field of the New Variable dialog box.

Name

specifies the name of the new variable. This must be a valid SAS variable name. This means the name must satisfy the following conditions:

• must be at most 32 characters
• must begin with an English letter or underscore
• cannot contain blanks
• cannot contain special characters other than an underscore

Label

specifies the label for the variable.

Type

specifies the type of variable: numeric or character.

Measure Level

specifies the variable's measure level. The measure level determines the way a variable is used in graphs and analyses. A character variable is always nominal. For numeric variables, you can choose from two measure levels:

Interval

The variable contains values that vary across a continuous range. For example, a variable measuring temperature would likely be an interval variable.

Nominal

The variable contains a discrete set of values. For example, a variable indicating gender would be a nominal variable.

Format

specifies the SAS format for the variable. For many formats you also need to specify values for the W (width) and D (decimal) fields associated with the format. For more information about formats see the SAS Language Reference: Dictionary.

Informat

specifies the SAS informat for the variable. For many informats you also need to specify values for the W (width) and D (decimal) fields associated with the format. For more information about informats see the SAS Language Reference: Dictionary.

Note: You can type the name of a format into the Format or Informat field, even if the name does not appear in the list.