Working with SAS Data Sets

Using the READ Statement with the WHERE Clause

Use the WHERE clause as you did with the LIST statement, to conditionally select observations from within the specified range. If you want to create a matrix FEMALE containing the variables AGE, HEIGHT, and WEIGHT for females only, use the following statements:

  
    > read all var _num_ into female where(sex="F"); 
    > print female; 
  
                     FEMALE 
                         11      51.3      50.5 
                         12      59.8      84.5 
                         12      56.3        77 
                         13      56.5        84 
                         13      65.3        98 
                         14      62.8     102.5 
                         14      64.3        90 
                         15      62.5     112.5 
                         15      66.5       112
 

Now try some special features of the WHERE clause to find values that begin with certain characters (the =: operator) or that contain certain strings (the ? operator). To create a matrix containing the students whose names begin with the letter "J," use the following statements:

  
    > read all var{name} into j where(name=:"J"); 
    > print j; 
  
                                 J 
                                 JOYCE 
                                 JAMES 
                                 JANE 
                                 JOHN 
                                 JEFFREY 
                                 JUDY 
                                 JANET
 

To create a matrix of children with names containing the string "AL," use the following statement:

  
    > read all var{name} into al where(name?"AL"); 
    > print al; 
  
                                  AL 
                                  ALICE 
                                  ALFRED 
                                  RONALD