Previous Page | Next Page

Functions and CALL Routines

TRIM Function



Removes trailing blanks from a character string, and returns one blank if the string is missing.
Category: Character
Restriction: I18N Level 0
Tip: DBCS equivalent function is KTRIM in SAS National Language Support (NLS): Reference Guide.

Syntax
Arguments
Details
Length of Returned Variable
The Basics
Comparisons
Examples
Example 1: Removing Trailing Blanks
Example 2: Concatenating a Blank Character Expression
See Also

Syntax

TRIM(argument)


Arguments

argument

specifies a character constant, variable, or expression.


Details


Length of Returned Variable

In a DATA step, if the TRIM 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 Basics

TRIM copies a character argument, removes trailing blanks, and returns the trimmed argument as a result. If the argument is blank, TRIM returns one blank. TRIM is useful for concatenating because concatenation does not remove trailing blanks.

Assigning the results of TRIM to a variable does not affect the length of the receiving variable. If the trimmed value is shorter than the length of the receiving variable, SAS pads the value with new blanks as it assigns it to the variable.


Comparisons

The TRIM and TRIMN functions are similar. TRIM returns one blank for a blank string. TRIMN returns a string with a length of zero for a blank string.


Examples


Example 1: Removing Trailing Blanks

These statements and this data line produce these results:

data test;
   input part1 $ 1-10 part2 $ 11-20;
   hasblank=part1||part2;
   noblank=trim(part1)||part2;
   put hasblank;
   put noblank;
   datalines;

Data Line Results

----+----1----+----2
apple     sauce
apple     sauce

applesauce


Example 2: Concatenating a Blank Character Expression

SAS Statements Results
x="A"||trim(" ")||"B"; put x;
  A B
x="    "; y=">"||trim(x)||"<"; put y;
   > <


See Also

Functions:

COMPRESS Function

LEFT Function

RIGHT Function

Previous Page | Next Page | Top of Page