Even beginning SAS programmers are familiar with PROC PRINT due to the minimal syntax required to produce simple listing reports. However, customized reports can be somewhat challenging. A basic listing report in which a blank line is inserted after every n rows may be a bit easier to read, but it is particularly challenging to create.

One traditional technique to solve this problem is to insert additional observations at a regular interval, each of which contains all missing values. The default display of a numeric missing value as a period is overridden by setting the MISSING system option to a blank.

     /* Insert blank observation after every 5 observations */
   data class_blanks;
     set sashelp.class;
     output;  /* Output real observation */
     if mod(_n_,5)=0;
     array allnums {*} _numeric_ ;
     array allchar {*} _character_ ;
     drop i;
     do i=1 to dim(allnums); allnums{i}=.; end;
     do i=1 to dim(allchar); allchar{i}=' '; end;
     output;  /* Output blank observation */
   run;
   options missing=' '; /* Display numeric missing as blank */
   proc print data=class_blanks noobs;
      title 'SASHELP.CLASS with Blank Line After Every 5 Obs';
   run;
   

One minor disadvantage to this approach is that the observation number column must be suppressed.

The PRINT procedure supports the BLANKLINE= option in SAS 9.2. The simplest form of the option specifies the number of observations to display before each blank line.

The observation number column can be displayed with the BLANKLINE= option.

     /* The BLANKLINE option accomplishes the same result */
   proc print data=sashelp.class blankline=5;
      title 'SASHELP.CLASS with Blank Line After Every 5 Obs';
   run;

Operating System and Release Information

Product Family	Product	System	SAS Release
			Reported	Fixed*
SAS System	Base SAS	z/OS	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft® Windows® for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter 64-bit Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 64-bit Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft® Windows® for x64	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Server	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows XP Professional	9.2 TS1M0
		Windows Vista	9.2 TS1M0
		64-bit Enabled AIX	9.2 TS1M0
		64-bit Enabled HP-UX	9.2 TS1M0
		64-bit Enabled Solaris	9.2 TS1M0
		HP-UX IPF	9.2 TS1M0
		Linux	9.2 TS1M0
		Linux for x64	9.2 TS1M0
		OpenVMS on HP Integrity	9.2 TS1M0
		Solaris for x64	9.2 TS1M0

* For software releases that are not yet generally available, the Fixed Release is the software release in which the problem is planned to be fixed.

---

This note reviews aseemingly simple problem that gets substantially easier to solve using new features of the Base SAS 9.2 PRINT procedure. The note is adapted from Don't Be a SAS Dinosaur: Modernize Your SAS Code by Warren Repole, SAS Institute.

Type:	Usage Note
Priority:
Topic:	SAS Reference ==> Procedures ==> PRINT

Date Modified:	2008-03-25 13:12:44
Date Created:	2008-03-03 13:32:35