S2KLEN Statement (Optional)

The S2KLEN statement enables you to change the SYSTEM 2000 picture for a CHARACTER or TEXT type item.

variable-identifier can be either the SAS variable name or the positional equivalent in the LIST output, which represents the variable's place in the data file.

n is an integer from 1 to 250, which is used in the definition of the new database, such as CHAR X(10). If you do not specify the length of a CHARACTER or TEXT item, the SAS variable length is used.

The main reason for changing the picture is to allow overflow when the SAS length is greater than 4. A SYSTEM 2000 picture equal to or greater than 4 enables overflow of CHARACTER or TEXT type data values. For example, if the length of a SAS variable is 80 and you set the SYSTEM 2000 picture to 4, the entire value goes into overflow.