LENGTHN Function

Returns the length of a character string, excluding trailing blanks.

Category:	Character
Restriction:	I18N Level 0 functions are designed for use with Single Byte Character Sets (SBCS) only.

Syntax

LENGTHN(string)

Required Argument

string

specifies a character constant, variable, or expression.

Details

The LENGTHN function returns an integer that represents the position of the rightmost non-blank character in string. If the value of string is blank, LENGTHN returns a value of 0. If string is a numeric constant, variable, or expression (either initialized or uninitialized), SAS automatically converts the numeric value to a right-justified character string by using the BEST12. format. In this case, LENGTHN returns a value of 12 and writes a note in the SAS log stating that the numeric values have been converted to character values.

Comparisons

The LENGTHN and LENGTH functions return the same value for non-blank character strings. LENGTHN returns a value of 0 for blank character strings, whereas LENGTH returns a value of 1.
The LENGTHN function returns the length of a character string, excluding trailing blanks, whereas the LENGTHC function returns the length of a character string, including trailing blanks. LENGTHN always returns a value that is less than or equal to the value returned by LENGTHC.
The LENGTHN function returns the length of a character string, excluding trailing blanks, whereas the LENGTHM function returns the amount of memory in bytes that is allocated for a character string. LENGTHN always returns a value that is less than or equal to the value returned by LENGTHM.

Example

The following SAS statements produce these results.

SAS Statement	Result
len=lengthn('ABCDEF'); put len; len2=lengthn(' '); put len2;	6 0