Examples of Array Processing :: SAS(R) 9.3 Language Reference: Concepts, Second Edition

Example 1: Using Character Variables in an Array

You can specify character variables and their lengths in ARRAY statements. The following example groups variables into two arrays, NAMES and CAPITALS. The dollar sign ($) tells SAS to create the elements as character variables. If the variables have already been declared as character variables, a dollar sign in the array is not necessary. The INPUT statement reads all the variables in array NAMES.

The statement inside the DO loop uses the UPCASE function to change the values of the variables in array NAMES to uppercase. The statement then stores the uppercase values in the variables in the CAPITALS array.

options nodate pageno=1 linesize=80 pagesize=60;

data text;
   array names{*} $ n1-n10;
   array capitals{*} $ c1-c10;
   input names{*};
      do i=1 to 10;
         capitals{i}=upcase(names{i});
      end;
   datalines;
smithers michaels gonzalez hurth frank bleigh 
rounder joseph peters sam
;

proc print data=text;
   title 'Names Changed from Lowercase to Uppercase';
run;

The following output shows the TEXT data set.

Using Character Variables in an Array

                   Names Changed from Lowercase to Uppercase                   1

 Obs    n1       n2       n3     n4    n5     n6     n7      n8     n9   n10

  1  smithers michaels gonzalez hurth frank bleigh rounder joseph peters sam

 Obs    c1       c2       c3     c4    c5     c6     c7      c8     c9   c10  i

  1  SMITHERS MICHAELS GONZALEZ HURTH FRANK BLEIGH ROUNDER JOSEPH PETERS SAM 11

Example 2: Assigning Initial Values to the Elements of an Array

This example creates variables in the array TEST and assigns them the initial values 90, 80, and 70. It reads values into another array named SCORE and compares each element of SCORE to the corresponding element of TEST. If the value of the element in SCORE is greater than or equal to the value of the element in TEST, the variable NewScore is assigned the value in the element SCORE, and the OUTPUT statement writes the observation to the SAS data set.

The INPUT statement reads a value for the variable named ID and then reads values for all the variables in the SCORE array.

options nodate pageno=1 linesize=80 pagesize=60;

data score1(drop=i);
   array test{3} t1-t3 (90 80 70);
   array score{3} s1-s3;
   input id score{*};
   do i=1 to 3;
      if score{i}>=test{i} then
         do;
            NewScore=score{i};
            output;
         end;
   end;
   datalines;
1234  99 60 82
5678  80 85 75
;

proc print noobs data=score1;
   title 'Data Set SCORE1';
run;

The following output shows the SCORE1 data set.

Assigning Initial Values to the Elements of an Array

                                Data Set SCORE1                                1

                                                            New
               t1    t2    t3    s1    s2    s3     id     Score

               90    80    70    99    60    82    1234      99 
               90    80    70    99    60    82    1234      82 
               90    80    70    80    85    75    5678      85 
               90    80    70    80    85    75    5678      75

Example 3: Creating an Array for Temporary Use in the Current DATA Step

When elements of an array are constants that are needed only for the duration of the DATA step, you can omit variables from an array group and instead use temporary array elements. You refer to temporary data elements by the array name and dimension. Although they behave like variables, temporary array elements do not have names, and they do not appear in the output data set. Temporary array elements are automatically retained, instead of being reset to missing at the beginning of the next iteration of the DATA step.

To create a temporary array, use the _TEMPORARY_ argument. The following example creates a temporary array named TEST:

options nodate pageno=1 linesize=80 pagesize=60; 

data score2(drop=i);
      array test{3} _temporary_ (90 80 70);
      array score{3} s1-s3;
      input id score{*};
         do i=1 to 3;
            if score{i}>=test{i} then
               do;
                  NewScore=score{i};
                  output;
               end;
         end;
      datalines;
   1234  99 60 82
   5678  80 85 75
   ;

   proc print noobs data=score2;
      title 'Data Set SCORE2';
   run;

The following output shows the SCORE2 data set.

Using _TEMPORARY_ Arrays

                                Data Set SCORE2                                1

                                                   New
                        s1    s2    s3     id     Score

                        99    60    82    1234      99 
                        99    60    82    1234      82 
                        80    85    75    5678      85 
                        80    85    75    5678      75

Example 4: Performing an Action on All Numeric Variables

This example multiplies all the numeric variables in array TEST by 3.

options nodate pageno=1 linesize=80 pagesize=60; 

data sales;
   infile datalines;
   input Value1 Value2 Value3 Value4;
   datalines;
11 56 58 61
22 51 57 61
22 49 53 58
;
data convert(drop=i);
   set sales;
   array test{*} _numeric_;
   do i=1 to dim(test);
      test{i} = (test{i}*3);
   end;
run;

proc print data=convert; 
   title 'Data Set CONVERT';
run;

The following output shows the CONVERT data set.

Output from Using a _NUMERIC_ Variable List

                                Data Set CONVERT                               1

                  Obs    Value1    Value2    Value3    Value4

                   1       33        168       174       183 
                   2       66        153       171       183 
                   3       66        147       159       174