CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sasproc-sql
George
George

Reputation: 4674

SAS PROC SQL: How to add trailing spaces?

I have a problem like this at work:

Some system requires a specific input like:

0000051420189999999                         ABC12345678<20 SPACES>;

Which is a (some digit) + Sample_Date + (some digit) + x amount of spaces + Sample_KEY + y amount of spaces.

I read a few online post about string concatenation and converting date into string. But the trailing spaces are always eliminated at the end. 

PROC SQL;
CREATE TABLE WORK.MAINFRAME_FILE AS 
SELECT CAT('0000', 
           COMPRESS(PUT((Sample_Date), MMDDYY10.), '/',),
           '9999999                         ', 
           Sample_KEY,
           '                                          ') 
           AS INPUT FORMAT=$100.
FROM WORK.TEST
;
QUIT;

How can I add some trailing spaces at the end, say 20? Thanks

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1808

Answers (1)

Joe
Joe

Reputation: 63434

If you're putting this into a SAS dataset, the spaces are there automatically as long as the field length is defined sufficiently. All SAS columns are by definition space-padded to full length. You might not see them depending on how you're looking at the field, but they're there internally.

If you're putting this into a SQL Server table or similar, it will probably depend on the particular RDBMS you're connecting to how to accomplish this.

SAS example - note x has the ascii representation '20'x which is space:

PROC SQL;
CREATE TABLE WORK.MAINFRAME_FILE AS 
SELECT CAT('0000', 
           COMPRESS(PUT((today()), MMDDYY10.), '/',),
           '9999999                         ', 
           Name,
           '                                          ') 
           AS INPUT FORMAT=$100.
FROM SASHELP.CLASS
;
QUIT;

data your_file;
  set work.mainframe_file;
  x = substr(input,60,1);
  put x= $HEX2.;
run;

Upvotes: 3

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