Getting Your Data into SAS

The Basics
Math 3210
Dr. Zeng
Department of Mathematics
California State University, Bakersfield
 Outline
• Getting data into SAS
-Entering data directly into SAS
-Creating SAS data sets from external data files

• Reading raw data: three basic input styles

-List
-Column
-Formatted
-Mixed Inputs
Methods for Getting Data into SAS
Method ONE: Entering data directly into SAS (internal data).
You may want to type the raw data directly into your SAS program when you
have small amount of data. In this chapter, you will learn about
 Generating SAS data using DATA step
 The DATALINES statement
 The INPUT statement

Method TWO: Creating SAS data sets from raw data files (external data).
This method allows you to import your data externally from other software’s
data files into SAS such as excel or text files. In this chapter, you will learn
about
 Importing excel data to SAS Enterprise Guide
 Importing text data to the SAS Studio
 Importing excel data to the SAS Studio
 The INFILE statement
 The IMPORT procedure
Entering data directly into SAS (internal data)

• Sometimes, you may want to type the raw

data directly into SAS
• Especially when you have small amounts of
data or when you are testing a program with
small test data set.
• This method works the same for both SAS
Enterprise Guide and SAS Studio
 The DATALINES statement
• The DATALINES statement indicates internal data
• The DATALINES statement must be the last
statement in the DATA step, before the RUN
statement
• The DATALINES keyword marks the start of data
input, while the semicolon indicates the end of
data
• The CARDS statement and the DATALINES
statement are synonymous.
 Example
data sampledata;
input name $ gender $ age;
datalines;
Adam M 35
Mary F 32
Kent M 40
Zoe F 28
Eric M .
;
proc print data=sampledata;
title ‘this is a sample data’;
run;
Note:
• The INPUT statement tells SAS how to read
your raw data. Simply list the variable names
after the INPUT keyword in the order they
appear in the data file.
• Remember to place a dollar sign ($) after
character variables.
• A (.) means missing values for numerical
variables.
 Creating SAS data sets from Excel files: SAS Enterprise Guide

1. First click File and select import data.

2. Select the file ‘sampledata1’

3. Hit ‘next’ for four times and hit ‘finish’

4. Print your data set

proc print data=sampledata1;

title ‘this is a sample data 1’;
run;
 Creating SAS data sets from text files: The SAS Studio

1. From within SAS Studio, expand Files (Home) and then

select the my_content folder.

2. Click the Upload icon to upload ‘sampledata1.txt’

3. Now this raw data is stored under the
‘/home/bzeng/my_content’ folder. In your case, this folder
should be ‘/home/your_user_name/my_content’ . To import
the external data, we need to use the INFILE statement to
tell SAS the location of the raw data files in your computer.

4. Type the following SAS code in the editor window and submit

data sampledata1;
infile '/home/bzeng/my_content/sampledata1.txt';
input name $ gender $ score;
run;
proc print data=sampledata1;
run;
Remark:

• The INFILE statement tells SAS where to find the raw

data in your computer
• You must indicate the path of your raw data in single
quotes immediately after the INFILE keyword
• The INPUT statement tells SAS how to read your raw
data. Simply list the variable names after the INPUT
keyword in the order they appear in the data file.
• Remember to place a dollar sign ($) after character
variables.
• This method is also useful if the external file has the
.dat extension, say “sampledata1.dat”.
• You can easily convert a text file to a DAT file by
changing the extension name from .txt to .dat
 Creating SAS data sets from Excel files: The SAS Studio

1. From within SAS Studio, expand Files (Home) and then

select the my_content folder.

2. Click the Upload icon to upload ‘sampledata1.txt’

3. To read an excel file to SAS, we need to use the IMPORT procedure. Here is
the general form of the IMPORT procedure for reading Excel files:

proc import datafile=‘filename’ options

dbms=identifier out=data-set replace;

 filename is the file you want to read

 data-set is the name of data set you want to create
 The REPLACE option tells SAS to replace the SAS data set named in the
OUT=option if it already exists
 The dbms=option tells SAS the type of Excel file to read, such as .xls, .xlsx,
 The IMPORT procedure treats the first line of your data file as the header. So
the INPUT statement is not needed here

4. In this example:

proc import datafile='/home/bzeng/my_content/sampledata1.xlsx'

dbms=xlsx out=sampledata2 replace;
run;
proc print data=sampledata2;
title SAS data set read from excel files;
run;
Sometimes, the IMPORT procedure makes it easy to read external
data:

 It treats two consecutive delimiters as a missing value, will read

values enclosed by quotation marks, and assign missing values
to variables when it runs out of data on a line.
 The IMPORT procedure treats the first line of your data file as
the header. So the INPUT statement is not needed here
 It can recognize some date formats
 It scans the first 20 rows in your data file and automatically
determine the variable type (numeric or character)
 It assigns lengths to the character variables
 We can use the CONTENTS procedure to verify the variable
type and length. The general form of CONTENTS procedure is:
proc contents data=data-set; run;
 Introduction to Raw Data
To create a SAS data set from raw data, you must examine
the data records first to determine how the data values that
you want to read are arranged. Then you can look at the
styles of reading input that are available in the INPUT
statement. SAS provides three basic input styles:

• List (free formatted) input

• Column input
• Formatted input
Reading Unaligned Data: List Input
Understanding List Input:

• List input is the simplest form of the INPUT

statement
• List input is used to read your raw data files that
are separated by a delimiter character (by
default, a blank space)
• With list input, SAS reads a data value until it
encounters a blank space or the end of the input
record
Restrictions with list input:

• You must read all the data in a record-no skipping

over unwanted values
• Any missing data must be indicated with a period
• Character data, if present, must be simple: no
embedded spaces, and no values greater than 8
characters in length
• List input is not appropriate for the data file that
contains date or other values which need special
treatment
 Example: Basic List Input
data club1;
input IdNumber Name $ Team $ StartWeight EndWeight;
datalines;
1023 David red 189 165
1049 Amelia yellow 145 124
1219 Alan red 210 192
1246 Ravi yellow 194 177
1078 Ashley red 127 118
1221 Jim yellow 220 .
;
proc print data=club1;
title 'Basic List Input Example: Weight of Club Members ';
run;
Note: SAS allows you to download your result as a PDF
file or an HTML file.
Comments:

• The variable names in the INPUT statement are

specified in exactly the same order as the fields in
the raw data records.
• The DATALINES statement marks the beginning of
the data lines while the semicolon that follows
the data lines marks the end of data lines and the
end of the DATA step.
• Each data value in the raw data record is
separated from the next by at least one blank
space. The last record contains a missing value.
 Example: When the Data is Delimited
by Characters, Not Blanks
options pagesize=60 linesize=80 pageno=1 nodate;
data club1;
infile datalines dlm=’,’;
input IdNumber Name $ Team $ StartWeight EndWeight;
datalines;
1023,David,red,189,165
1049,Amelia,yellow,145,124
1219,Alan,red,210,192
1246,Ravi,yellow,194,177
1078,Ashley,red,127,118
1221,Jim,yellow,220,.
;
proc print data=club1;
title ’Example: data delimited by characters’;
run;
Comments:
• List input, by default, scans the input records, looking
for blank spaces to delimit each data value. The DLM=
option enables list input to recognize a character, here
a comma, as the delimiter.
• These values are separated by commas instead of
blanks.
• The DLM=option is only available in the INFILE
statement.
• If you read the data from an external data file, in the
INFILE statement, we need to replace the datalines
keyword by the location of your external raw data file,
such as '/home/bzeng/my_content/sampledata1.txt'
 Reading Data That is Aligned in Columns

Understanding Column Input:

• Some raw data files do not have spaces or other

delimiters between all the values or periods for missing
data; so the files cannot be read using list input.
• But if each of the variable’s values is always found in
the same place in the data line (e.g. survey data), then
you can use column input as long as all the values are
character or standard numeric.
• With column input, data values occupy the same field
within each data record.
Example: Reading Data Aligned in Columns
data club1;
input IdNumber 1-4 Name $ 6-11 Team $ 13-18 StartWeight 20-22
EndWeight 24-26;
datalines;
1023 David red 189 165
1049 Amelia yellow 145
1219 Alan red 210 192
1246 Ravi yellow 177
1078 Ashley red 127 118
1221 Jim yellow 220
;
proc print data=club1;
title Example: reading data aligned in columns;
run;
Comments:

• When you use column input in the INPUT statement, list the
variable names and specify column positions that identify the
location of the corresponding data field.
• With column input, the INPUT statement takes the following
form. After the INPUT keyword, list the first variable’s name. If
the variable is character, leave a space; then place a $. After
the dollar sign, or variable name if it is numeric, leave a space;
then list the column or range of columns for that variable.
Repeat for all variables.
• If you read the data from an external data file, use the INFILE
statement before the INPUT statement and remove the
DATALINES statement.
Advantages of Column Input over List Input

• With column input, character variables can

contain embedded blanks
• Missing values can be left blank
• Spaces are not required between values
• Column input also enables the creation of
variables that are longer than eight bytes
• Skip some data field when reading records of
raw data
 Practice 1
Learn about reading embedded blanks and
creating longer variables. Create the following
data set by using column input.
 Practice 2
Column input also enables you to skip over
fields or to read the field in any order. Create the
following data set by only modifying the INPUT
statement that you wrote in Practice 1.
Reading Data That Requires Special Instructions

Understanding Formatted Input:

• Standard numeric data contain only numerals, decimal

points, plus and minus signs, and E for scientific notation.
• Sometimes raw data are not in standard numeric or
character form.
• Examples such as 2,500 (read as twenty-five hundreds), $8
(eight dollars) and 06/10/2017 (June 10th, 2017), are in
non-standard format.
• The INPUT statement requires special instructions to read
the data correctly.
• In these cases, use formatted input which has the ability to
read nonstandard values.
Three general types of informats:

Character Numeric Date

$informatw. informatw.d informatw.

• informat is the name of the informat

• w is the total width of the input field (including signs)
• d is the number of decimal places (numeric informats
only)
• The $ indicates character informats
• The period (.) is a very important part of informats
• Two informats do not have names: $w. which reads
standard character data, and w.d which reads standard
numeric data
For a complete list of informats by category, see
http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lrdict/64316/HTML/default/viewer.htm#
a001239776.htm
 $CHARw.
1) It reads character informats.
2) w specifies the width of the input field (default is 8)
3) The $CHARw. informat does not trim leading and trailing
blanks
4) The $CHARw. Informat does not convert a single period in
the input data field to a blank before storing values.
 $w.
1) It reads standard characters.
2) w specifies the width of the input field
3) The $w. informat trims leading and trailing blanks
4) The $w. Informat converts a single period in the
input data field to a blank before storing values.
 COMMAw.d
1) The COMMAw.d informat reads numeric values and removes
embedded commas, blanks, dollar signs, percent signs,
dashes, and close parentheses from the input data.
2) w specifies the width of the input field (default is 8)
3) d specifies the power of 10 by which to divide the value. If
the data contain decimal points, the d value is ignored
4) It converts an open parenthesis at the beginning of a field to
a minus sign
 w.d
1) It reads standard numeric data.
2) The w.d informat reads values with decimal points
and values in scientific E-notation
3) w specifies the width of the input field
4) The w.d informat reads numeric values that are
located anywhere in the field. Blanks can precede or
follow a numeric value with no effect.
5) A minus sign with no separating blank should
immediately precede a negative value.
6) It interprets a single period as a missing value.
 Practice 3
If we use the following input statement, what is the corresponding
output for the input data below? Write a simple SAS program to verify
your answer.

INPUT Value 5.1;

a) 123
b) 1234
c) 123456
d) 1.25
e) 12.2567
 Example 1: date and comma
data total_sales;
input Date mmddyy10. +2 Amount comma5.;
datalines;
09/05/2013 1,382
10/19/2013 1,235
11/30/2013 2,391
;
run;
proc print data=total_sales;
title Reading Raw Data not in Standard Format: date and
comma;
run;
Note:
• The MMDDYY10. informat for the variable date tells
SAS to interpret the raw data as a month, day, and year,
ignoring the slashes. 10 is the length.
• Notice that these dates are printed as the number of
days since January 1, 1960. In later chapters, we will
talk about how to format these values into readable
dates.
• The comma5. informat for the variable amount tells
SAS to interpret the raw data as a number, ignoring the
comma. Note that the length of the variable is 5.
• The +2 is a pointer control that tells SAS where to look
for the next item.
Example 2: standard character and numeric data

data example2;
input name $10. Age 3. Height 5.1 BirthDate MMDDYY8.;
datalines;
Jane Matt 35 175.6 03-21-82
Jose Lee 32 172.8 06-15-85
;
run;
proc print data =example2;
title ‘Example 2-Reading Raw Data not in Standard
Format: standard character and numeric data’;
run;
Note:
• Name $10. tells SAS to read the first variable
“name” from columns 1 through 10.
• Then the starting point for the second variable
is column 11, and SAS reads values for “age” in
columns 11 through 13.
• The third variable “height” are in columns 14
through 18. It contains a decimal place.
• The last variable “BirthDate” starts in column
19 and is in a date form.
 Example 3: standard and non-standard data
data contest;
input name $16. Age 3. +1 Type $1. +1 Date MMDDYY10. (Score1 Score2
Score3 Score4 Score5) (4.1);
datalines;
Alicia Grossman 13 c 10-28-1999 7.8 6.5 7.2 8.0 7.9
Matthew Lee 9 D 10-30-1999 6.5 5.9 6.8 6.0 8.1
Elizabeth Garcia 10 C 10-29-1999 8.9 7.9 8.5 9.0 8.8
Lori Newcombe 6 D 10-30-1999 6.7 5.6 4.9 5.2 6.1
Jose Martinez 7 d 10-31-1999 8.9 9.510.0 9.7 9.0
Brian Williams 11 C 10-29-1999 7.8 8.4 8.5 7.9 8.0
;
proc print data=contest;
title Example3;
run;
Note:
• The variable “name” is a standard character. $16. means it
is in column 1 through column 16.
• The variable “age” is also standard numeric data. 3. means
it is three columns wide, and has no decimal places.
• The +1 skips over one column.
• $1. means the variable “type” is a standard character which
is one column wide.
• MMDDYY10. reads date in the form 10-31-2016 or 10/31-
2016, each 10 columns wide.
• Score 1-score5 require the same informat 4.1.
• By putting the variables and the informat in separate sets
of parentheses, you only need to list the informat once.
 Working with SAS Dates: The FORMAT Statement
If you print a SAS date value, SAS will by default print the actual
value-the number of days since January 1, 1960. In most cases,
this is not very meaningful. In fact, SAS has a variety of formats
for printing dates in different forms. Here is a list of selected SAS
date formats.
 Example: The FORMAT Statement
The FORMAT statement example below tells SAS to print the variable date using
the MMDDYY8. format.

proc print data=contest;

format date mmddyy8. ;
title Example 3;
run;

Next example tells SAS to print the variable date using the worddate18. ;

proc print data=contest;

format date worddate18.;
title Example 3;
run;
 Listing the Contents of a SAS Data Set

An easy way to get a description of a SAS data

set is using the CONTENTS procedure. You just
need to type the keywords PROC CONTENTS
and specify the data set you want with the
DATA=option. In Example 3 with the contest data
set, we should use

proc contents data=contest;

run;
Description of Data
 Understanding How to Control the
Position of the Pointer
There are at least three ways to keep track of
the position of the data in the input buffer.
• variable $ n-m: means this variable is in
column n through column m
• +n: moves the pointer forward n columns in
the input buffer
• @n variable: directs the pointer to move to
column n in the input buffer.
Examples: Control the Position of the Pointer
/*The following three SAS program produce the same result. */
/*Example 1: column input*/
data january_sales;
input Item $ 1-16 Amount comma5.; datalines;
Trucks 1,382
vans 1,235
sedans 2,391
; run;

/*Example 2: formatted input with the @n pointer*/

data january_sales;
input Item $10. @17 Amount comma5.; datalines;
trucks 1,382
vans 1,235
sedans 2,391
; run;

/*Example 3: formatted input with the +n pointer*/

data january_sales;
input Item $10. +6 Amount comma5.;
datalines;
trucks 1,382
vans 1,235
sedans 2,391
; run;
 Practice 4: Position of Pointers
Follow the instructions from the previous
example, please record the following data by
using
1. column input
2. formatted input with the +n pointer
3. formatted input with @n pointer.
 Mixing Styles of Inputs

• You are not restricted to use one of the three

styles (list, column, or formatted) alone.
• You can mix up input styles in a single INPUT
statement as long as it properly record the
raw data
• However, each style of input uses the pointer
a little differently.
Notes:
1. With list style input, SAS automatically scans
to the next non-blank field and starts reading
2. With column style input, SAS starts reading in
the exact column you specify. It reads
embedded blanks.
3. But with formatted input, SAS just starts
reading-wherever the pointer is, that is
where SAS reads. You are recommended to
use the pointer @n or +n for the formatted
input.
Example:
The following raw data contain information
about U.S. national parks: name, state (or states
as the case may be), year established, and size in
acres.

DATA nationalparks;
INFILE '/home/bzeng/my_content/NatPark.dat';
INPUT ParkName $ 1-22 State $ Year @40 Acreage COMMA9.;
RUN;
 Practice 5: Mix Inputs
Create the data set club1 by following the instructions below:
• Use list input for variables IdNumber, StartWeight, and
EndWeight
• Use formmated input for variable Name
• Use column input for variable Team