Conditional processing in proc sql(SAS) using a macro variable - sql

I need to select the name of states that do not start with M if the the macro variable M=N but return only the names of states that start with M if macro variable is equal to any other variable using conditional processing.
for example:
%let M=N;
proc sql;
select states,profit,
case
when .....
else
end
from geography_dim
quit;

For the sake of argument, suppose you change the name of the macro variable M to something more ridiculously expressive, such as YN_OPTION_SELECT_M_STATES
%let YN_OPTION_SELECT_M_STATES = N;
proc sql;
select states,profit,
case
when .....
else
end
from geography_dim
/* add this */
where
("&YN_OPTION_SELECT_M_STATES" eq 'N' & STATE not like 'M%')
or
("&YN_OPTION_SELECT_M_STATES" ne 'N' & STATE like 'M%')
;
quit;
Revert to macro variable M if you must, however the code will be somewhat opaque.

It is not SQL but very simple in datastep. If you want check the staring with M macro values in that case "N" you can do like:
/*test data*/
data geography_dim ;
states="Aaaaa";profit=10;output;
states="Naaaa";profit=10;output;
run;
/*set macro variable*/
%let M=N;
/*check if you want*/
%put "&M";
/*your case in datastep*/
data test;
set geography_dim;
if substr(states,1,1) eq "&M" then profit=profit*10;
else profit=0;
run;
/* results
states profit
Aaaaa 0
Naaaa 100
*/

Related

Using SQL to pass lists of values into macro variables in SAS

I have blocks of variables that I need to process. I put a list of the variable block names into a macro variable. Then I created a list of macro variables I want to pass the variable lists into. I am attempting to iterate through the list with this code but the only thing that is retained a macro variable called nextlist for the last block of variables. How can I get the SQL code to put the list of values into the macros I am feeding in from the &blockvarlist macro list?
I am running this in SAS 9.4
PROC SQL ; SELECT DISTINCT FINAL_NAME INTO :&next SEPARATED BY " " FROM
metadata4b
where varblockname = "&next2" and type = "Num" and
(index(final_name,"_NA") = 0 and index(final_name,"_1NA")
= 0 and index(final_name,"_2NA") = 0 ); QUIT;
%put &blocklist;
/*result of put: Q11 Q11_10N Q11_11N Q11_12N Q38_list*/
%put &blockvarlist;
/*result of put: Q11_10N_list Q11_11N_list Q11_12N_list Q38_list*/
%macro createarray;
%global i nextblock;
%do i = 1 %to %sysfunc(countw(&BLOCKLIST));
%let nextblock = %scan(&BLOCKLIST, &i, %str( ));
%let nextlist = %scan(&BLOCKVARLIST, &i, %str( ));
PROC SQL; SELECT DISTINCT FINAL_NAME INTO :nextlist SEPARATED BY
" " FROM metadata4b
where varblockname = "&nextblock" and type = "Num" and
(index(final_name,"_NA") = 0 and index(final_name,"_1NA")
= 0 and index(final_name,"_2NA") = 0 ); QUIT;
%end;
%mend;
%createarray;
I want to generate a series of macro variables that I can reference later. For example Q38_list would contain the list of variables in that question block: Q38_CIR Q38_FRM Q38_OTR Q38_SCR
I think you may need to resolve the nextlist macro variable during the INTO.
You might also need to globalize the target prior to the SQL
%let nextlist = %scan(&BLOCKVARLIST, &i, %str( ));
%global &nextlist;
Change
SELECT DISTINCT FINAL_NAME INTO :nextlist
to
SELECT DISTINCT FINAL_NAME INTO :&nextlist

Refer to a macrolist which name depends on a variable

%let list_2=‘a’,’b’,’c’;
PROC SQL;
CREATE TABLE test AS
SELECT
Bin, /*value is a*/
Rank, /*value is 2*/
CASE
WHEN Bin IN (&list_Rank.) /*list_2=‘a’,’b’,’c’*/
THEN 1
ELSE 0
END AS test
FROM Source
;
QUIT;
I am looking for a way to use the value of column Rank in the reference to the macrovariable list_2.
As #John commented, you can use SYMGET function to use data to look up the value of a macro variable during run-time. I don't think you can use the IN operator for what you want, because it expects a list of character strings, while SYMGET will return a single string. Below I took the quotes out of the &LIST_2 (just to make it easier to work with), and used FINDW to do the work of IN. I think this is along the lines of what you're describing:
%let list_2=a,b,c;
%let list_3=d,e,f ;
data have ;
input bin $1. rank ;
cards ;
a 2
a 3
e 2
e 3
;
run ;
proc sql ;
select
bin
,rank
,case when findw(symget(cats("list_",rank))
,bin
) then 1
else 0
end as test
,symgetc(cats("list_",rank)) as symgetc /*debugging*/
from have ;
quit ;
You could add another CASE statement. Actually since it is SAS code you could eliminate the current CASE statement and just use the result of the IN operation which will be 0 (false) or 1 (true).
%let list_1='a','b','c';
%let list_2='d','e','f';
%let nlists=2;
PROC SQL;
CREATE TABLE test AS
SELECT
Bin /*value is a*/
, Rank /*value is 2*/
, case
when (rank=1) then bin in (&list_1)
when (rank=2) then bin in (&list_2)
else 0
end as test
FROM Source
;
QUIT;
If you are running inside a macro you could use a %do loop to generate the when clauses.
%do i=1 %to &nlists ;
when (rank=&i) then bin in (&&list_&i)
%end;
If you are not in a macro then create a macro to run the %do loop and call it at the appropriate place.

SAS - Replacing substrings in a macro variable containing semicolons

I need to be able to copy paste a long SQL script that contains variables back and forth between Aginity Workbench and SAS. To make this easier, I've been storing the SQL query in a macro variable like this:
(take note of the Netezza style variables)
%let myQuery = %str(
DROP TABLE this;
SELECT *
INTO SomeTable
FROM OtherTable
WHERE field = ${myVariable};
UPDATE TABLE foo
SET x = 1
WHERE
field = ${anotherVariable};
);
When my SAS program runs, I need it to replace the ${netezzaVariables} with text from other macro variables that are determined earlier in the process flow. So far, I've not been able to successfully replace text within this macro variable and I am suspicious that the semicolons are causing issues.
Here's what I'm attempting to do below:
%let formattedText = %sysfunc(tranwrd(&myQuery,'${myVariable}','replacementText'));
The log for that shows:
NOTE: Line generated by the macro function "SYSFUNC".
DROP TABLE this;
! SELECT <the rest of the query is printed to console here>
I didn't go on writing the rest of the log above, because the error is on the word SELECT, with a red line underneath it. Just below this red line is the text:
ERROR 180-322: Statement is not valid or it is used out of proper order.
In fact, if I go on scrolling through the log, every first set of characters following a semicolon in the query is underlined with that same exact error code.
This leads me to believe that SAS picked up the semicolon before that SELECT, used it to terminate what I was doing, and now thinks the text following this semicolon is out in the open code.
In conclusion, I need to know how to replace substrings within a macro variable who's value is a large string containing semicolons.
Thanks in advance!
You don't need to use quotes when using string functions with %sysfunc(). In this case %qsysfunc is what you're looking for, I think:
%let myQuery = %str(
DROP TABLE this;
SELECT *
INTO SomeTable
FROM OtherTable
WHERE field = ${myVariable};
UPDATE TABLE foo
SET x = 1
WHERE
field = ${anotherVariable};
);
%put &myQuery;
%let formattedText = %qsysfunc(tranwrd(&myQuery,${myVariable},replacementText));
%put &formattedText;
Not the most elegant of solutions but it does the job:
%let myQuery = %str(
DROP TABLE this;
SELECT *
INTO SomeTable
FROM OtherTable
WHERE field = ${myVariable};
UPDATE TABLE foo
SET x = 1
WHERE
field = ${anotherVariable};
);
data _null_;
call symput('formattedtext',tranwrd("%quote(%superq(myquery))","${myVariable}","replacementText"));
run;
%put %superq(formattedText);
There's probably a way to do it using only macro functions but I couldn't get it to work.
For your particular example, the call symput could have been simplified to
call symput('formattedtext',tranwrd("&myquery","${myVariable}","replacementText"));
but this would fail if your query contained double quotes whereas the way I wrote it above supports that.
Joshua:
A general purpose resolver is useful if your 'templated' expression has many parameters. Note: a template is different than a parameterized query, and potentially more dangerous.
Without a resolver you will need to code a TRANWRD for each parameter.
Consider this macro that assumes a template contains parameters that are specified by ${macro-var} and parameters are replaced with the macro-var value. Also presume there are no parameters that start with underscore (_) which could collide with the macros internal variables.
%macro resolver(_template);
%local _result;
%local _tokenRx;
%local _start _stop _position _length _token _macrovar _guard;
%let _tokenRx = %sysfunc(prxparse(m/\${([^}]+)}/));
/*%put &=_tokenRx;*/
%let _guard = 0;
%let _start = 1;
%let _stop = %length(&_template);
%let _position = 0;
%let _length = 0;
%let _result = &_template;
%syscall prxnext(_tokenRx, _start, _stop, _template, _position, _length);
%do %while (&_position > 0);
/* %put &=_start &=_stop &=_position &=_length; */
%let _token = %qsubstr(&_template,&_position,&_length);
%let _macrovar = %substr(&_token,3,%eval(%length(&_token)-3));
/*
%put &=_token;
%put &=_macrovar;
*/
%if %symexist(&_macrovar) %then %do;
%let _result = %qsysfunc(tranwrd(&_result,&_token,&&&_macrovar));
%end;
%syscall prxnext(_tokenRx, _start, _stop, _template, _position, _length);
%let _guard = %eval (&_guard+1);
%if &_guard > 1000 %then %let _position = 0;
%end;
%syscall prxfree(_tokenRx);
%superq(_result)
%mend;
Here is the resolver applied to your templated SQL query (adjusted to Proc SQL).
%let myQuery = %str(
DROP TABLE this
;
INSERT INTO SomeTable /* sas insert syntax */
SELECT * FROM OtherTable
WHERE ${field} = ${target}
;
UPDATE foo
SET x = 1
WHERE
field = ${anotherVariable}
;
);
%let field = name;
%let target = 'Jane';
%let myVariable = XYZ;
%let anotherVariable = 'John';
%put %resolver (%superq(myQuery));
proc sql;
create table this (id int);
create table SomeTable like sashelp.class;
create table OtherTable as select * from sashelp.class;
create table foo as select name as field, 0 as x from sashelp.class;
%unquote(%resolver(%superq(myQUery)))
quit;

macro into a table or a macro variable with sas

I'm having this macro. The aim is to take the name of variables from the table dicofr and put the rows inside into variable name using a symput.
However , something is not working correctly because that variable, &nvarname, is not seen as a variable.
This is the content of dico&&pays&l
varname descr
var12 aza
var55 ghj
var74 mcy
This is the content of dico&&pays&l..1
varname
var12
var55
var74
Below is my code
%macro testmac;
%let pays1=FR ;
%do l=1 %to 1 ;
data dico&&pays&l..1 ; set dico&&pays&l (keep=varname);
call symput("nvarname",trim(left(_n_))) ;
run ;
data a&&pays&l;
set a&&pays&l;
nouv_date=mdy(substr(date,6,2),01,substr(date,1,4));
format nouv_date monyy5.;
run;
proc sql;
create table toto
(nouv_date date , nomvar varchar (12));
quit;
proc sql;
insert into toto SELECT max(nouv_date),"&nvarname" as nouv_date as varname FROM a&&pays&l WHERE (&nvarname ne .);
%end;
%mend;
%testmac;
A subsidiary question. Is it possible to have the varname and the date related to that varname into a macro variable? My man-a told me about this but I have never done that before.
Thanks in advance.
Edited:
I have this table
date col1 col2 col3 ... colx
1999M12 . . . .
1999M11 . 2 . .
1999M10 1 3 . 3
1999M9 0.2 3 2 1
I'm trying to do know the name of the column with the maximum date , knowing the value inside of the column is different than a missing value.
For col1, it would be 1999M10. For col2, it would be 1999M11 etc ...
Based on your update, I think the following code does what you want. If you don't mind sorting your input dataset first, you can get all the values you're looking for with a single data step - no macros required!
data have;
length date $7;
input date col1 col2 col3;
format date2 monyy5.;
date2 = mdy(substr(date,6,2),1,substr(date,1,4));
datalines;
1999M12 . . .
1999M11 . 2 .
1999M10 1 3 .
1999M09 0.2 3 2
;
run;
/*Required for the following data step to work*/
/*Doing it this way allows us to potentially skip reading most of the input data set*/
proc sort data = have;
by descending date2;
run;
data want(keep = max_date:);
array max_dates{*} max_date1-max_date3;
array cols{*} col1-col3;
format max_date: monyy5.;
do until(eof); /*Begin DOW loop*/
set have end = eof;
/*Check to see if we've found the max date for each col yet.*/
/*Save the date for that col if applicable*/
j = 0;
do i = 1 to dim(cols);
if missing(max_dates[i]) and not(missing(cols[i])) then max_dates[i] = date2;
j + missing(max_dates[i]);
end;
/*Use j to count how many cols we still need dates for.*/
/* If we've got a full set, we can skip reading the rest of the data set*/
if j = 0 then do;
output;
stop;
end;
end; /*End DOW loop*/
run;
EDIT: if you want to output the names alongside the max date for each, that can be done with a slight modification:
data want(keep = col_name max_date);
array max_dates{*} max_date1-max_date3;
array cols{*} col1-col3;
format max_date monyy5.;
do until(eof); /*Begin DOW loop*/
set have end = eof;
/*Check to see if we've found the max date for each col yet.*/
/*If not then save date from current row for that col*/
j = 0;
do i = 1 to dim(cols);
if missing(max_dates[i]) and not(missing(cols[i])) then max_dates[i] = date2;
j + missing(max_dates[i]);
end;
/*Use j to count how many cols we still need dates for.*/
/* If we've got a full set, we can skip reading the rest of the data set*/
if j = 0 or eof then do;
do i = 1 to dim(cols);
col_name = vname(cols[i]);
max_date = max_dates[i];
output;
end;
stop;
end;
end; /*End DOW loop*/
run;
It looks to me that you're trying to use macros to generate INSERT INTO statements to populate your table. It's possible to do this without using macros at all which is the approach I'd recommend.
You could use a datastep statement to write out the INSERT INTO statements to a file. Then following the datastep, use a %include statement to run the file.
This will be easier to write/maintain/debug and will also perform better.

Select character variables that have all missing values

I have a SAS dataset with around 3,000 variables, and I would like to get rid of the character variables for which all values are missing. I know how to do this for numeric variables-- I'm wondering specifically about the character variables. I need to do the work using base SAS, but that could include proc SQL, which is why I've tagged this one 'SQL' also.
Thank you!
Edit:
Background info: This is a tall dataset, with survey data from 7 waves of interviews. Some, but not all, of the survey items (variables) were repeated across waves. I'm trying to create a list of items that were actually used in each wave by pulling all the records for that wave, getting rid of all the columns that have nothing but SAS's default missing values, and then running proc contents.
I created a macro that will check for empty character columns and either remove them from the original or create a new data set with the empty columns removed. It takes two optional arguments: The name of the data set (default is the most recently created data set), and a suffix to name the new copy (set suffix to nothing to edit the original).
It uses proc freq with the levels option and a custom format to determine the empty character columns. proc sql is then used to create a list of the columns to be removed and store them in a macro variable.
Here is the macro:
%macro delemptycol(ds=_last_, suffix=_noempty);
option nonotes;
proc format;
value $charmiss
' '= ' '
other='1';
run;
%if "&ds"="_last_" %then %let ds=&syslast.;
ods select nlevels;
ods output nlevels=nlev;
proc freq data=&ds.(keep=_character_) levels ;
format _character_ $charmiss.;
run;
ods output close;
/* create macro var with list of cols to remove */
%local emptycols;
proc sql noprint;
select tablevar into: emptycols separated by ' '
from nlev
where NNonMissLevels=0;
quit;
%if &emptycols.= %then %do;
%put DELEMPTYCOL: No empty character columns were found in data set &ds.;
%end;
%else %do;
%put DELEMPTYCOL: The following empty character columns were found in data set &ds. : &emptycols.;
%put DELEMPTYCOL: Data set &ds.&suffix created with empty columns removed;
data &ds.&suffix. ;
set &ds(drop=&emptycols);
run;
%end;
options notes;
%mend;
Examples usage:
/* create some fake data: Here char5 will be empty */
data chardata(drop= j randnum);
length char1-char5 $8.;
array chars(5) char1-char5;
do i=1 to 100;
call missing(of char:);
randnum=floor(10*ranuni(i));
do j=2 to 5;
if (j-1)<randnum<=(j+1) then chars(j-1)="FOO";
end;
output;
end;
run;
%delemptycol(); /* uses default _last_ for the data and "_noempty" as the suffix */
%delemptycol(ds=chardata, suffix=); /* removes the empty columns from the original */
There's probably a simpler way but this is what I came up with.
Cheers
Rob
EDIT: Note that this works for both character and numeric variables.
**
** TEST DATASET
*;
data x;
col1 = "a"; col2 = ""; col3 = "c"; output;
col1 = "" ; col2 = ""; col3 = "c"; output;
col1 = "a"; col2 = ""; col3 = "" ; output;
run;
**
** GET A LIST OF VARIABLE NAMES
*;
proc sql noprint;
select name into :varlist separated by " "
from sashelp.vcolumn
where upcase(libname) eq "WORK"
and upcase(memname) eq "X";
quit;
%put &varlist;
**
** USE A MACRO TO CREATE A DATASTEP. FOR EACH COLUMN THE
** THE DATASTEP WILL CREATE A NEW COLUMN WITH THE SAME NAME
** BUT PREFIXED WITH "DELETE_". IF THERE IS AT LEAST 1
** NON-MISSING VALUE FOR THE COLUMN THEN THE "DELETE" COLUMN
** WILL FINISH WITH A VALUE OF 0, ELSE 1. WE WILL ONLY
** KEEP THE COLUMNS CALLED "DELETE_" AND OUTPUT ONLY A SINGLE
** OBSERVATION TO THE FINAL DATASET.
*;
%macro find_unused_cols(iDs=);
%local cnt;
data vars_to_delete;
set &iDs end=eof;
%let cnt = 1;
%let varname = %scan(&varlist, &cnt);
%do %while ("&varname" ne "");
retain delete_&varname;
delete_&varname = min(delete_&varname, missing(&varname));
drop &varname;
%let cnt = %eval(&cnt + 1);
%let varname = %scan(&varlist, &cnt);
%end;
if eof then do;
output;
end;
run;
%mend;
%find_unused_cols(iDs=x);
**
** GET A LIST OF VARIABLE NAMES FROM THE NEW DATASET
** THAT WE WANT TO DELETE AND STORE TO A MACRO VAR.
*;
proc transpose data=vars_to_delete out=vars_to_delete;
run;
proc sql noprint;
select substr(_name_,8) into :vars_to_delete separated by " "
from vars_to_delete
where col1;
quit;
%put &vars_to_delete;
**
** CREATE A NEW DATASET CONTAINING JUST THOSE VARS
** THAT WE WANT TO KEEP
*;
data new_x;
set x;
drop &vars_to_delete;
run;
Rob and cmjohns, thank you SO MUCH for your help. Based on your solutions and an idea I had over the weekend, here is what I came up with:
%macro removeEmptyCols(origDset, outDset);
* get the number of obs in the original dset;
%let dsid = %sysfunc(open(&origDset));
%let origN = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid, nlobs));
%let rc = %sysfunc(close(&dsid));
proc transpose data= &origDset out= transpDset;
var _all_;
run;
data transpDset;
set transpDset;
* proc transpose converted all old vars to character,
so the . from old numeric vars no longer means 'missing';
array oldVar_ _character_;
do over oldVar_;
if strip(oldVar_) = "." then oldVar_ = "";
end;
* each row from the old dset is now a column with varname starting with 'col';
numMiss = cmiss(of col:);
numCols = &origN;
run;
proc sql noprint;
select _NAME_ into: varsToKeep separated by ' '
from transpDset
where numMiss < numCols;
quit;
data &outDset;
set &origDset (keep = &varsToKeep);
run;
%mend removeEmptyCols;
I will try all 3 ways and report back on which one is fastest...
P.S. added 23 Dec 2010 for future reference: SGF Paper 048-2010: Dropping Automatically Variables with Only Missing Values
This is very simple method useful for all variables
proc freq data=class nlevels ;
ods output nlevels=levels(where=(nmisslevels>0 and nnonmisslevels=0));
run;
proc sql noprint;
select TABLEVAR into :_MISSINGVARS separated by ' ' from levels;
quit;
data want;
set class (keep=&_MISSINGVARS);
run;