how to extract last 4 characters of the string in SAS

Question

improved formatting,I am a bit stuck where I am not able to extract the last 4 characters of the string., when I write :-

indikan=substr(Indikation,length(Indikation)-3,4);

It is giving invalid argument.
how to do this?

To be more likely to get helpful answers, please include sample data that reproduces the problem. — Joe, Jan 09 '15 at 21:38

JJFord3 · Answer 1 · 2016-11-08T18:16:30.593

5

This code works:

data temp;
indikation = "Idontknow";
run;

data temp;
set temp;
indikan = substrn(indikation,max(1,length(indikation)-3),4);
run;

Can you provide more context on the variable? If indikation is length 3 or smaller than I could see this erroring or if it was numeric it may cause issues because it right justifies the numbers (http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lrdict/64316/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a000245907.htm).

edited Nov 08 '16 at 18:16

answered Jan 09 '15 at 13:32

JJFord3

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Use `substrn()` instead if you need strings of 3 characters or less to also be returned. Also, if the string is empty, `substrn()` will handle this elegantly. – Robert Penridge Jan 09 '15 at 18:56
Hmm, I didn't realize substrn was so handy - I only knew about the null string return. I'm not sure I understand why it's crammed full of other fun things, like better numeric handling and automatic truncation, but it's super handy @RobertPenridge! – Joe Jan 09 '15 at 21:35
@Joe Yeah I only just discovered it after looking at this answer as well. Just like SAS to give the more useful function the less intuitive name =). I was actually checking the doc to see if regular `substr()` would accept a negative value as a start position (it doesn't) when I came across `substrn()`. I definitely have some code to go and update now! – Robert Penridge Jan 09 '15 at 23:44

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 09 '15 at 21:38

2

If it's likely to be under four characters in some cases, I would recommend adding max:

indikan = substrn(indikation,max(1,length(indikation)-3),4);

I've also added substrn as Rob suggests given it better handles a not-long-enough string.

answered Jan 09 '15 at 21:38

Joe

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 04 '16 at 13:30

Or one could use the reverse function twice, like this:

data _null_;

   my_string = "Fri Apr 22 13:52:55 +0000 2016";

   _day   = substr(my_string, 9, 2);
   _month = lowcase(substr(my_string, 5, 3));

   * Check the _year out;
   _year  = reverse(substr(reverse(trim(my_string)), 1, 4));

   created_at = input(compress(_day || _month || _year), date9.);

   put my_string=;
   put created_at=weekdatx29.;
run;

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 23 '16 at 12:14

0

Wrong results might be caused by trailing blanks: so, before you perform substr, strip/trim your string:

indikan=substr(strip(Indikation),length(strip(Indikation))-3);

must give you last 4 characters

answered Jun 23 '16 at 12:14

Gabit Kemelov

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 19 '16 at 06:03

0

Or you can try this approach, which, while initially a bit less intuitive, is stable, shorter, uses fewer functions, and works with numeric and text values:

indikan = prxchange("s/.*(.{4}$)/$1/",1,indikation);

answered Jul 19 '16 at 06:03

Willwillpower

1

score -1 · Answer 6 · edited Feb 01 '17 at 12:02

-1

data temp;
input trt$;
cards;
treat123
treat121
treat21
treat1
treat1
trea2
;run;

data abc;
set temp;
b=substr(trt,length(trt)-3);
run;
[Output]

Output:

edited Feb 01 '17 at 12:02

hering

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answered Feb 01 '17 at 10:25

tina yong

1

how to extract last 4 characters of the string in SAS

6 Answers6