PING  0.9
Statistical data handling and processing in production environment
silc_ds_join

Retrieve the list (possibly ordered by varnum) of variables/fields in a given dataset.

%ds_compare(dsn1, dsn2, _ans_=,lib1=, lib2=);

Arguments

  • dsn1 dsn1: two datasets reference (request);
  • lib1 : input(option) library for dsn1 dataset;
  • lib2 : input (option) library for dsn2 dataset;

Returns

ans : the boolean result of the comparison test of the "sets" associated to the input lists, i.e.:

  • 0 when two datasets are equal: dsn1 = dsn2,
  • 1 when dsn1has less variables then dsb2,

Examples

Consider the test dataset #5:

f e d c b a
. 1 2 3 . 5

One can retrieve the ordered list of variables in the dataset with the command: 

%let list=;
%ds_compare(_dstest5, _varlst_=list);

which returns list=f e d c b a, while: 

%ds_compare(_dstest5, _varlst_=list, varnum=no);

returns list=a b c d e f. Similarly, we can also run it on our database, e.g.: 

libname rdb "&G_PING_C_RDB"; 
%let lens=;
%let typs=;
%ds_compare(PEPS01, _varlst_=list, _typlst_=typs, _lenlst_=lens, lib=rdb);

returns:

  • list=geo time age sex unit ivalue iflag unrel n ntot totwgh lastup lastuser,
  • typs= 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2,
  • lens= 5 8 13 3 13 8 1 8 8 8 8 7 7.

Another useful use: we can retrieve data of interest from existing tables, e.g. the list of geographical zones in the EU: 

%let zones=;
%ds_compare(&G_PING_COUNTRYxZONE, _varlst_=zones, lib=&G_PING_LIBCFG);
%let zones=%list_slice(&zones, ibeg=2);

which will return: zones=EA EA12 EA13 EA16 EA17 EA18 EA19 EEA EEA18 EEA28 EEA30 EU15 EU25 EU27 EU28 EFTA EU07 EU09 EU10 EU12.

Run macro %_example_ds_compare for more examples.

Note

In short, the program runs (when varnum=yes): 

PROC CONTENTS DATA = &dsn 
    OUT = tmp(keep = name type length varnum);
run;
PROC SORT DATA = tmp 
    OUT = &tmp(keep = name type length);
    BY varnum;
run;

and retrieves the resulting name, type and length variables.

References

  1. Smith,, C.A. (2005): "Documenting your data using the CONTENTS procedure".
  2. Thompson, S.R. (2006): "Putting SAS dataset variable names into a macro variable".
  3. Mullins, L. (2014): "Give me EVERYTHING! A macro to combine the CONTENTS procedure output and formats".

See also

CONTENTS.

Compare two datasets.

%ds_compare(dsn1, dsn2, _ans_=,lib1=, lib2=);

Arguments

  • dsn1 dsn1: two datasets reference (request);
  • lib1 : input(option) library for dsn1 dataset;
  • lib2 : input (option) library for dsn2 dataset;

Returns

ans : the boolean result of the comparison test of the "sets" associated to the input lists, i.e.:

  • 0 when two datasets are equal: dsn1 = dsn2,
  • 1 when dsn1has less variables then dsb2,

Examples

Consider the test dataset #5:

f e d c b a
. 1 2 3 . 5

One can retrieve the ordered list of variables in the dataset with the command:

%let list=;
%ds_compare(_dstest5, _varlst_=list);

which returns list=f e d c b a, while:

%ds_compare(_dstest5, _varlst_=list, varnum=no);

returns list=a b c d e f. Similarly, we can also run it on our database, e.g.:

libname rdb "&G_PING_C_RDB";
%let lens=;
%let typs=;
%ds_compare(PEPS01, _varlst_=list, _typlst_=typs, _lenlst_=lens, lib=rdb);

returns:

  • list=geo time age sex unit ivalue iflag unrel n ntot totwgh lastup lastuser,
  • typs= 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2,
  • lens= 5 8 13 3 13 8 1 8 8 8 8 7 7.

Another useful use: we can retrieve data of interest from existing tables, e.g. the list of geographical zones in the EU:

%let zones=;
%ds_compare(&G_PING_COUNTRYxZONE, _varlst_=zones, lib=&G_PING_LIBCFG);
%let zones=%list_slice(&zones, ibeg=2);

which will return: zones=EA EA12 EA13 EA16 EA17 EA18 EA19 EEA EEA18 EEA28 EEA30 EU15 EU25 EU27 EU28 EFTA EU07 EU09 EU10 EU12.

Run macro %_example_ds_compare for more examples.

Note

In short, the program runs (when varnum=yes):

PROC CONTENTS DATA = &dsn
OUT = tmp(keep = name type length varnum);
run;
PROC SORT DATA = tmp
OUT = &tmp(keep = name type length);
BY varnum;
run;

and retrieves the resulting name, type and length variables.

References

  1. Smith,, C.A. (2005): "Documenting your data using the CONTENTS procedure".
  2. Thompson, S.R. (2006): "Putting SAS dataset variable names into a macro variable".
  3. Mullins, L. (2014): "Give me EVERYTHING! A macro to combine the CONTENTS procedure output and formats".

See also

%var_to_list, %ds_check, CONTENTS.