CATX Function

Concatenates character strings, removes leading and trailing blanks, and inserts separators

Category: Character

Syntax

CATX ( separator , string-1 <, ... string-n >)

Arguments

separator

• specifies a character string that is used as a separator between concatenated strings.

string

• specifies a SAS character string.

Details

The CATX function returns a value to a variable, or returns a value in a temporary buffer. The value that is returned from the CATX function has a length of up to

• 200 characters in WHERE clauses and in PROC SQL

• 32767 characters in the DATA step except in WHERE clauses

• 65534 characters when string is called from the macro processor.

If CATX returns a value in a temporary buffer, the length of the buffer depends on the calling environment, and the value in the buffer can be truncated after CATX finishes processing. In this case, SAS does not write a message about the truncation to the log.

If the length of the variable or the buffer is not large enough to contain the result of the concatenation, SAS

• changes the result to a blank value in the DAT A step, and in PROC SQL

• writes a warning message to the log stating that the result was either truncated or set to a blank value, depending on the calling environment

• writes a note to the log that shows the location of the function call and lists the argument that caused the truncation

• sets _ERROR_ to 1 in the DATA step.

The CATX function removes leading and trailing blanks from numeric arguments after it formats the numeric value with the BEST. format.

Comparisons

The results of the CAT, CATS, CATT, and CATX functions are usually equivalent to those that are produced by certain combinations of the concatenation operator () and the TRIM and LEFT functions. However, using the CAT, CATS, CATT, and CATX functions is faster than using TRIM and LEFT, and you can use them with the OF syntax for variable lists in calling environments that support variable lists.

The following table shows equivalents of the CAT, CATS, CATT, and CATX functions. The variables X1 through X4 specify character variables , and SP specifies a separator, such as a blank or comma.

Function	Equivalent Code
CAT(OF X1-X4)	X1X2X3X4
CATS(OF X1-X4)	TRIM(LEFT(X1))TRIM(LEFT(X2))TRIM(LEFT(X3)) TRIM(LEFT(X4))
CATT(OF X1-X4)	TRIM(X1)TRIM(X2)TRIM(X3)TRIM(X4)
CATX(SP, OF X1-X4)	TRIM(LEFT(X1))SPTRIM(LEFT(X2))SP TRIM(LEFT(X3))SPTRIM(LEFT(X4))

Examples

The following example shows how the CATX function concatenates strings.

 data _null_;     separator='%%$%%';     x='The Olympic ';     y='  Arts Festival ';     z='  includes works by ';     a='Dale Chihuly.';     result=catx(separator,x,y,z,a);     put result $char.;  run;  The following line is written to the SAS log: 

 ----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7  The Olympic%%$%%Arts Festival%%$%%includes works by%%$%%Dale Chihuly. 

See Also

Functions and CALL Routines:

• 'CAT Function' on page 411

• 'CATT Function' on page 414

• 'CATS Function' on page 412

• 'CALL CATS Routine' on page 337

• 'CALL CATT Routine' on page 338

• 'CALL CATX Routine' on page 340