Aligning Variable Values

In SAS, numeric variables are automatically aligned. You can further control their alignment by using a format.

However, when you assign a character value in an assignment statement, SAS stores the value as it appears in the statement and does not perform any alignment. Output 5.2 illustrates the character value alignment produced by the following program:

 data aircode;     input city -13;     length airport $ 10;     if city='San Francisco' then airport='SFO';        else if city='Honolulu' then airport='HNL';        else if city='New York' then airport='JFK or EWR';        else if city='Miami' then airport='   MIA    ';     datalines;  San Francisco  Honolulu  New York  Miami  ;  proc print data=aircode;  run; 

This example produces the following output:

Output 5.2: Output from the PRINT Procedure

 The SAS System  OBS    CITY              AIRPORT   1     San Francisco     SFO   2     Honolulu          HNL   3     New York          JFK or EWR   4     Miami                MIA