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            SanFrancisco     SFO              2            Honolulu         HNL              3            New York         JFK or EWR              4            Miami              MIA