COST Statement

The ASSIGN Procedure

COST Statement

COST variables ;

The COST statement identifies the variables to be interpreted as sink nodes in the input DATA= data set. The values of a COST variable are the costs (or preferences) of assigning each source node (named in the ID variable) to the sink node identified with the COST variable.

If the value of a COST variable is missing, then that particular assignment between source and sink node is infeasible. If you do not use a COST statement, then all numeric variables not specified in the ID or BY statement are assumed to be cost variables.

To find an assignment that maximizes profit instead of minimizing cost, include the MAXIMUM option in the PROC ASSIGN statement and let the COST variables represent profit instead of cost. The COST variables must be numeric. See Example 2.1 for an illustration of the COST statement.

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