Factor Variable Characteristics in the Output Data Set

Details of the FACTEX Procedure

Factor Variable Characteristics in the Output Data Set

When you use the OUTPUT statement to save a design in a data set, and you rename and recode a factor, the type and length of the new variable are determined by whether you use the NVALS= or CVALS= option. A factor variable whose values are coded with the NVALS= specification is of numeric type. A factor variable whose values are coded with the CVALS= option is of character type, and the length of the variable is set to the length of the longest character string; shorter strings are padded with trailing blanks.

For example, in the specifications

   cvals=('String 1' 'A longer string')
   cvals=('String 1' 'String 2')

the first value in the first CVALS= specification is padded with seven trailing blanks. One consequence is that it no longer matches the `String 1' of the second specification. To match two such values (for example, when merging two designs), use the TRIM function in the DATA step (see SAS Language Reference: Dictionary for details).

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