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RBw.d

Category	numeric
Width range:	2-8
Default width:	4
Decimal range:	0-10
Alignment:	left
Windows specifics:	native floating-point representation

w

specifies the width of the output field.

d

optionally specifies a scaling factor. When you specify a d value, the RBw.d format multiplies the number by 10^d, and then applies the real binary format to that value.

Details

The RBw.d format writes numeric data in real binary (floating-point) notation. Numeric data for scientific calculations are commonly represented in floating-point notation. (The SAS System stores all numeric values in floating-point notation.) A floating-point value consists of two parts: a mantissa that gives the value and an exponent that gives the value's magnitude.

Real binary is the most efficient format for representing numeric values because the SAS System already represents numbers this way and no conversion is needed.

For more information about Windows floating-point notation, see Intel Corporation's i486 Microprocessor Programmer's Reference Manual.

See Also

• Format: RBw.d in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

• Informat: RBw.d

• Writing Binary Data

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