Date:         Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:06:04 -0500
Reply-To:     "Droogendyk, Harry" <Harry.Droogendyk@CIBC.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Droogendyk, Harry" <Harry.Droogendyk@CIBC.COM>
Subject:      Re: Can I have a wildcard in the middle?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

SQL offers the LIKE operator, used against sashelp views, it'll grab the
dataset names you're looking for.  Use &ds in the delete statement in
DATASETS.


proc sql;
  select memname
    into :ds separated by ' '
    from sashelp.vtable
   where libname = 'YOURLIB'
     and memname like 'TEST%_S'
  ;
quit;

-----Original Message-----
From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of
Sarah Presley
Sent: January 27, 2004 10:59 AM
To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Can I have a wildcard in the middle?


I'm sure that this is a no-brainer for everyone else on the list, but I need
to
know if SAS has a wildcard character which can be used in the middle of
something.

I am running a proc data sets to delete some files:

proc data sets lib=pcdat memtype=data nolist;
delete test:_s;
run;
quit;

What I want to delete are all data sets starting with 'test' and ending with
'_s' (test1_s, test2_s ...).  What I am actually deleting with this code are
all data sets starting with 'test', regardless of what follows, and then I
get
a note telling me that the data set _s appears on the delete statement but
doesn't exist in the library.  So obviously, the procedure is treating test:
as
all data sets starting with 'test' and _s as a completely new data set.

So does SAS have a way of putting a wildcard in the middle of a data set or
variable name?

Sarah

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