Mark: For a more general method, consider replacing where Field1 ne '' with where Field1 is missing.

Aside from issues in V9+ related to comparisons of '' vs. ' ', the 'IS MISSING' comparison works equally well for numeric and character data types. Sig

-----Original Message----- From: owner-sas-l@listserv.uga.edu [mailto:owner-sas-l@listserv.uga.edu] On Behalf Of Terjeson, Mark (IM&R) Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 2:00 PM To: sdlenter; SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: RE: Count populated fields

Hi,

Here is one method:

data sample; Field1='Fred '; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=1; Field6=.; Field9=3; output; Field1=' '; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=.; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=.; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=1; Field6=.; Field9=3; output; Field1=' '; Field2=1; Field6=.; Field9=3; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=.; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=.; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=.; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=.; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=1; Field6=.; Field9=3; output; Field1=' '; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Barney'; Field2=.; Field6=2; Field9=3; output; Field1='Fred '; Field2=1; Field6=2; Field9=.; output; run;

* if Field1 is populated only, count the records ; proc sql; create table result1 as select Field1, count(*) as count from sample where Field1 ne '' group by Field1 ; quit;

* if Field2, Field6, and Field9 are populated ; * (those three only) - count the records ; proc sql; create table result2 as select Field1, count(*) as count from sample where Field2 ne . and Field6 ne . and Field9 ne . group by Field1 ; quit;

* if Field1 is populated only, count the records ; * AND if Field2, Field6, and Field9 are populated ; * (those three only) - count the records ; proc sql; create table result3 as select Field1, count(*) as count from sample where Field1 ne '' and Field2 ne . and Field6 ne . and Field9 ne . group by Field1 ; quit;

* or a PROCedure ; proc freq data=sample; table Field1 / list missing; where Field1 ne '' and Field2 ne . and Field6 ne . and Field9 ne .; run;

Hope this is helpful.

Mark Terjeson Senior Programmer Analyst, IM&R Russell Investment Group

Russell Global Leaders in Multi-Manager Investing

-----Original Message----- From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of sdlenter Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 10:43 AM To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: Count populated fields

how can I count populated fields for example if Field1 is populated only, count the records if Field2, Field6, and Field9 are populated (those three only) - count the records

Proc SQL is more desirable, but if you know how to do this in a data step - Please

Thanks