Date:         Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:11:02 -0400
Reply-To:     Gerhard Hellriegel <gerhard.hellriegel@T-ONLINE.DE>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Gerhard Hellriegel <gerhard.hellriegel@T-ONLINE.DE>
Subject:      Re: Does First Key Variable Have to be Numeric?

in addition some remarks:
there are normally 2 sources for a variable definition without length.
One is a SET statement with the variable contained in the dataset. For
that there is no need use any LENGTH.
The second is, you are defining a new variable. For that it is ALWAYS a
VERY GOOD IDEA (!!!) to use LENGTH to define type and length!
A variable can also be defined implicite via assignement. For numerics
that is ok, but for character you should avoid that. The reason is, that
the length is defined by the first assigned value. If the first is shorter
than the rest, you have a problem. That problem might occure not always,
but could change depending on data constellations! That are nice problems:
sometimes they occure, sometimes not...
In your situation you have another problem: not only the length cannot be
detected, but also the type and the default is numeric.
In that situation it is absolutely necessary to tell SAS what it is, in
others, if you define new variables, it is a good idea to avoid problems.
Gerhard





On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:42:39 -0400, Chang Chung
<chang_y_chung@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

>On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:25:12 -0400, John McPeek <jmcpeek@EGISTAR.COM>
wrote:
>...
>> The first
>>variable in the key, D_St, is character. It's the postal abbreviation
>>for states. What's with the data type mismatch error message in the log
>>below?
>>
>>1304  DATA HitsFile (Keep = D_St D_City O_Code_1); Set TestFile; RUN;
>...
>>1308  DATA _NULL_;
>>1309       If _N_ = 1 then do;
>>1310          Declare Hash PickList (Dataset: 'HitsFile');
>>1311                  RC = PickList.DefineKey(ALL: 'YES');
>>1312          PickList.DefineDone();
>>1313          Call Missing(D_St, D_City, O_Code_1, Count);
>>1314       End;
>>1315       RC = PickList.Output(Dataset: 'ListPick');
>>1316  RUN;
>>
>>ERROR: Type mismatch for key variable D_St at line 1312 column 9.
>
>Hi, John,
>The variable D_St appears first time (in the data step) when the missing
>call routine is called in line 1313. So the compiler assumes it is a
numeric
>by default. But in your dataset HistFile, it is a character. That's the
>reason why you get the errer. You can force a character type before the
call
>and you are fine. Hope this helps a bit.
>Cheers,
>Chang
>
>
>data _null_;
>  if _n_ = 1 then do;
>    dcl hash lookup(dataset: 'sashelp.class(keep=name age)');
>    lookup.defineKey(all: 'y');
>    lookup.defineDone();  /* this is line 32 */
>    call missing(name, age);
>  end;
>run;
>/* on log
>ERROR: Type mismatch for key variable name at line 32 column 5.
>ERROR: Hash data set load failed at line 32 column 5.
>ERROR: DATA STEP Component Object failure.  Aborted during the EXECUTION
>phase.
>*/
>
>/* this one does not error */
>data _null_;
>  if _n_ = 1 then do;
>    dcl hash lookup(dataset: 'sashelp.class(keep=name age)');
>    lookup.defineKey(all: 'y');
>    lookup.defineDone();  /* this is line 32 */
>    length name $8;       /* force character type */
>    call missing(name, age);
>  end;
>run;