Date:         Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:57:24 -0700
Reply-To:     "Schwarz, Barry A" <barry.a.schwarz@BOEING.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Schwarz, Barry A" <barry.a.schwarz@BOEING.COM>
Subject:      Re: Informat question.
In-Reply-To:  <590805.82729.qm@web50901.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Check your reference for the difference between format and informat.

Then notice that the 5.1 you have is an informat (of type w.d) for which
your reference should specifically state that if the data contains a
decimal point the d is ignored.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Wallace
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 1:30 PM
To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Informat question.

Sorry.  Dumb question, I guess.  Why doesn't this:

DATA DS1;
   INPUT FIELD 5.1;
DATALINES;
23.5172103
;

PROC PRINT DATA = DS1;
RUN;

print out "23.5"?

I naively thought that .1 meant "only display 1 digit to the right of
the decimal point."

Could someone please briefly explain the commandments of informats?