SAS CALL SYMPUT data conversion data format

0
votes

When I am reading SAS Adv Guide, the book says:

"when use CALL SYMPUT, the values of numeric variables are automatically converted to character values, using the BEST12. format"

But BEST12. is a numeric format! How can SAS convert a numeric value to character value using a numeric format?

Thanks, Qianshan

1
sas

1 Answers

1
votes

It converts a number to a character that is formatted in the same way as BEST12. This means that any existing formatting is ignored, e.g. if a number is formatted as 1,234,567 then SAS will convert this to a character value formatted as 1234567 (i.e. the same appearance as the BEST12 format)