Reducing Data Storage Space for Character Variables
One
way to reduce data storage space, which also reduces I/O, is to reduce
the length of character variables, potentially eliminating wasted
space. Before discussing how to reduce the length of a character variable,
consider how SAS assigns lengths to character variables.
Reducing the Length of Character Data with the LENGTH Statement
You can use a LENGTH statement to control the length
of character variables.
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General form, LENGTH
statement for character variables:
LENGTH variable(s) $ length;
variable(s)
specifies the name
of one or more SAS variables, separated by spaces.
length
is an integer from
1 to 32,767 that specifies the length of the variable(s).
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Note: Make
sure the LENGTH statement appears before any other reference to the
variable in the DATA step. If the variable has been created by another
statement, then a later use of the LENGTH statement does not change
its length.
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