Remember that when you use list input to read raw data, character variables are assigned a default length of 8. In this example, see what happens when list input is used to read character variables whose values are longer than 8.

The raw data file referenced by the fileref Citydata contains 2000 and 2010 population figures for several large U.S. cities. Notice that some city names are rather long.

The longer character values are truncated when they are read into the program data vector.

PROC PRINT output shows the truncated values for City.

data sasuser.growth; 
   infile citydata; 
   input City $ Pop70 Pop80; 
run; 
proc print data=sasuser.growth; 
run;

Remember, variable attributes are defined when the variable is first encountered in the DATA step. In the program below, the LENGTH statement precedes the INPUT statement and defines both the length and type of the variable City. A length of 12 has been assigned to accommodate PHILADELPHIA, which is the longest value for City.

data sasuser.growth; 
   infile citydata; 
   length City $ 12; 
   input city $ Pop70 Pop80; 
run; 
proc print data=sasuser.growth; 
run;

Using this method, you do not need to specify City's type in the INPUT statement. However, leaving the $ in the INPUT statement does not produce an error. Your output should now display the complete values for City.