SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Informats by Category

There are five categories of informats in SAS:

Category Description

CHARACTER instructs SAS to read character data values into character variables.

COLUMN-BINARY instructs SAS to read data stored in column-binary or multipunched form into character and numeric variables.

DATE and TIME instructs SAS to read data values into variables that represent dates, times, and datetimes.

NUMERIC instructs SAS to read numeric data values into numeric variables.

USER-DEFINED instructs SAS to read data values by using an informat that is created with an INVALUE statement in PROC FORMAT.

Category	Description
CHARACTER	instructs SAS to read character data values into character variables.
COLUMN-BINARY	instructs SAS to read data stored in column-binary or multipunched form into character and numeric variables.
DATE and TIME	instructs SAS to read data values into variables that represent dates, times, and datetimes.
NUMERIC	instructs SAS to read numeric data values into numeric variables.
USER-DEFINED	instructs SAS to read data values by using an informat that is created with an INVALUE statement in PROC FORMAT.

For information on reading column-binary data, see SAS Language Reference: Concepts. For information on creating user-defined informats, see the FORMAT procedure in the SAS Procedures Guide.

The following table provides brief descriptions of the SAS informats. For more detailed descriptions, see the dictionary of SAS informats.

Categories and Descriptions of Informats
Category Informat Description

Character $ASCIIw.
Converts ASCII character data to native format

$BINARYw.
Converts binary data to character data

$CHARw.
Reads character data with blanks

$CHARZBw.
Converts binary 0s to blanks

$EBCDICw.
Converts EBCDIC character data to native format

$HEXw.
Converts hexadecimal data to character data

$OCTALw.
Converts octal data to character data

$PHEXw.
Converts packed hexadecimal data to character data

$QUOTEw.
Removes matching quotation marks from character data

$REVERJw.
Reads character data from right to left and preserves blanks

$REVERSw.
Reads character data from right to left and left aligns

$UPCASEw.
Converts character data to uppercase

$VARYINGw.
Reads character data of varying length

$w.
Reads standard character data

Column Binary $CBw.
Reads standard character data from column-binary files

CBw.d
Reads standard numeric values from column-binary files

PUNCH.d
Reads whether a row of column-binary data is punched

ROWw.d
Reads a column-binary field down a card column

DBCS $KANJIw.
Removes shift code data from DBCS data

$KANJIXw.
Adds shift code data to DBCS data

Date and Time DATEw.
Reads date values in the form ddmmmyy or ddmmmyyyy

DATETIMEw.
Reads datetime values in the form ddmmmyy hh:mm:ss.ss or ddmmmyyyy hh:mm:ss.ss

DDMMYYw.
Reads date values in the form ddmmyy or ddmmyyyy

EURDFDEw.
Reads international date values

EURDFDTw.
Reads international datetime values in the form ddmmmyy hh:mm:ss.ss or ddmmmyyyy hh:mm:ss.ss

EURDFMYw.
Reads month and year date values in the form mmmyy or mmmyyyy

JDATEYMDw.
Reads Japanese kanji date values in the format yymmmdd or yyyymmmdd

JNENGOw.
Reads Japanese Kanji date values in the form yymmdd

JULIANw.
Reads Julian dates in the form yyddd or yyyyddd

MINGUOw.
Reads dates in Taiwanese form

MMDDYYw.
Reads date values in the form mmddyy or mmddyyyy

MONYYw.
Reads month and year date values in the form mmmyy or mmmyyyy

MSECw.
Reads TIME MIC values

NENGOw.
Reads Japanese date values in the form eyymmdd

PDJULGw.
Reads packed Julian date values in the hexadecimal form yyyydddF for IBM

PDJULIw.
Reads packed Julian dates in the hexadecimal format ccyyddd F for IBM

PDTIMEw.
Reads packed decimal time of SMF and RMF records

RMFDURw.
Reads duration intervals of RMF records

RMFSTAMPw.
Reads time and date fields of RMF records

SHRSTAMPw.
Reads date and time values of SHR records

SMFSTAMPw.
Reads time and date values of SMF records

TIMEw.
Reads hours, minutes, and seconds in the form hh:mm:ss.ss

TODSTAMPw.
Reads an eight-byte time-of-day stamp

TUw.
Reads timer units

YYMMDDw.
Reads date values in the form yymmdd or yyyymmdd

YYMMNw.
Reads date values in the form yyyymm or yymm

YYQw.
Reads quarters of the year

Numeric BINARYw.d
Converts positive binary values to integers

BITSw.d
Extracts bits

BZw.d
Converts blanks to 0s

COMMAw.d
Removes embedded characters

COMMAXw.d
Removes embedded characters

Ew.d
Reads numeric values that are stored in scientific notation and double-precision scientific notation

FLOATw.d
Reads a native single-precision, floating-point value and divides it by 10 raised to the dth power

HEXw.
Converts hexadecimal positive binary values to either integer (fixed-point) or real (floating-point) binary values

IBw.d
Reads native integer binary (fixed-point) values, including negative values

IBRw.d
Reads integer binary (fixed-point) values in Intel and DEC formats

IEEEw.d
Reads an IEEE floating-point value and divides it by 10 raised to the d th power

NUMXw.d
Reads numeric values with a comma in place of the decimal point

OCTALw.d
Converts positive octal values to integers

PDw.d
Reads data that are stored in IBM packed decimal format

PERCENTw.d
Reads percentages as numeric values

PIBw.d
Reads positive integer binary (fixed-point) values

PIBRw.d
Reads positive integer binary (fixed-point) values in Intel and DEC formats

PKw.d
Reads unsigned packed decimal data

RBw.d
Reads numeric data that are stored in real binary (floating-point) notation

S370FFw.d
Reads EBCDIC numeric data

S370FIBw.d
Reads integer binary (fixed-point) values, including negative values, in IBM mainframe format

S370FIBUw.d
Reads unsigned integer binary (fixed-point) values in IBM mainframe format

S370FPDw.d
Reads packed data in IBM mainframe format

S370FPDUw.d
Reads unsigned packed decimal data in IBM mainframe format

S370FPIBw.d
Reads positive integer binary (fixed-point) values in IBM mainframe format

S370FRBw.d
Reads real binary (floating-point) data in IBM mainframe format

S370FZDw.d
Reads zoned decimal data in IBM mainframe format

S370FZDLw.d
Reads zoned decimal leading-sign data in IBM mainframe format

S370FZDSw.d
Reads zoned decimal separate leading-sign data in IBM mainframe format

S370FZDTw.d
Reads zoned decimal separate trailing-sign data in IBM mainframe format

S370FZDUw.d
Reads unsigned zoned decimal data in IBM mainframe format

VAXRBw.d
Reads real binary (floating-point) data in VMS format

w.d
Reads standard numeric data

YENw.d
Removes embedded yen signs, commas, and decimal points

ZDw.d
Reads zoned decimal data

ZDBw.d
Reads zoned decimal data in which zeros have been left blank

ZDVw.d
Reads and validates zoned decimal data

***Categories and Descriptions of Informats***
Category	Informat	Description
Character	$ASCIIw.	Converts ASCII character data to native format
	$BINARYw.	Converts binary data to character data
	$CHARw.	Reads character data with blanks
	$CHARZBw.	Converts binary 0s to blanks
	$EBCDICw.	Converts EBCDIC character data to native format
	$HEXw.	Converts hexadecimal data to character data
	$OCTALw.	Converts octal data to character data
	$PHEXw.	Converts packed hexadecimal data to character data
	$QUOTEw.	Removes matching quotation marks from character data
	$REVERJw.	Reads character data from right to left and preserves blanks
	$REVERSw.	Reads character data from right to left and left aligns
	$UPCASEw.	Converts character data to uppercase
	$VARYINGw.	Reads character data of varying length
	$w.	Reads standard character data
Column Binary	$CBw.	Reads standard character data from column-binary files
	CBw.d	Reads standard numeric values from column-binary files
	PUNCH.d	Reads whether a row of column-binary data is punched
	ROWw.d	Reads a column-binary field down a card column
DBCS	$KANJIw.	Removes shift code data from DBCS data
	$KANJIXw.	Adds shift code data to DBCS data
Date and Time	DATEw.	Reads date values in the form ddmmmyy or ddmmmyyyy
	DATETIMEw.	Reads datetime values in the form ddmmmyy hh:mm:ss.ss or ddmmmyyyy hh:mm:ss.ss
	DDMMYYw.	Reads date values in the form ddmmyy or ddmmyyyy
	EURDFDEw.	Reads international date values
	EURDFDTw.	Reads international datetime values in the form ddmmmyy hh:mm:ss.ss or ddmmmyyyy hh:mm:ss.ss
	EURDFMYw.	Reads month and year date values in the form mmmyy or mmmyyyy
	JDATEYMDw.	Reads Japanese kanji date values in the format yymmmdd or yyyymmmdd
	JNENGOw.	Reads Japanese Kanji date values in the form yymmdd
	JULIANw.	Reads Julian dates in the form yyddd or yyyyddd
	MINGUOw.	Reads dates in Taiwanese form
	MMDDYYw.	Reads date values in the form mmddyy or mmddyyyy
	MONYYw.	Reads month and year date values in the form mmmyy or mmmyyyy
	MSECw.	Reads TIME MIC values
	NENGOw.	Reads Japanese date values in the form eyymmdd
	PDJULGw.	Reads packed Julian date values in the hexadecimal form yyyydddF for IBM
	PDJULIw.	Reads packed Julian dates in the hexadecimal format ccyyddd F for IBM
	PDTIMEw.	Reads packed decimal time of SMF and RMF records
	RMFDURw.	Reads duration intervals of RMF records
	RMFSTAMPw.	Reads time and date fields of RMF records
	SHRSTAMPw.	Reads date and time values of SHR records
	SMFSTAMPw.	Reads time and date values of SMF records
	TIMEw.	Reads hours, minutes, and seconds in the form hh:mm:ss.ss
	TODSTAMPw.	Reads an eight-byte time-of-day stamp
	TUw.	Reads timer units
	YYMMDDw.	Reads date values in the form yymmdd or yyyymmdd
	YYMMNw.	Reads date values in the form yyyymm or yymm
	YYQw.	Reads quarters of the year
Numeric	BINARYw.d	Converts positive binary values to integers
	BITSw.d	Extracts bits
	BZw.d	Converts blanks to 0s
	COMMAw.d	Removes embedded characters
	COMMAXw.d	Removes embedded characters
	Ew.d	Reads numeric values that are stored in scientific notation and double-precision scientific notation
	FLOATw.d	Reads a native single-precision, floating-point value and divides it by 10 raised to the dth power
	HEXw.	Converts hexadecimal positive binary values to either integer (fixed-point) or real (floating-point) binary values
	IBw.d	Reads native integer binary (fixed-point) values, including negative values
	IBRw.d	Reads integer binary (fixed-point) values in Intel and DEC formats
	IEEEw.d	Reads an IEEE floating-point value and divides it by 10 raised to the d th power
	NUMXw.d	Reads numeric values with a comma in place of the decimal point
	OCTALw.d	Converts positive octal values to integers
	PDw.d	Reads data that are stored in IBM packed decimal format
	PERCENTw.d	Reads percentages as numeric values
	PIBw.d	Reads positive integer binary (fixed-point) values
	PIBRw.d	Reads positive integer binary (fixed-point) values in Intel and DEC formats
	PKw.d	Reads unsigned packed decimal data
	RBw.d	Reads numeric data that are stored in real binary (floating-point) notation
	S370FFw.d	Reads EBCDIC numeric data
	S370FIBw.d	Reads integer binary (fixed-point) values, including negative values, in IBM mainframe format
	S370FIBUw.d	Reads unsigned integer binary (fixed-point) values in IBM mainframe format
	S370FPDw.d	Reads packed data in IBM mainframe format
	S370FPDUw.d	Reads unsigned packed decimal data in IBM mainframe format
	S370FPIBw.d	Reads positive integer binary (fixed-point) values in IBM mainframe format
	S370FRBw.d	Reads real binary (floating-point) data in IBM mainframe format
	S370FZDw.d	Reads zoned decimal data in IBM mainframe format
	S370FZDLw.d	Reads zoned decimal leading-sign data in IBM mainframe format
	S370FZDSw.d	Reads zoned decimal separate leading-sign data in IBM mainframe format
	S370FZDTw.d	Reads zoned decimal separate trailing-sign data in IBM mainframe format
	S370FZDUw.d	Reads unsigned zoned decimal data in IBM mainframe format
	VAXRBw.d	Reads real binary (floating-point) data in VMS format
	w.d	Reads standard numeric data
	YENw.d	Removes embedded yen signs, commas, and decimal points
	ZDw.d	Reads zoned decimal data
	ZDBw.d	Reads zoned decimal data in which zeros have been left blank
	ZDVw.d	Reads and validates zoned decimal data

Chapter Contents
Previous
Next
Top of Page