proc import issue

[szm]

Hello,

I have data with many missing observations in an excel file. Missing cells have a period ".".
When using proc import, the "." is recognized as a level in subsequent analysis.
However, when I paste the data directly in SAS, the "." is correctly identified as missing value.

This affects the analysis and results.

Can anyone suggest how to appropriately import data from excel and correctly identify "." as missing observations?

Thanks

 

[hlsmith]

I am guessing the situation is not as straight forward as described. SAS does a decent job locking down '.' as missing data. What does the variable look like in a proc contents, is it formatted correctly? When you run a proc freq on the variable of interest is it calling the '.' a group or missing?

Lastly, a quick hack would be to put a WHERE statement in your analytic code that says something like the following to remove these obs:

WHERE var is GE 0; /*this line will depend on how the variable is formatted;

 

[noetsi]

. is a missing value in a SAS numeric field. Not a text field. What field is it reading it as in PROC IMPORT.

I wasn't aware you could paste directly into SAS