PUT Statement

How to Use the PUT Statement

The PUT statement consists of the keyword PUT followed by a list of variables and constants. You list the names of the variables whose values you want written, or you specify a character string in quotation marks. If you do not specify a format, the PUT statement writes a variable value with the default format, inserts a single blank, and then writes the next value. If you specify a format, the output is written using the format width. Character values are left-aligned in the field; leading and trailing blanks are removed. Numeric values are right-aligned in the field.

How nonexistent data (SAS missing values or null values) are written depends on whether you are in ANSI mode or SAS mode. A period is generated for DOUBLE missing dot and null values when the default format, BEST32., is associated with the DOUBLE. For special missing values (.a-.z and ._), the character after the period is generated when using BEST32.. For example, if a variable held the value .a, A would be generated. INTEGER and other non-DOUBLE numeric types cannot be missing. However, they can be null in which case nothing is generated by the PUT statement when the value is null. For more information, see How DS2 Processes Nulls and SAS Missing Values in SAS DS2 Programmer’s Guide.

How List Output Is Spaced

List output uses different spacing methods when it writes variable values and character strings. When a variable is written with list output, SAS automatically inserts a blank space. The output pointer stops at the second column that follows the variable value.

dcl int a b;
dcl varchar c d;
area = 9924;
city = 1001;
ctry1='Peru';
ctry2='Bolivia';
	put area city ctry1 ctry2;

These lines are written to the SAS log.

----+----1----+----2
9924 1001 Peru Bolivia

However, when a character string is written, SAS does not automatically insert a blank space. The output pointer stops at the column that immediately follows the last character in the string.

To avoid spacing problems when both character strings and variable values are written, you might want to use a blank space as the last character in a character string.

If you use a colon modifier (:) with the format name, SAS writes the value with the specified format, inserts a blank space, and moves the pointer to the next column.

dcl int a b;
dcl varchar c d;
area = 9924;
POP = 1000;
ctry1='Peru';
ctry2='Bolivia';
put area : octal10. pop : comma8.2 ctry1 ctry2;

These lines are written to the SAS log.

----+----1----+----2----+----3----+
0000023304 1,000.00 Peru Bolivia

Formatted Output

You can use a format to control how SAS prints the variable values. The PUT statement uses the format that follows the variable name to write each value. With formatted output, SAS does not automatically add blanks between values. Formatted output moves the pointer the length of the format, even if the value does not fill that length. The pointer moves to the next column; an intervening blank is not inserted. If the value uses fewer columns than specified, character values are left-aligned and numeric values are right-aligned in the field that is specified by the format width.

dcl int a b;
dcl varchar c d;
pop = 1000
area = 9924;
ctry1='Peru';
ctry2='Bolivia';
put area octal10. pop comma8.2 ctry1 ctry2;

These lines are written to the SAS log.

----+----1----+----2----+----3----+
000000233041,000.00Peru Bolivia

If no format is specified, the variable's default format is used. You can associate a format with a column by using a HAVING clause in the DECLARE statement. For more information, see DECLARE Statement.