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SAS FAQ
How do I create an ASCII file from a SAS data set using put statement?

One easy way for creating an ASCII data file from a sas data set is to use the put statement in a data step. First of all, we use filename statement to tell sas where the ASCII file is going to be located and what it is called. Then in the data step, we use file statement to refer to this file and use put statement to write to it.

Here are some examples using data set hsb2.sas7bdat.

Example 1. Creating a space-delimited file

libname in 'd:\data\sas';
data hsb2;
  set in.hsb2;
run;
filename myfile "d:\temp\hsb2.txt";
*space delimited file;
data _null_;
  set hsb2;
  file myfile;
  put id female ses prog;
run;

70 0 1 1
121 1 2 3
86 0 3 1
141 0 3 3
172 0 2 2
113 0 2 2
50 0 2 1
11 0 2 2
84 0 2 1
48 0 2 2
75 0 2 3
60 0 2 2
95 0 3 2
104 0 3 2
38 0 1 2
115 0 1 1
76 0 3 2
195 0 2 1
114 0 3 2

Example 2. Creating a comma separated file. This can be extended to any delimiters.

filename myfile "d:\temp\hsb2_comma.txt";
data _null_;
  set hsb2;
  file myfile;
  put id "," female "," ses "," prog;
run;

70 ,0 ,1 ,1
121 ,1 ,2 ,3
86 ,0 ,3 ,1
141 ,0 ,3 ,3
172 ,0 ,2 ,2
113 ,0 ,2 ,2
50 ,0 ,2 ,1
11 ,0 ,2 ,2
84 ,0 ,2 ,1
48 ,0 ,2 ,2
75 ,0 ,2 ,3
60 ,0 ,2 ,2
95 ,0 ,3 ,2
104 ,0 ,3 ,2
38 ,0 ,1 ,2
115 ,0 ,1 ,1
76 ,0 ,3 ,2
195 ,0 ,2 ,1
114 ,0 ,3 ,2

Example 3. Creating a file with multiple lines per record.

filename myfile "d:\temp\hsb2_mlines.txt";
data _null_;
  set hsb2;
  file myfile;
  put id ;
  put female ses prog;
run;

70
0 1 1
121
1 2 3
86
0 3 1
141
0 3 3
172
0 2 2
113
0 2 2
50
0 2 1
11
0 2 2
84
0 2 1
48
0 2 2

Example 4. Creating a file with fixed format.

filename myfile "d:\temp\hsb2_fixed.txt";
data _null_;
  set hsb2;
  file myfile;
  put id 1-3  female 10  ses 15 prog 20 ;
run;

 70      0    1    1
121      1    2    3
 86      0    3    1
141      0    3    3
172      0    2    2
113      0    2    2
 50      0    2    1
 11      0    2    2
 84      0    2    1
 48      0    2    2
 75      0    2    3
 60      0    2    2
 95      0    3    2
104      0    3    2

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