/*****************************************************************************************************************

SAS file name: Convert_Character_to_Numeric.sas
File location: 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Purpose: To demonstrate the correct way of converting variables from character to numeric in SAS 
         using the INPUT Function.
Author: Peter Clemmensen
Creation Date: 02/09/2017

This program supports the blog post "Convert from Numeric to Character in SAS - The Easy and the Right Way" on SASnrd.com

*****************************************************************************************************************/

/* From Character to Numeric */

/* Naive Approch */
data _null_;
   CharNum = "1.000,00";                   /* Character value of 1000     */                
   Number = CharNum*1;                     /* Naive conversion method     */
   put Number=;                            /* Print to log                */
run;

data _null_;
   CharNum = "1,000,000";                  /* EU character value of 1mio  */  
   Number = CharNum*1;                     /* Naive conversion method     */ 
   put Number=;                            /* Print to log                */
run;

/* Correct Approach */
data ConvertData;
   CharNum1 = "1.000,00";                  /* Character value of 1000     */ 
   CharNum2 = "1,000,000";                 /* EU character value of 1mio  */  
   Number1  = input(CharNum1, commax10.2); /* Correct conversion method   */
   Number2 = input(CharNum2, comma10.);    /* Correct conversion method   */
   put Number1= Number2=;                  /* Print to log                */
run;

proc print data=ConvertData;
run;