Scripting Guide - SAS

562 JSL Syntax Reference Appendix A
Character Functions
Subtract To(a, b)
a-=b
Description
Subtracts b from a and places the difference into a.
Returns
The difference.
Arguments
a Must be a variable.
b Can be a variable, number, or matrix.
Notes
The first argument must be a variable, because its value must be able to accept a value change. A number
as the first argument produces an error.
For SubtractTo(): Only two arguments are permitted. If fewer than two or more than two arguments
is specified, SubtractTo() returns a missing value.
For a-=b: More than two arguments can be strung together. JMP evaluates pairs from right to left, and
each difference is placed in the left-hand variable. All arguments except the last must be a variable.
Example
a-=b-=c
JMP subtracts c from b and places the difference into b. Then JMP subtracts b from a and places the
difference into a.
See Also
The Data Structures chapter in the Scripting Guide.
Character Functions
Most character functions take character arguments and return character strings, although some take
numeric arguments or return numeric data. Arguments that are literal character strings must be enclosed in
quotation marks.
The basic character functions are briefly described below. Further details of some of these functions appear
in the “Types of Data” chapter on page 103.
Other related functions are discussed in “Hexadecimal and BLOB Functions” on page 120 in the “Types of
Data” chapter. For more information about using patterns and regular expressions, see “Use Pattern
Matching and Regular Expressions” on page 125 in the “Types of Data” chapter.
Blob To Char(blob, )
Description
Reinterpret binary data as a Unicode string.
Returns
A string.