Scripting Guide - SAS

Chapter 5 JSL Building Blocks 89
Conditional Functions
Match(
sex,
"F", "Female",
"M", "Male",
"Unknown");
);
The script works like this:
For Each Row(sex =
Match(
sex,
"F", "Female",
"M", "Male",
"Unknown");
For each row in the table, sex is the column that is recoded.
Begins the Match() loop.
Specifies sex as the match argument.
If the value matches "F" replace it with “Female”.
If the value matches "M", replace it with "Male.
If F or M are not matched, replaces the value with "Unknown".
); Ends the loop.
This Match() example is a simplified version of the example in “If” on page 87. The advantage of Match()
is that you define the comparison value once rather than repeat it in each condition. The disadvantage is
that you cannot use expressions with operators as you can with If; the argument sex == "F" returns an
error in a Match() expression.
With more groups of conditions and results, the value of Match() becomes more apparent. The following
script would require many additional lines of code with If().
dt=open("$SAMPLE_DATA/Travel Costs.jmp");
For Each Row(Booking Day of Week =
Match(Booking Day of Week, "Sunday", "SUN", "Monday", "MON", "Tuesday",
"TUE", "Wednesday", "WED", "Thursday", "THU", "Friday", "FRI", "Saturday",
"SAT", "Not Specified");
);
Be careful with the data type of the condition and result. In the preceding example, the conditions and
results are both character data. If the data types do not match, JMP automatically changes the column’s data
type. The results are not what you want.
The following script changes the column’s data type from numeric to character based on the first cell’s data
type. The first value, "12", is replaced with "Twelve", and the remaining cells are filled with "Other".
dt=open("$SAMPLE_DATA/Big Class.jmp");
For Each Row(age =
Match(age, 12, "Twelve", 13, "Thirteen", 14, "Fourteen", 15, "Fifteen", 16,
"Sixteen", "Other");
);
When data consists of integers such as 1, 2, and 3, you can save even more typing by using Choose(). See
“Choose” on page 90 for more information.