COMPBL(Compress blanks)

 !) Function: COMPBL

Purpose: To replace all occurrences of two or more blanks with a single blank character.  This is particularly useful for standardizing  addresses and names where  multiple blanks may have been entered.

Syntax: COMPBL(character-value)     

              

            character-value is any SAS character value.

            If a length has not been previously assigned, the length of the resulting

            variable will be the length of the argument

Example: Using the Combl function to convert multiple blanks to single blank.

***Primary function: COMPBL;

data squeeze;

input #1 @1 Name $20.

#2 @1 Address $30.

#3 @1 City $15.

   @20 State $2.

   @25 Zip $5.;

  Name = compbl(Name);

  Address = compbl(Address);

  City = compbl(City);

  datalines;

Ron Cody

89 Lazy Brook Road

Flemington         NJ    08822

Bill Brown

28 Cathy Street

North City         NY     11518

;

run;

title 'Listing of Data Set SQUEEZE';

proc print data=squeeze;

id Name;

var Address City State Zip;

run;

Explanation

Each line of the address was passed through the COMPBL function to replace any sequence
of two or more blanks to a single blank. Here is a listing of data set SQUEEZE.