BYTE (matrix) ;
The BYTE function returns values in a computer’s character set. The input to the function is a numeric matrix, each element of which specifies the position of a character in the computer’s character set. These numeric elements should generally be in the range 0 to 255. The BYTE function returns a character matrix with the same shape as the numeric argument.
For example, in the ASCII character set, the following two statements are equivalent:
a1 = byte(47); a2 = "/"; /* the slash character */ print a1 a2;
Figure 23.56: Specifying the Slash Character
| a1 | a2 |
|---|---|
| / | / |
The lowercase English letters can be generated with the following statement, shown in Figure 23.57:
y = byte(97:122); print y;
Figure 23.57: Lowercase English Letters
| y | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |
The BYTE function simplifies the use of special characters and control sequences that cannot be entered directly into SAS/IML programs by using the keyboard. Consult the character set tables for your computer to determine the printable and control characters that are available and their ordinal positions.