CountNonSpecial Function

Format

i = countnonspecial(item_name ‖ record_name ‖ array_name ‖ numeric_expressionʃ, ...ʅ);

Description

The function countnonspecial counts the number of non-special values within the passed arguments. Special arguments include missing, refused, notappl, and default. The function can receive multiple numeric arguments, including items, records, arrays, and numeric expressions. This function can greatly simplify some programming tasks; for example, the following two lines of code are the same:

if countnonspecial(RELATIONSHIP, SEX, AGE) = 3 then

if not special(RELATIONSHIP) and not special(SEX) and not special(AGE) then

If an Array object is passed, the function will count the non-special values among all the values in the array. For a multiply occurring item or record, to count the non-special values for all the items or records instead of just the current occurrence, include (*) after the item or record name.

The countvalid function is a synonym for this function.

Example 1

PROC GLOBAL

numeric tempVal = notappl;
Array tempArray(2, 3) = 1, 2, 3, notappl, missing, default;

PROC EXAMPLE

countnonspecial(5, tempVal, default, 28 + 31, 3 / 0); // returns 2

tempVal = 0.123456789;
countnonspecial(5, tempVal, default, 28 + 31, 3 / 0); // returns 3

countnonspecial(5, tempVal, default, 28 + 31, 3 / 0, tempArray); // returns 6

tempArray(2, 1) = 0;
countnonspecial(5, tempVal, default, 28 + 31, 3 / 0, tempArray); // returns 7

Example 2

// in this example SEX is not on the FERTILITY record
PROC SEX

if SEX <> 2 and countnonspecial(FERTILITY(curocc())) > 3 then
errmsg("Sex (%d) is not female but 4+ fertility entries defined so sex changed to female", SEX);
impute(SEX, 2);
endif;

Example 3

numeric numDefinedValues = countnonspecial(SEX(*), AGE(*));
numeric numPossibleValues = 2 * totocc(POPULATION);

errmsg("%d% of sex and age values are missing", 100 * ( 1 - ( numDefinedValues / numPossibleValues ) ));

See also: Special Function, Special Values