Re: The number of columns (variables) in $INPUT block

From: Alan Xiao <Alan.Xiao@cognigencorp.com> Subject: Re: The number of columns (variables) in $INPUT block Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 14:29:13 -0400 Thanks a lot. The problem was solved. We used the similar method. The method is like this: Concatenate all dichotomous variables into one. For example, with v1, v2, v3, v4, v5, v6, all in values of 0/1, we encode them into one new variable called Vall=v1*100000+v2*10000+v3*1000+v4*100+v5*10+v6. Then in $PK block, we decoded this variable by integer operation. The method is a little bit simpler and faster than "if ... then " switches since it would be 2**6 = 64 possible switches. Another even simpler/faster decoding method is through binary operations. This method could be easily expanded for up to 8 or 10 variables for one concatenation (if applicable). It could be also easily modified to handle categorical variables. Actually, at the very first place, we were seeking for the possibility of expanding the limit on the number of allowable input variables in $INPUT block (20), avoiding to touch the data set. Modifying the data set is just the second choice. Any way, Thank everyone and hope everyone happy to share this experience. Alan.