/* cody.ex1a                                          */
 /* from R. Cody "An Introduction to Perl Regular      */
 /*          Expressions in SAS 9,"                    */
 /* http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi29/265-29.pdf  */

***Primary functions: PRXPARSE, PRXMATCH;
DATA _NULL_;
    TITLE "Perl Regular Expression Tutorial – Program 1";
    IF _N_ = 1 THEN PATTERN_NUM = PRXPARSE("/ cat /"); * add spaces ;
    *Exact match for the letters 'cat' anywhere in the string;
    RETAIN PATTERN_NUM;
    INPUT STRING $30.;
    POSITION = PRXMATCH(PATTERN_NUM,STRING);
    FILE PRINT;
    PUT PATTERN_NUM= STRING= POSITION=;
DATALINES;
There is a cat in this line.
Does not match CAT
cat in the beginning
At the end, a cat
cat
;