How can I identify if variables in list match patterns in another list in SPSS Modeler or SAS EG?

Question

I have a long list of patterns (called "List A") as partially shown at the attached image. "*" refers to a single character/string value.

On the other hand, I have a long list of character/string data (e.g. YIB2Z, YGEHN....), called "List B".

May I know how I can identify if the data in List B matches any of the patterns listed in List A? I am using SPSS modeler or SAS Enterprise Guide to process the data.

It would be highly appreciated if any advice could be given. Thanks in advance.

Pattern List (List A)

Answer 1

A possible solution using SAS would be to store the patterns in a temporary array then check each string against every element of this array.

* create the dataset with patterns;
data listA;
    input pattern $;
    datalines;
YI*2Z
YG*2B
YG*2G
YG*2H
YG*2K
YG*2L
YG*2M
YG*2N
YG*2O
YG*2Q
YG*2S
YG*2V
YG*2Y
C**2G
;
run;

* create some sample data to test;
data listB;
    input string $;
    datalines;
YIR2Z
YN435
C112G
C113G
YG42L
YG52L
YGS2I
;
run;

* The following 3 lines count the number of patterns in listA and save the number in macro variable &num_patterns;
%let dsid=%sysfunc(open(listA,is));
%let num_patterns = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid.,NOBS));
%let rc=%sysfunc(close(&dsid.));

data want;
    * create a temporary array of parsed regex patterns to be used for matching;
    array patterns {&num_patterns} _temporary_;

    * read all patterns in listA, parse them using PRXPARSE and save them in the array PATTERNS;
    if _n_ = 1 then do pattern_number=1 by 1 until (lastobs);
        set listA end=lastobs;
        pattern=translate(pattern,'.','*'); * <== replace the * with . which is the metacharacter for any single character;
        patterns(pattern_number)=prxparse('/'||trim(pattern)||'/');
    end;

    * now read the strings from listB;
    set listB;
    match=0;

    * if the string matches any of the patterns then set MATCH = 1;
    do i =1 to &num_patterns until (match=1);
        if prxmatch(patterns(i),string) then match=1;
    end;

    drop i pattern_number pattern;
run;

Answer 2

Convert your patterns to regular expression patterns by replacing * with .. If your original patterns are for an entire string add the regular expression anchoring special characters ^ starts-with and $ ends-with. Then in SQL existential sub-query you can determine the pattern matching state for each text.

Because regex matching is slow compared to other SAS text processing function you can do an inverse or inside-out determination (see second example).

Example:

data patterns;
  length pattern $15;
  input pattern;
datalines;
YI*2Z
YG*2B
YG*2G
C**2C
;

data texts;
  length text $10;
  input text;
datalines;
YIA2Z
YIA3Z
YIB2Z
YGA2B
YGA3B
YGA2A
YGZ2G
YGZZG
CAA2D
CAA2C
CAA2B
;

proc sql;
  create table want as
  select text
  , exists (select * from patterns 
            where prxmatch('/^'||trim(translate(pattern,'.','*'))||'$/', trim(text))
           )
    as text_matches_a_pattern
  from 
    texts
  ;

Example 2:

This should be much faster overall.

• Determine all distinct character maskings, there won't be too many, and place them in an array.
• Load patterns into a hash for fast lookup
• For each text apply the different maskings and see if any match a pattern.

data want2(keep=text pattern_matched_flag);
  array twiddles [1000] $15 _temporary_;

  not_star = compress(collate(0),'*');

  do until (last_pattern);
    set patterns end=last_pattern;
    twiddle = translate(pattern,' ',not_star);
    do i = 1 to dim(twiddles) while (not missing(twiddles(i)));
      if twiddle = twiddles(i) then leave;
    end;
    if missing(twiddles(i)) then twiddles(i) = twiddle;
  end;

  declare hash pattern_lookup (dataset:'patterns');
  pattern_lookup.defineKey('pattern');
  pattern_lookup.defineDone();

  do until (last_text);
    set texts end=last_text;

    found = 0;
    do i = 1 to dim(twiddles) while (not missing(twiddles(i)) and not found);
      twiddle = twiddles(i);
      twiddled_text = text;

      do j = 1 to length(twiddle);
        if substr(twiddle,j,1) = '*' then substr(twiddled_text,j,1) = '*';
      end;

      found = pattern_lookup.find(key:twiddled_text) = 0;
    end;

    pattern_matched_flag = found;

    output;
  end;

  stop;
run;