topic Re: About an error message when using %str( ) in SAS Programming

About an error message when using %str( )

pobel — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:19:33 GMT

Hi,

I run into an error message when using %str() to a macro variable value which conatins a dot "." in CASE--WHEN. here is the code:

data test;

do dt=.,"14NOV2012"d;

output;

end;

run;

%let mvar=%str(case dt

when . then " "

else put(dt,yymmdd10.)

end as dtc);

proc sql;

create table test1 as

select distinct &mvar

from test;

quit;

if we change the %LET statement as follows, it would be fine:

%let mvar=case dt

when . then " "

else put(dt,yymmdd10.)

end as dtc;

%let mvar=%quote(case dt

when . then " "

else put(dt,yymmdd10.)

end as dtc);

%let mvar=%quote(case dt

when . then " "

else put(dt,yymmdd10.)

end as dtc);

I know that the %STR() is not necessary here, but still want to know why there was ERROR message.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Best regards!

The error message for the first PROC SQL step is:

NOTE: Line generated by the macro variable "MVAR".

1 case dt when . then " " else put(dt,yymmdd10.) end as dtc

- ----

22 76

ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: a name, a quoted string, a numeric constant, a datetime constant,

a missing value, (, +, -, BTRIM, CALCULATED, CASE, EXISTS, INPUT, LOWER, NOT, PUT, SELECT, SUBSTRING, TRANSLATE,

UPPER, USER, ^, ~.

ERROR 76-322: Syntax error, statement will be ignored.

----

202

ERROR 202-322: The option or parameter is not recognized and will be ignored.

1 ! case dt when . then " " else put(dt,yymmdd10.) end as dtc

----

ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: !, !!, &, *, **, +, -, /, <, <=, <>, =, >, >=, ?, AND, BETWEEN,

CONTAINS, EQ, EQT, GE, GET, GT, GTT, IN, IS, LE, LET, LIKE, LT, LTT, NE, NET, NOT, NOTIN, OR, THEN, ^, ^=, |,

||, ~, ~=

Re: About an error message when using %str( )

RichardinOz — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:30:04 GMT

I can't replicate your error. However I sometimes find it is necessary to %UNQUOTE() a macro variable string such as yours. You could try

proc sql;

create table test1 as

select distinct %UNQUOTE(&mvar)

from test;

quit;

Richard in Oz

Re: About an error message when using %str( )

pobel — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:41:04 GMT

Hi Richard,

%UNQUOTE() works here. thanks!

There would be no ERROR if we put another %STR() around the dot '.', still cannot figure out why.

%let mvar=%str(case dt

when %str(.) then " "

else put(dt,yymmdd10.)

end as dtc);

Re: About an error message when using %str( )

art297 — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:47:20 GMT

I think your answer is because %str masks some of the characters you used, namely (, ) and blank. Take a look at:

http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi24/Advtutor/p38-24.pdf

Re: About an error message when using %str( )

RichardinOz — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:58:22 GMT

As Art points out, %str() masks certain characters, which in practice means that although the character "looks" the same in the log it has a different underlying binary value. SAS Macro quoting can be a bit of a mystery and you often have to experiment a bit (as you did) to get the result you want.

Richard in Oz

Re: About an error message when using %str( )

pobel — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 01:09:34 GMT

Thank you, Art!

Thanks again, Richard!