topic Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable in SAS Programming

Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

ratnaparakhee — Fri, 06 May 2022 16:46:16 GMT

Hi All

I have a list of names that i am trying to add in a macro variable as follows-

%let EXCLUDE =

('Randomgroup Fl's dummy' ,
'Randomgroup &GA' ,
'Randomgroup KY' ,
'Randomgroup NJ' ,
'Randomgroup NM') ;

Later on in want to use it in my program as

proc sql;

create table exclusion_data as

select distinct * from Base_data

where group_name in &exclude. ;

quit;

Now since one of the name in the list (Randomgroup Fl's dummy) has a single quote my program errors out with below error-

The meaning of an identifier after a quoted string might change in a future SAS release. Inserting white space
between a quoted string and the succeeding identifier is recommended.

Could you please help with how do i deal with it.

P.S.- I tried to enclose my vales with a double quote while inserting in the macro variable still got the same error.

Thanks

Bhawna

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

PaigeMiller — Fri, 06 May 2022 16:54:26 GMT

What happens if you use double quotes in &EXCLUDE (except for the one single quote inside of the first value)?

Also, remove the & from in front of GA

If that still doesn't work, show us the ENTIRE log for your PROC SQL, not selected parts

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

Reeza — Fri, 06 May 2022 17:14:06 GMT

That usually is a NOTE not an ERROR.

However, macro variables will not resolve with single quotes and you cannot have a single quote in a text that's embedded with single quotes. Those are errors.

Fix it as indicated in the message:

Inserting white space
between a quoted string and the succeeding identifier is recommended.

Add spaces:

%let EXCLUDE =

( "Randomgroup Fl's dummy" ,
"Randomgroup &GA" ,
'Randomgroup KY' ,
'Randomgroup NJ' ,
'Randomgroup NM' ) ;

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

FreelanceReinh — Fri, 06 May 2022 20:17:31 GMT

Hi @ratnaparakhee,

Alternatively, you can just duplicate the inner single quote:

'Randomgroup Fl''s dummy'

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

Tom — Sat, 07 May 2022 01:11:38 GMT

Handle it the exact same way you would if you were not using macro variables.

%let EXCLUDE =
('Randomgroup Fl''s dummy' 
,'Randomgroup &GA' 
,'Randomgroup KY' 
,'Randomgroup NJ' 
,'Randomgroup NM'
) ;

PS Don't hide the continuation characters are the ends of the lines. Place them at the front where humans can scan for them quickly.

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

ratnaparakhee — Tue, 10 May 2022 06:45:53 GMT

Hi @FreelanceReinh

Thanks for the solution. This was the easiest way to get rid of my error and my list and macro variable are working fine.

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

ratnaparakhee — Tue, 10 May 2022 06:47:13 GMT

Thanks @Tom for the solution.

I was able to get rid of my error.

Regards

Bhawna

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

ratnaparakhee — Tue, 10 May 2022 06:51:49 GMT

Thanks @Reeza

I tried to add that extra space between the identifier and quoted string but it still didn't work out.

I was however able to get rid of the error by adding an extra single quote as

'Random group FL' ' s dummy' ,

regards

Bhawna

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

ratnaparakhee — Tue, 10 May 2022 06:53:55 GMT

Thanks for looking into my problem. The double quotes was still giving the same error.
I was however able to solve my problem by adding an extra single quote.

Regards
Bhawna

Re: Single quotes in a list of strings in a macro variable

Reeza — Tue, 10 May 2022 15:17:30 GMT

Second sentence in the answer.....