topic Re: Macro Parameter not resolving in SAS Programming

Macro Parameter not resolving

Babloo — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 07:40:15 GMT

Looking for some help on this error. Code which I've is similar to below

%macro temp_data( 
    out_sales_tbl=     
) / minoperator;

data WORK.&out_sales_tbl._hdp ;
....
run;
%mend;

and we are calling the above macro as below. Value for this macro variable (out_sales_tbl) will be resolved by other macro.

 %temp_data (
    out_sales_tbl=%quote(&out_sales_tbl)
     );

Error which I got is,

SYMBOLGEN:  Some characters in the above value which were subject to macro quoting have been unquoted for printing.
SYMBOLGEN:  Macro variable OUT_SALES_TBL resolves to out_sales_table
SYMBOLGEN:  Some characters in the above value which were subject to macro quoting have been unquoted for printing.
NOTE: Line generated by the macro variable "OUT_SALES_TBL".
211  WORK.out_sales_table_hdp
                         ----
                         22
                           ----
                           202

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

LinusH — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:07:11 GMT

Do you have logic in trhe macro that affects the value of said macro variable?

Otherwise, why do you need to resolve it within the macro?

I guess I need to see the full code to be able to give you an appropriate advice.

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

yabwon — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 10:10:12 GMT

Try this:

%macro temp_data( 
    out_sales_tbl=     
) / minoperator;

data WORK.%unquote(&out_sales_tbl._hdp) ;
....
run;
%mend;

Good macroquoting reading:

"Secrets of Macro Quoting Functions – How and Why" by Susan O’Connor

Bart

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

Kurt_Bremser — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 09:14:24 GMT

Why do you think you need a macro quoting function around a simple dataset name?

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

Babloo — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 10:03:15 GMT

@yabwon still the same error

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

yabwon — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 10:06:51 GMT

My bad, try this:

%unquote(WORK.&out_sales_tbl._hdp)

Bart

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

PaigeMiller — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 10:52:27 GMT

@Babloo wrote:

@yabwon still the same error

Please give us information that we can work from. Show us the entire LOG for this code you are working with (not just the ERROR messages). Also please show us the entire CODE, including the part where the macro variable is assigned a value. Also, please answer @Kurt_Bremser's question.

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

Babloo — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:36:05 GMT

@yabwon still the same error

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

yabwon — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:37:31 GMT

Show the log.

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

Quentin — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 14:00:01 GMT

Can you show the log from running @yabwon's original suggestion, I think it should work.

But more importantly, please make a small example of this problem, and post the code and the log you get.

From what I can see in the log you've shared, you've got code like:

%let out_sales_tbl=out_sales_table ;

%macro temp_data(out_sales_tbl=);
  %put _local_ ;
  data WORK.&out_sales_tbl._hdp ;
  run;
%mend;

%temp_data(out_sales_tbl=%quote(&out_sales_tbl))

As others have pointed to the macro quoting is not needed. Also note the &out_sales_tbl is resolved during the call to temp_data. If you want to delay that, you would need to use %nrstr(). The quoting characters introduced by %quote() cause problems for the compiler, but @yabwon's %unquote suggestion resolves them for my test:

%let out_sales_tbl=out_sales_table ;

%macro temp_data(out_sales_tbl=);
  %put _local_ ;
  data WORK.%unquote(&out_sales_tbl._hdp) ;
  run;
%mend;

%temp_data(out_sales_tbl=%quote(&out_sales_tbl))

Re: Macro Parameter not resolving

Tom — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 14:40:13 GMT

The simple solution is to fix the CALL to the macro.

A valid dataset name cannot contain any character that needs macro quoting so don't quote it.

Plus you are just confusing yourself by calling the macro with the value of a macro variable that has the same name as the macro variable used as the parameter name.

%let some_other_mvar = table_name;
%temp_data(out_sales_tbl=&some_other_mvar);