topic Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep in SAS Programming

Using a macro variable to name a datastep

dwsmith — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 15:35:00 GMT

    data table;
        format id ser;
        input id ser;
		datalines;
        1 12345
        2 06789
        ;
    run;
    data names(keep = id);
        set table;
    run;
    data _null_;
       set names nobs = n;
       call symput ('cnt', n);
    run;
    %macro test;
    %do i = 1 %to &cnt;
        data first;
            set names (obs = 1);
        run;
		data _null_;
			set first;
			call symput ('id', trim(id));
		run;
        data run_"&id";
            set table;
			addone = &id + 1;
        run;
		data names;
			set names (firstobs = 2);
		run;
    %end;
    %mend test;
    %test;

When I execute this SAS program, I get:

ERROR: The value '2'n is not a valid SAS name.

I tried run_"&id", run_'&id', run_&id, and options validvarname = any but nothing seems to quell the problem. What can I do?

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

mohamed_zaki — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:14:35 GMT

Try

call symput ('id', put(id,z6.));

with run_&id

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

Reeza — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:01:02 GMT

Remove the quotes.

data run_&id;

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

Reeza — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:01:04 GMT

Remove the quotes.

data run_&id;

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

dwsmith — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:02:53 GMT

Removing the quotes produces:

NOTE: Line generated by the macro variable "ID".
1      run_           2
                      -
                      22
                      200

ERROR 22-322: Syntax error, expecting one of the following: a name, a quoted string, (, /, ;, _DATA_,
              _LAST_, _NULL_.

ERROR 200-322: The symbol is not recognized and will be ignored.

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

Astounding — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:08:43 GMT

As others have indicated, you do need to remove the double quotes. But there is more that can be cleaned up here. Try it this way:

%macro test;

%local i id;

%do i=1 %to &cnt;

data _null_;

set names (obs=&i firstobs=&i);

call symputx('id', id);

run;

data run_&id;

set table;

addone = &id + 1;

run;

%end;

%mend test;

Note: Added the %end statement.

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

dwsmith — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:04:44 GMT

I dont understand. Why would you change the name to idd and then use run_id with only one d?

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

Haikuo — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:06:58 GMT

Replace all of your 'call symput' with 'call symputx', the latter removes blanks when dealing with numbers.

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

dwsmith — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:08:35 GMT

Using symputx, still produces the same problem.

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

mohamed_zaki — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:14:06 GMT

It is just typo... sorry

Re: Using a macro variable to name a datastep

lxn1021 — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:33:35 GMT

Try this (tested):

data _null_;
set first;
call symput ('id', left(id));
run;

data run_&id;
set table;
addone = &id + 1;
run;

LEFT returns a character string with leading blanks moved to the end of the value.

TRIM removes trailing blanks.