topic Re: Loop within a macro in SAS Enterprise Guide

Loop within a macro

a_ramos — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 19:08:05 GMT

Is it possible to create an array with string values (not variables) to rename values?

I know a macro does this, but it's already inside a parent macro.

I know that this query does not work, but it would be something like this:

DATA ONE;
SET TWO;

ARRAY REWRITE{2, 5} "LilyOrchid" "LilyRose" "LilyRoseOrchid" "LilyRoseJasmine" "LilyRoseOrchidJasmine" "2FOrchid" "2FRose" "3FOrchid" "3FJasmine" "4F";

DO i= 1 to 5;
IF FLOWER_ARRANGEMENT=REWRITE{1, i} THEN FLOWER_ARRANGEMENT=REWRITE{2, i};
END;
RUN;

Re: Loop within a macro

Kurt_Bremser — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 19:34:51 GMT

Arrays are addressing mechanisms for variables, you can't have "variable-less" arrays. But you can define "temporary arrays". Google "sas temporary arrays" for further information.

Re: Loop within a macro

Astounding — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 19:38:16 GMT

Try adding this word:

_temporary_

inside the array statement, just after the closing brackets.

ARRAY REWRITE{2, 5} _temporary_ "LilyOrchid" ............................;

Re: Loop within a macro

SuryaKiran — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 19:48:36 GMT

Formatting might work for you.

proc format;
value $Gender
		'M'='Male'
		'F'='Female'
		other='UNK';
run;

data test;
set sashelp.class;
format sex $Gender.;
run;

Re: Loop within a macro

Reeza — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 00:17:03 GMT

Agreed with @SuryaKiran, this is a better use for PROC FORMAT than a temporary array though it's a perfectly valid option. A better method may be to use FINDW to find the word in a fixed list and then once you have the index, look it up in the temporary array. One less loop.

Re: Loop within a macro

a_ramos — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 18:38:31 GMT

Thank you. It was good to discover that this is possible.

Re: Loop within a macro

a_ramos — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 18:45:20 GMT

Thank you. I'll choose the array because I'd rather not interrupt the dataset in what I'm doing