correcting a string with quotes in it

[hein68]

How do I get this code to work?

if callfreqothc=""sick Person"" then callfreqothc="Sick Person";
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This is the message I'm getting in the log:

NOTE 49-169: The meaning of an identifier after a quoted string might change in
             a future SAS release.  Inserting white space between a quoted

Thanks!
             string and the succeeding identifier is recommended.

[Kurt_Bremser]

Use the dequote() function:

data test;
input string $20.;
n_string = dequote(string);
datalines;
"sick Person"
;

[Lucy1 · Accepted solution]

If you are familiar with the macro language you could use quoting functions to mask the inner quotes ... the following should work:

data want;  
  callfreqothc='"sick Person"';
  if callfreqothc="%str(%"sick Person%")" then callfreqothc="Sick Person";
run;

The %str() function masks characters that you don't want their meaning interpreted. This needs to be supplemented with individual % signs just before each quote you want to mask 

[Tom]

There is no need to get the macro processor involved. The SAS language already has methods to represent strings with quotes in them.

[tomrvincent]

use the unquote function. Example:

%qsysfunc(compress(&Grouplist,%str(%")))

[Tom]

You can use different type of quotes on the outside.

if callfreqothc='"sick Person"' then callfreqothc="Sick Person";

Or double any internal quote characters that match the outside quote characters.

if callfreqothc="""sick Person""" then callfreqothc="Sick Person";

[novinosrin]

Or a bquote instead 

if callfreqothc="%bquote("sick Person")" then callfreqothc="Sick Person";

Or something fancy with informat and function

  callfreqothc=propcase(input(callfreqothc, $quote15.));