SAS Studio Custom Steps - Coding Made Easier Using the Column Selector Control
As of SAS Studio version 2022.12, there is a new generated macro variable in town!
Code development and maintenance is much simpler when using the Column Selector control as it now generates a macro variable that lists the columns selected, separated by a space.
When code is generated for a custom step, whether it’s used as stand-alone or in a flow, macro variable(s) are generated for each control in a step. The ID of each control is used to name the SAS macro variables that can be used in the SAS code for your custom step.
Prior to SAS Studio 2022.12
This custom step has been opened in a tab in the SAS Studio workspace, also referred to as stand-alone.
The Column selector control, the prompt labelled “Select columns to print”, enables users to select single or multiple columns when executing the custom step. In this case, the user has selected 4 columns to be printed. The generated macro variables for these values are named varList_1_name, varList_2_name, varList_3_name, varList_4_name.
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One strategy when selecting multiple columns involves iterative processing using the macro language %DO statement to list all of the columns selected, separated by a space, for example,
From SAS Studio 2022.12 and onwards
From SAS Studio version 2022.12, you can use the new macro variable generated that simply lists all of the columns selected, separated by a space.
The macro variables generated previously (varList_n_name) are still generated so existing custom steps are not impacted but having one macro variable that lists the values makes coding much simpler to develop and maintain!
Summary
If you have SAS Studio 2022.12 and onwards, use the generated macro variable that lists the columns selected in the Column Selector control for easier code development and maintenance!
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Happy Coding!
Check these articles for more information on custom steps:
Viya 2020.1.5 (April 2021) – Introducing Custom Steps in SAS Studio Flow
SAS Viya: Stand-Alone Custom Steps
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