MACROS

[beverlyobeng]

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me solve my current dilemma. I woulld like to create a macro that can be used in several datasteps. Below is what I have done so far. I keep getting error messages that the new variables (newrace2 and are livingage_new&year.) unitialized.

%macro try;
%if newrace= '4' %then %let newrace2='1. Black';
%if newrace= '1' %then %let newrace2='2. Hispanic';
%if newrace= '6' %then %let newrace2='3. White';
%if newrace= '3' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '5' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '7' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '2' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '8' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '9' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= ' ' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';

%if 0 le livingage&year. le 24 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='0-24';
%if 25 le livingage&year. le 34 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='25-34';
%if 35 le livingage&year. le 44 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='35-44';
%if 45 le livingage&year. le 54 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='45-54';
%if 55 le livingage&year. %then %let livingage_new&year. ='55+';
run;
%mend try;

data estab0_demo2;
length newrace2 $13.;
length livingage_new&year $13.;
set estab1_demo;
%try;
run;

[TomKari]

Your statements should probably be:

if newrace= '4' then newrace2='1. Black';

etc. %if, %then, and %let statements control the functioning of the macro, not the underlying SAS code.

Also, if you use some "else" clauses, things will be a little clearer. There is also a "select" statement that you could consider.

Tom

[beverlyobeng]

THanks

[beverlyobeng]

Thank you for your help. Now that I have that done is there a macro in which i ould be able to minimize repeating the same step but with different datasets. As shown below after the macro is created the same macor is applied to 3 different datasets. I would like to further minimize repetition. 

%macro try;

if newrace= '4' then newrace2 = '1. Black';
if newrace= '1' then newrace2= '2. Hispanic';
if newrace= '6' then newrace2= '3. White';
if newrace in ('3', '5', '7', '2', '8', '9', ' ') then newrace2= '4. API &Other';

if 0 le livingage&year. le 24 then livingage_new&year.='0-24';
if 25 le livingage&year. le 34 then livingage_new&year.='25-34';
if 35 le livingage&year. le 44 then livingage_new&year.='35-44';
if 45 le livingage&year. le 54 then livingage_new&year.='45-54';
if 55 le livingage&year. then livingage_new&year.='55+';
%mend try;

data estab0_demo2;
length newrace2 $13.;
length livingage_new&year $13.;
set estab1_demo;
%try;
run;

data estab1_demo2;
length newrace2 $13.;
length livingage_new&year $13.;
set estab1_demo;
%try;
run;

data nr_demo2;
length newrace2 $13.;
length livingage_new&year $13.;
set nr_demo;
%try;
run;

[Astounding]

This code is actually the closest you have come to getting something working.  I would stick with the approach, but there is a key question to answer.

How do you expect &YEAR to be assigned a value?

[TomKari]

To shorten it even more, take a look in the help documentation about how to pass parameters into macros. If you pass the "estab0_demo" type information as a parameter, you could make the whole thing into a macro. Some similar examples are in:

http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/mcrolref/61885/HTML/default/viewer.htm#macro-stmt.htm

Also, the advice about using formats is excellent. You should investigate those as well.

Tom

[RW9]

Well, first off you don't seem to understand macro language.  Think of it this way, if you copy the the code in the macro and replace the call with it:

data estab0_demo2;
length newrace2 $13.;
length livingage_new&year $13.;
set estab1_demo;

%if newrace= '4' %then %let newrace2='1. Black';
%if newrace= '1' %then %let newrace2='2. Hispanic';
%if newrace= '6' %then %let newrace2='3. White';
%if newrace= '3' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '5' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '7' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '2' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '8' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= '9' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';
%if newrace= ' ' %then %let newrace2='4. API &Other';

%if 0 le livingage&year. le 24 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='0-24';
%if 25 le livingage&year. le 34 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='25-34';
%if 35 le livingage&year. le 44 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='35-44';
%if 45 le livingage&year. le 54 %then %let livingage_new&year. ='45-54';
%if 55 le livingage&year. %then %let livingage_new&year. ='55+';
run;
run;

Does the above look like valid Base SAS code?  No.  

The second point I would ask is why?  What you are doing is coding what is essentially formats.  e.g.

proc format;
  value $newrace
    '4' = '1. Black'
    ...;
run;

data want;  
  set have;
  format race $newrace.;
run;

Please see the help docs:

http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/proc/61895/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a000063536.htm

Alternatively, if you have to do it in code, then create a dataset with your code values and decodes values:

CODE    DECODE

4            1. Black

...

Then merge that data onto your other data, far easier to maintain.

[beverlyobeng]

Thank you

[Reeza]

I'll second @RW9 recommendation of using a format instead. I'll also suggest using a double format for the race variable so it sorts without the extra 1, 2 in the labels. If you need help to code that let me know. 

A a good reference for formats is the paper titled Proc Format: Not Just Another Pretty Face