Macro dropdown list and info box EG 5.1

[Will_V]

Hello,

I have only been using SAS for about a month, but I have created a few permanent macros for things I do often.

Right now, if I define a macro within a program I will get a drop down menu of available macros when I start typing '%...'  and once I have clicked or typed the macro name, I get a box with information saying the macro variable names and any information I want displayed.

Now I want to save my macros to a file and call them from other programs.  I can call the macro using the following code, but it does not display the info box or the drop down list of names when I type the macro name and variables.

filename willmacs 'filename';

options mautosource sasautos=(willmacs sasautos);

%testmac(ABC, DEF)

Is it possible to make EG display the dropdown and infobox?

Thanks for your help and please point me to other threads if this was mentioned before (I did a quick search but could not find anything)

-Will

[ChrisHemedinger]

Will,

It's a good question, but no, it's not possible -- at least not directly.  The program editor displays this "help" when the macro definition is inline in the same program file, but not for autocall macros or macros that were submitted in another program.

However, you can achieve a similar experience if you define editor abbreviations for your macros.

Chris