assessing dual drug use

[udden2903]

What is the point of writing this in the code?

%put ***** Input dataset contains &drugs different drugs. *****;

[FreelanceReinh]

@udden2903: Well, the input dataset had been described as "huge with thousands of records." Hence, the result of the preceding PROC SQL step is not necessarily obvious. Even if the number of drugs involved was known in advance, data issues could lead to a different number. So, if the log message written by the (optional) %PUT statement confirms the user's expectation, this will indicate (but not prove, of course) that the subsequent steps have a chance to produce valid results. This information can also be useful in the validation process and for documentation purposes.