Hi:
I would just never attempt to duplicate what _N_ is doing in PROC SQL. If I were going to try to assign a number to every row that I create, I would do it in the first DATA step program:
[pre]
** 1) set macro variable for var1 label;
%let v1labl = azertugughu;
** 2) create data, increment counter and use macro variable;
data tabinit;
retain i 0;
label var1="&v1labl"
i = 'Number for Obs';
format var1 $50.;
var1="G1*G2";
i+1; /* increment i before output statement */
output;
var1="G3*G2*G1";
i+1;
output;
var1="G2*G3";
i+1;
output;
var1="youpi";
i+1;
output;
var1="G1*G3";
i+1;
output;
run;
** 3) use PROC PRINT;
proc print data=tabinit label;
run;
[/pre]
And the output from the PROC PRINT is:
[pre]
Number
Obs for Obs azertugughu
1 1 G1*G2
2 2 G3*G2*G1
3 3 G2*G3
4 4 youpi
5 5 G1*G3
[/pre]
cynthia