DDE : using macro variables inside put statement

[AlexeyS]

Hello guys, I want to use macro variables inside the put statement. When I use numbers it works perfectly, but when I replace numbers with macro variables, it doesn't work.

filename DDEcmds  dde 'excel|system';

data _null_;
file DDEcmds;
put '[select("R2C%sysevalf(&id+3):R100C%sysevalf(&id+3)")]';
put '[Format.Number("#,##0")]';    
run;

[DanielLangley]

Macro Variables don't resolve if they are within single quotes.

[RW9]

You are not resolving the macro code.  To resolve macro code it needs to be within double quotes:

'[select("R2C%sysevalf(&id+3):R100C%sysevalf(&id+3)")]';

The double quotes here are within single quotes, therefore part of the text.  Maybe something like.

data _null_;
  file DDEcmds;
  str=cats('[select(',"R2C%sysevalf(&id+3):R100C%sysevalf(&id+3)"),']');
  put str;
  put '[Format.Number("#,##0")]';    
run;

Again though, DDE is a dead technology, from 30 years + out of service.

[FreelanceReinh · Accepted solution]

Hello @AlexeyS,

You can use double quotes and double double quotes to avoid the single quotes:

put "[select(""R2C%sysevalf(&id+3):R100C%sysevalf(&id+3)"")]";

[Kurt_Bremser]

put '[select("R2C%sysevalf(&id+3):R100C%sysevalf(&id+3)")]';

The outermost single quotes prevent all macro trigger resolution.

Use an intermediate string:

length string $50;
string = '[select("R2C' !! "%sysevalf(&id+3):R100C%sysevalf(&id+3)" !! '")]';
put string;