Do Loop

[cow240]

data WORK.LOOP;
X = 0;
do Index = 1 to 5 by 2;
X = Index;
end;
run;

Q) Upon completion of execution, what are the values of the variables X and Index in the SAS data set
named WORK.LOOP?

The answer given is X = 5, Index = 7

Can someone kindly enlighten me?

[LinusH]

Run the step yourself and insert PUT statements or using data step debugger to follow variable value assignments.

[novinosrin]

Using put statements carefully between statements helps us to know what's happening during each iteration and why(logic aka the loop's exit)

data WORK.LOOP;
X = 0;
do Index = 1 to 5 by 2;
X = Index;
put x= index=;
end;
put index=;
run;

put x= index=;-->X=1 Index=1
put x= index=;-->X=3 Index=3
put x= index=;-->X=5 Index=5
put index=; -->Index=7  loops exit

Does this help at all?

[cow240]

Thank you for your replies. Apologies for the newbie questions as im new to SAS. I just thought that intuitively, it should stop at 5 since it exits at 5. I guess I have a lot to learn!

[novinosrin]

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@cow240wrote:
Thank you for your replies. Apologies for the newbie questions as im new to SAS. I just thought that intuitively, it should stop at 5 since it exits at 5. I guess I have a lot to learn!

---

No need for Apologies . There aint somebody who is more dumb than me when i started learning sas. Cheers!

[mkeintz · Accepted solution]

The do loop

   DO index=1 to 5 by 2;

    x=index;

   end;

tells SAS to

1. Assess INDEX at the top of the loop to see whether index satisfies the condition needed to run another iteration.
2. Increments INDEX by 2  at the bottom of the loop.

So when index=5, the loop runs an iteration (and x=5).  At the end of that iteration INDEX is incremented to 7, then SAS goes to the top for assessment of index.  It exceeds 5, so the do loops are finished, leaving X=5.

[MarkWik]

The question is very trivial and basic, however you @cow240 could mark one of the answer as accepted  and answered