ERROR 22-322: Expecting a name.

[xun1]

OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK;

68

69 proc sql;

70 select Customer as "Customer Name",

_______________

22

71 Amount as "Transaction Amount" format=DOLLAR10.2

____________________

22

ERROR 22-322: Expecting a name.

72 from sq.transactionfull

73 where Amount > 1000 and Service ne 'University'

74 order by Amount desc;

NOTE: PROC SQL set option NOEXEC and will continue to check the syntax of statements.

75 title "Large Non-Educational Transactions";

76 quit;

NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.

NOTE: PROCEDURE SQL used (Total process time):

real time 0.00 seconds

user cpu time 0.00 seconds

system cpu time 0.00 seconds

memory 225.59k

OS Memory 19104.00k

Timestamp 09/08/2023 02:25:41 PM

Step Count 154 Switch Count 1

Page Faults 0

Page Reclaims 17

Page Swaps 0

Voluntary Context Switches 7

Involuntary Context Switches 0

Block Input Operations 0

Block Output Operations 16

77

78

79 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK;

89

[ballardw]

If you are trying to create a name literal variable name then the name must always have an N following the name. Otherwise SAS cannot tell that you are attempt to create a name. Also the System option VALIDVARNAME=ANY has to be in effect to use such.

select Customer as "Customer Name"N

same for your other variables.

personally I would recommend assigning a LABEL with that text and not use the name literals. They were mostly added as a way to access variables in external databases that allow spaces and other characters that SAS doesn't use for variables.

It is a good idea to post LOG entries in a text box opened on the forum using the </> icon above the message window to maintain the text formatting and position of things like the diagnostic characters. The main message windows reformat text so that the underscore characters no longer appear under the offending text. In some cases it can be a challenge to tell which bit of a long expression is the offender.

[Amir]

Hi,

Try placing an "n" after the quoted column name to make it a name literal, e.g.,:

"Customer Name"n

Alternatively, remove the quotes and insert an underscore, e.g.:

Customer_Name

Try the same with all your renamed columns.

Thanks & kind regards,

Amir.

[xun1]

its still error

[Amir]

Hi,

Please ensure you have applied the fix to all necessary columns.

If you are still getting the error, then please post the log showing the code and error messages using the Insert Code icon "</>".

Thanks & kind regards,

Amir.

[Kurt_Bremser]

Don't saddle yourself with stupid name literals. Fancy strings belong in labels:

select Customer as customer_name label="Customer Name",
Amount as transaction_amount label="Transaction Amount" format=DOLLAR10.2

[Reeza]

option validvarname=any;

proc sql;
select customer as "Customer Name"n,
amount as "Transaction Amount"n format=Dollar10.2
from sq.transactionfull
where amount>1000 and service ne 'University'
order by 2 desc;
quit;

What you should actually do:

option validvarname=V7;

proc sql;
create table temporary as 
select customer label="Customer Name",
amount label= "Transaction Amount" format=Dollar10.2
from sq.transactionfull
where amount>1000 and service ne 'University'
order by 2 desc;
quit;

proc print data=temporary labels;
run;

SQL doesn't have the concept of labels, SAS does, they are powerful and help you out. If you're using SAS regularly, it's worth understanding them and how to use them.

---

@xun1 wrote:

OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK;

68

69 proc sql;

70 select Customer as "Customer Name",

_______________

22

71 Amount as "Transaction Amount" format=DOLLAR10.2

____________________

22

ERROR 22-322: Expecting a name.

72 from sq.transactionfull

73 where Amount > 1000 and Service ne 'University'

74 order by Amount desc;

NOTE: PROC SQL set option NOEXEC and will continue to check the syntax of statements.

75 title "Large Non-Educational Transactions";

76 quit;

NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.

NOTE: PROCEDURE SQL used (Total process time):

real time 0.00 seconds

user cpu time 0.00 seconds

system cpu time 0.00 seconds

memory 225.59k

OS Memory 19104.00k

Timestamp 09/08/2023 02:25:41 PM

Step Count 154 Switch Count 1

Page Faults 0

Page Reclaims 17

Page Swaps 0

Voluntary Context Switches 7

Involuntary Context Switches 0

Block Input Operations 0

Block Output Operations 16

77

78

79 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK;

89

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