I want to run a macro like this
%macro mymacro(str1, str2);
data want;
set have;
if index(mystring, "&str1") > 0 or index(mystring, "&str2") > 0;
run;
%mend
The problem is that my input strings include cases like " FL", ",C A", ", DE", "G.A."
How can I safely pass these strings into the macro?
Use an appropriate macro quoting funciton. See the blog post Passing comma-delimited values into SAS macros and macro functions by @LeonidBatkhan for a thorough discussion.
Here is the link to that post: Passing comma-delimited values into SAS macros and macro functions .
Probably the easiest way is to include the quote marks in the values you pass. They will then protect the space and the comma. e.g. :
%macro mymacro(str1, str2);
data want;
set have;
if index(mystring, &str1) > 0 or index(mystring, &str2) > 0;
run;
%mend ;
options mprint ;
%mymacro(" FL",",C A")
But certainly doing it via macro quoting will work. And @LeonidBatkhan's blog is a great place to start.
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