Macro functon like COUNTW?

[Orsini]

I have a macro variable that is a list of variable names delimited by spaces. I want to make a new macro variable that is the count of the number of variable names in the macro list. I thought we had a macro function that would do this but I can’t seem to find it. Any general hints or a push in the right direction would be much appreciated.

[Tom · Accepted solution]

With %SYSFUNC() almost any function is potentially a macro function now.

%let n=%sysfunc(countw(&list,%str( )));

[Orsini]

Thank you, Tom.

That worked like a charm!

[kaushal2040]

Hi Tom,

%let n=%sysfunc(countw(&list,%str());

In this code,  what is the function of %str())?

Thanks !!!

[Tom]

It tells the function which characters to consider as causing word boundaries. So %STR( ) tells to only consider a blank as the delimiter for work boundaries.

http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lefunctionsref/67398/HTML/default/viewer.htm#p18xi2516ih...

If your computer uses ASCII characters, then the default delimiters are as follows:

blank ! $ % & ( ) * + , - . / ; < ^ |

[kaushal2040]

Thanks, Tom.