PROC TABULATE TABLE statement using a SAS name literal variable name with ending capital N crashes.

[Peter_Boonants]

Hello everyone,

I also refer to the thread How to use a variable with a SAS name literal as its name in a TABULATE procedure?

The code below apparently always causes an error in the TABLE statement of a PROC TABULATE when a SAS name literal of the form "..."N or '...'N is used, where an upper case letter N immediately follows after the right quotation mark.
This is in contrast to a SAS name literal of the form "..."n or '...'n, with the right quotation mark immediately followed by a lower case letter n.
Nevertheless, the code below runs with an ending small n as well as with an ending capital N without any problems in the data steps:

%MACRO T(D);
  %LET I = %EVAL(&I + 1);
  %DO J = 1 %TO 2; %LET V = %SCAN(I D, &J); %PUT (%NRSTR(&)&V) = (&&&V); %END;
  DATA Test&I;                 &D = &I;
  PROC TABULATE DATA = Test&I; CLASS &D; TABLE &D; RUN;
%MEND T;

%LET I =;
%T("..."n)
%T('...'n)
%T(%SYSFUNC(QUOTE(...))n)
%T(%SYSFUNC(CATQ(A2N, ...)))
%T(%SYSFUNC(CATQ(A1N, ...)))
%T("..."N)
%T('...'N)
%T(%SYSFUNC(QUOTE(...))N)
%T(%SYSFUNC(NLITERAL(...)))

Here's what appears in the log when I launch the code:

13         ODS _ALL_ CLOSE;
14         OPTIONS DEV=SVG;
15         GOPTIONS XPIXELS=0 YPIXELS=0;
16         %macro HTML5AccessibleGraphSupported;
17             %if %_SAS_VERCOMP_FV(9,4,4, 0,0,0) >= 0 %then ACCESSIBLE_GRAPH;
18         %mend;
19         FILENAME EGHTML TEMP;
20         ODS HTML5(ID=EGHTML) FILE=EGHTML
21             OPTIONS(BITMAP_MODE='INLINE')
22             %HTML5AccessibleGraphSupported
23             ENCODING='utf-8'
24             STYLE=HTMLBlue
25             NOGTITLE
26             NOGFOOTNOTE
27             GPATH=&sasworklocation
28         ;
NOTE: Writing HTML5(EGHTML) Body file: EGHTML
29         
30         %MACRO T(D);
31           %LET I = %EVAL(&I + 1);
32           %DO J = 1 %TO 2; %LET V = %SCAN(I D, &J); %PUT (%NRSTR(&)&V) = (&&&V); %END;
33           DATA Test&I;                 &D = &I;
34           PROC TABULATE DATA = Test&I; CLASS &D; TABLE &D; RUN;
35         %MEND T;
36         
37         %LET I =;
38         %T("..."n)
(&I) = (1)
(&D) = ("..."n)

NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST1 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      


NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.TEST1.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.07 seconds
      cpu time            0.04 seconds
      

39         %T('...'n)
(&I) = (2)
2                                                          The SAS System                            16:10 Friday, November 17, 2023

(&D) = ('...'n)

NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST2 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.03 seconds
      cpu time            0.03 seconds
      


NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.TEST2.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.04 seconds
      cpu time            0.03 seconds
      

40         %T(%SYSFUNC(QUOTE(...))n)
(&I) = (3)
(&D) = ("..."n)

NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST3 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      


NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.TEST3.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.03 seconds
      cpu time            0.03 seconds
      

41         %T(%SYSFUNC(CATQ(A2N, ...)))
(&I) = (4)
(&D) = ("..."n)

NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST4 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      


NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.TEST4.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.04 seconds
      cpu time            0.01 seconds
      

42         %T(%SYSFUNC(CATQ(A1N, ...)))
(&I) = (5)
(&D) = ('...'n)

NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST5 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.01 seconds
      
3                                                          The SAS System                            16:10 Friday, November 17, 2023



NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.TEST5.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.06 seconds
      cpu time            0.04 seconds
      

43         %T("..."N)
(&I) = (6)
(&D) = ("..."N)

NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST6 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.03 seconds
      cpu time            0.01 seconds
      


ERROR: The type of name ('..."'n) is unknown.
NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      
44         %T('...'N)
(&I) = (7)
(&D) = ('...'N)



NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST7 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      


ERROR: The type of name ('...'''n) is unknown.
NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.01 seconds
      
45         %T(%SYSFUNC(QUOTE(...))N)
(&I) = (8)
(&D) = ("..."N)



NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST8 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      


ERROR: The type of name ('..."'n) is unknown.
4                                                          The SAS System                            16:10 Friday, November 17, 2023

NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.00 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      
46         %T(%SYSFUNC(NLITERAL(...)))
(&I) = (9)
(&D) = ("..."N)



NOTE: The data set WORK.TEST9 has 1 observations and 1 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.00 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      


ERROR: The type of name ('..."'n) is unknown.
NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.00 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      
47         
48         %LET _CLIENTTASKLABEL=;
49         %LET _CLIENTPROCESSFLOWNAME=;
50         %LET _CLIENTPROJECTPATH=;
51         %LET _CLIENTPROJECTPATHHOST=;
52         %LET _CLIENTPROJECTNAME=;
53         %LET _SASPROGRAMFILE=;
54         %LET _SASPROGRAMFILEHOST=;
55         
56         ;*';*";*/;quit;run;
57         ODS _ALL_ CLOSE;
58         
59         
60         QUIT; RUN;
61         

Is there an explanation for the resulting errors?

• ERROR: The type of name ('..."'n) is unknown.
• ERROR: The type of name ('...'''n) is unknown.

Just to be perfectly clear, I hereby report that the following code, in which I only replaced &D in the TABLE statement by %SYSFUNC(LOWCASE(&D)), does not cause any errors:

%MACRO T(D);
  %LET I = %EVAL(&I + 1);
  %DO J = 1 %TO 2; %LET V = %SCAN(I D, &J); %PUT (%NRSTR(&)&V) = (&&&V); %END;
  DATA Test&I;                 &D = &I;
  PROC TABULATE DATA = Test&I; CLASS &D; TABLE %SYSFUNC(LOWCASE(&D)); RUN;  /*  &D in the TABLE statement was replaced by %SYSFUNC(LOWCASE(&D)).  */
%MEND T;

%LET I =;
%T("..."n)
%T('...'n)
%T(%SYSFUNC(QUOTE(...))n)
%T(%SYSFUNC(CATQ(A2N, ...)))
%T(%SYSFUNC(CATQ(A1N, ...)))
%T("..."N)
%T('...'N)
%T(%SYSFUNC(QUOTE(...))N)
%T(%SYSFUNC(NLITERAL(...)))

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Peter

[Tom]

Looks like a bug in the TABLE statement of PROC TABULATE. Open a support ticket with SAS support.

Perhaps the garbled name it writes in the error message will help them debug what is happening.

1068   PROC TABULATE DATA = Test6;
1069     CLASS "..."N;
1070     TABLE "..."N;
1071   RUN;

ERROR: The type of name ('..."'n) is unknown.
NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.00 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds


1072
1073   PROC TABULATE DATA = Test6;
1074     CLASS "..."n;
1075     TABLE "..."N;
1076   RUN;

ERROR: The type of name ('..."'n) is unknown.
NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.00 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds

1077
1078   PROC TABULATE DATA = Test6;
1079     CLASS "..."N;
1080     TABLE "..."n;
1081   RUN;

NOTE: There were 1 observations read from the data set WORK.TEST6.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.03 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds

[Peter_Boonants]

Okay, Tom, I'll open a ticket with SAS Technical Support.

Thanks a lot for your reply!

Best regards,

Peter

[Patrick]

Whoah! You found a bug with a proc that exists since a long time. 

I could confirm what you observe both under SAS9.4M7 under Windows and SAS Viya 4 under RHEL both for compute and CAS.

Below my Viya testing - might be worth sharing with SAS Tech Support that this is still an issue under Viya.

cas mysess cassessopts=(caslib="casuser");

libname casuser cas;

data casuser.class;
    set sashelp.class;
run;

proc tabulate data=casuser.class;
    class 'name'n;
    table 'name'n;
run;

proc tabulate data=casuser.class;
    class 'name'N;
    table 'name'N;
run;

proc tabulate data=sashelp.class;
    class 'name'n;
    table 'name'n;
run;

proc tabulate data=sashelp.class;
    class 'name'N;
    table 'name'N;
run;

80   cas mysess cassessopts=(caslib="casuser");
NOTE: 'CASUSER(*********)' is now the active caslib.
NOTE: The CAS statement request to update one or more session options for session MYSESS completed.
81   
82   libname casuser cas;
NOTE: Libref CASUSER was successfully assigned as follows: 
      Engine:        CAS 
      Physical Name: ****
83   
84   data casuser.class;
85       set sashelp.class;
86   run;
NOTE: There were 19 observations read from the data set SASHELP.CLASS.
NOTE: The data set CASUSER.CLASS has 19 observations and 5 variables.
NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time):
      real time           0.03 seconds
      cpu time            0.02 seconds
      
87   
88   proc tabulate data=casuser.class;
89       class 'name'n;
90       table 'name'n;
91   run;
NOTE: The CAS aggregation.aggregate action will be used to perform the initial summarization.
NOTE: The PROCEDURE TABULATE printed pages 9-10.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.06 seconds
      cpu time            0.03 seconds
      
92   
93   proc tabulate data=casuser.class;
94       class 'name'N;
95       table 'name'N;
96   run;
ERROR: The type of name ('name'''n) is unknown.
NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.00 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds
      
97   
98   proc tabulate data=sashelp.class;
99       class 'name'n;
100      table 'name'n;
101  run;
NOTE: There were 19 observations read from the data set SASHELP.CLASS.
NOTE: The PROCEDURE TABULATE printed pages 11-12.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.01 seconds
      cpu time            0.03 seconds
      
102  
103  proc tabulate data=sashelp.class;
104      class 'name'N;
105      table 'name'N;
106  run;
ERROR: The type of name ('name'''n) is unknown.
NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because of errors.
NOTE: PROCEDURE TABULATE used (Total process time):
      real time           0.00 seconds
      cpu time            0.00 seconds

[Peter_Boonants]

Hi Patrick,

Thank you very much for your testing out and your comment!

It’s interesting to learn that the problem apparently occurs in other SAS environments as well.

I have also passed on your findings to SAS Technical Support and in the meantime, SAS Technical Support has informed me that this behaviour has been around since at least SAS 9.4 TS1M1.

Bet regards,

Peter