Everyone has suggested ways to FIX the problem after the fact.  You may want to reflect on how the value was created and address the issue there.  I suspect you created the value with CALL SYMPUT.  SYMPUT does not trim the value of its arguments.  You could use STRIP or TRIM with SYMPUT or use SYMPUTX a new version of SYMPUT that does STRIP the value of its arguments.  SYMPUTX also quietly converts numeric to character, and has a third parameter for SCOPE. data _null_;    call symputX('nx',_n_);    call symput('n',_n_);    run; %put NOTE: **&N** **&nx**; ... View more