the various call routines return their value in their arguments, in this case the array.   this code is on page 5 of the paper cited below.   array _n(&n_obs); do _i = 1 to &n_obs ; * read column into row; set &data (keep = &name rename = (&name = _value)) point = _i; _n(_i) = _value; end; call sortn(of _n(*));   @inproceedings{Fehd-2015_mwsug-rf-04_read-column-into-row, year=2015,booktitle=name.mwsug,author={Ronald J. Fehd}, title ={Reading a Column into a Row to Count N-levels, Calculate Cardinality Ratio and Create Frequency and Summary Output In One Step}, note ={Rapid Fire, 10 pp.}, url={http://www.lexjansen.com/mwsug/2015/RF/MWSUG-2015-RF-04.pdf}}   ... View more