SAS Studio 3.8.   The subject line sounds odd, I know. But I couldn't figure out how to better summarize the issue.   I have code that returns the number of observations in a dataset via the macro var 'NOBS'. I am trying to wrap this code into a macro so I can efficiently send it different datasets. But the macro only works if I run the inner code of the macro by itself first. Here's what I mean:   The dataset sashelp.baseball has 322 obs, so I should see NOBS=322 when I run the following macro: %macro count_me_obs(my_ds); %let dsid = %sysfunc(open(&my_ds.)); %let nobs = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid.,nlobs)); %let dsid = %sysfunc(close(&dsid.)); %mend count_me_obs; %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Baseball); %put &=nobs; /* Should return NOBS=322 */ Instead I get "WARNING: Apparent symbolic reference NOBS not resolved." as seen below. 1 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 68 69 %macro count_me_obs(my_ds); 70 %let dsid = %sysfunc(open(&my_ds.)); 71 %let nobs = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid.,nlobs)); 72 %let dsid = %sysfunc(close(&dsid.)); 73 %mend count_me_obs; 74 75 %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Baseball); 76 %put &=nobs; WARNING: Apparent symbolic reference NOBS not resolved. nobs 77 However, if I then run the following code (the guts of the macro): %let dsid = %sysfunc(open(Sashelp.Baseball)); %let nobs = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid.,nlobs)); %let dsid = %sysfunc(close(&dsid.)); %put &=nobs; I correctly get this in my log: 1 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 68 69 %let dsid = %sysfunc(open(Sashelp.Baseball)); 70 %let nobs = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid.,nlobs)); 71 %let dsid = %sysfunc(close(&dsid.)); 72 %put &=nobs; NOBS=322 73 74 75 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; NOW if I run the macro again, I correctly get the NOBS=322 in my log. Before you think that it's just putting in the previous value of NOBS, I can send other datasets to the macro and those get counted correctly now too, like so: %macro count_me_obs(my_ds); %let dsid = %sysfunc(open(&my_ds.)); %let nobs = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid.,nlobs)); %let dsid = %sysfunc(close(&dsid.)); %mend count_me_obs; %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Baseball); %put &=nobs; /* NOBS=322 */ %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Class); %put &=nobs; /* NOBS=19 */ %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Gas); %put &=nobs; /* NOBS=171 */ %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Springs); %put &=nobs; /* NOBS=1587 */ which gives me this log: 1 OPTIONS NONOTES NOSTIMER NOSOURCE NOSYNTAXCHECK; 68 69 %macro count_me_obs(my_ds); 70 %let dsid = %sysfunc(open(&my_ds.)); 71 %let nobs = %sysfunc(attrn(&dsid.,nlobs)); 72 %let dsid = %sysfunc(close(&dsid.)); 73 %mend count_me_obs; 74 75 %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Baseball); 76 %put &=nobs; NOBS=322 77 78 %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Class); 79 %put &=nobs; NOBS=19 80 81 %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Gas); 82 %put &=nobs; NOBS=171 83 84 %let getnobs = %count_me_obs(Sashelp.Springs); 85 %put &=nobs; NOBS=1587 86 So to recap: The macro doesn't work until I run the inner part of code by itself first. Then the  whole macro works all day long. It's almost like I have to slap NOBS around first to wake it up, then it performs properly.   Of course, I need the code to work the first time it runs. Am I missing a step or something else? Thanks! ... View more

My first post... please be kind 😊 I am using SAS Studio. I have a base table of date, time, and coin ticker, as follows: data BaseTXs; infile datalines delimiter=','; input date :yymmdd10. time :time. coin $; format date yymmdd10. time timeampm.; datalines; 2020-09-01,9:29:55 PM,BTC 2020-09-01,9:58:00 PM,BTC 2020-09-08,10:30:42 AM,BTC 2020-09-09,4:20:00 PM,BTC ; To my base table, I simply want to append the price of bitcoin using my PriceLookup table, picking the price that is closest to my date and time.  Here is my example PriceLookup table: data PriceLookup; infile datalines delimiter=',' truncover; input price date :yymmdd10. time :time. coin $; format price 8.2 date yymmdd10. time timeampm.; datalines; 351.05,2020-08-31,11:59:59 PM,BTC 400.45,2020-09-01,8:16:41 AM,BTC 425.02,2020-09-01,9:18:45 PM,BTC 378.05,2020-09-01,10:13:47 PM,BTC 755.66,2020-09-07,6:23:47 PM,BTC 789.99,2020-09-08,9:25:00 AM,BTC 804.33,2020-09-08,1:55:54 PM,BTC 1013.82,2020-09-09,3:05:00 AM,BTC 1020.10,2020-09-09,6:00:00 PM,BTC 1015.05,2020-09-10,8:00:00 PM,BTC 999.65,2020-09-10,8:15:05 PM,BTC ; So my final output table should look like this: data BaseTXs_fin; infile datalines delimiter=','; input date :yymmdd10. time :time. coin $ price; format date yymmdd10. time timeampm. price 8.2; datalines; 2020-09-01,9:29:55 PM,BTC,425.02 2020-09-01,9:58:00 PM,BTC,378.05 2020-09-08,10:30:42 AM,BTC,789.99 2020-09-09,4:20:00 PM,BTC,1020.10 ; I have seen several posts/articles showing how this can be done in one PROC SQL step, but I can't seem to alter the code to fit my needs (I am mostly unsure how to setup the WHERE, GROUP BY, and HAVING statements).  Here, for example: https://www.lexjansen.com/pharmasug/2003/CodersCorner/cc001.pdf    Any help would be much appreciated!   (My request is actually a bit simplified, as my production base table consists of more coins than just bitcoin, and each different coin has its own separate PriceLookup table.  So I'd need to do a merge for each coin.  I think I can do this on my own if I can just get the simplified version to work, but if you're up for providing the extra help, I certainly won't complain!) ... View more