Thanks RW9 - I'm sure I'll find something in there that works !  Off to a strategy workshop now - will try the proc sql options first. ... View more

Thanks, I used the upcase function, but to no avail.  I will attach the relevant datasets and files Here is the code that works before I put it in a macro : DATA lib.CompInd;   INFILE "&ProjPath\CompInd.txt" DLM='09'X DSD TRUNCOVER lrecl=1000 recfm=v;   INPUT   CompInd :$20.; run; proc sql noprint;   select count(*) into :n   from lib.CompInd; quit; %let n = &n; %put &n; proc sql noprint;   select CompInd into :t1-:t&n from lib.CompInd; quit; %put &t1; %put &t2; %put &t3;   data lib.set02;   Length Flag $20.;   Length Var1 $20.;   set lib.set01;   do i = 1 to &n;   if index(upcase(Surname),'PTY') > 0 then     do;       Flag='Company';       Var1='PTY';       Output lib.set02;     end;   end;   run; This is the macro version of the above : DATA lib.CompInd;   INFILE "&ProjPath\CompInd.txt" DLM='09'X DSD TRUNCOVER lrecl=1000 recfm=v;   INPUT   CompInd :$20.; run; proc sql noprint;   select count(*) into :n   from lib.CompInd; quit; %let n = &n; %put &n; proc sql noprint;   select CompInd into :t1-:t&n from lib.CompInd; quit; %put &t1; %put &t2; %put &t3; options mlogic symbolgen; %macro Company;   data lib.set02;   Length Flag $20.;   Length Var1 $20.;   set lib.set01;   %do i = 1 %to &n;   %let test=&&t&i;   %put &test;   %if %index(upcase(Surname),trim(&test)) > 0 %then     %do;       Flag='Company';       Var1=&&t&i;       Output lib.set02;     %end;   %end;   run; %mend; %Company; Now I just have to figure out how to attach the datasets .... ... View more

Thanks, at least the loop is working correctly now.  However, I know that the condition is satisfied when &t1 = 'PTY' and &t2='LTD', but for some reason the IF condition is still evaluating to FALSE, so Flag and var1 are not being populated.  I'll try some more text functions on the macro variable to see of that sorts it out e.g. LEFT, TRIM etc, unless you can think of anything else ?  By the way, the reason I'm using a macro is because the values for &t1 to &tn are populated from a text file with hundreds of different values, so the traditional if then statements would become way too cumbersome to manage.  Thanks for your help so far. ... View more