SAS 9.4 Language Reference, 6th Edition

Chapter 3

Rules for Words and Names in the

SAS Language

Words in the SAS Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Definition of Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Types of Words or Tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Placement and Spacing of Words in SAS Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Names in the SAS Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Definition of a SAS Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Rules for User-Supplied SAS Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

SAS Name Literals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Summary of Default Rules for Naming SAS Data Sets and SAS Variables . . . . . . 33

Summary of Extended Rules for Naming SAS Data Sets and SAS Variables . . . . . 34

Words in the SAS Language

Definition of Word

A word or token in the SAS programming language is a collection of characters that

communicates a meaning to SAS and which cannot be divided into smaller units that can

be used independently. A word can contain a maximum of 32,767 bytes.

A word or token ends when SAS encounters one of the following:

• the beginning of a new token

• a blank after a name or a number token

• the ending quotation mark of a literal token

Each word or token in the SAS language belongs to one of four categories:

• names

• literals

• numbers

• special characters

Types of Words or Tokens

There are four basic types of words or tokens:

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