SAS Certification Prep Guide, 4th Edition

Using User-Defined Macro Variables

The %LET Statement

You have seen that SAS provides a variety of automatic macro variables for you. You can also create your own macro variables.

The simplest way to define your own macro variables is to use a %LET statement. The %LET statement enables you to define a macro variable and to assign a value to it.

General form, %LET statement: %LET variable=value; Here is an explanation of the syntax: variable is any name that follows the SAS naming convention. value can be any string from 0 to 65,534 characters. variable or value if either contains a reference to another macro variable (such as &macvar), the reference is evaluated before the assignment is made.

Note: If variable already ...