SAS Certified Professional Prep Guide

Validating Query Syntax

A Brief Overview

When you are building a PROC SQL query, you might find it more efficient to check your query without actually executing it. To verify the syntax and the existence of columns and tables that are referenced in the query without executing the query, use either of the following combinations:

• the NOEXEC option in the PROC SQL statement
• the VALIDATE keyword before a SELECT statement

Example: Using the NOEXEC Option

The NOEXEC option is specified in the following PROC SQL statement:

proc sql noexec;
   select empid, jobcode, salary
      from certadv.payrollmaster
      where jobcode contains 'NA'
      order by salary;
quit;

If the query is valid and all referenced columns and tables exist, the SAS log ...