What Common DATA Step and Macro Messages are Trying … · what common data step and macro messages are trying to tell you charley mullin and kevin russell sas institute inc., cary,

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WHY DOES SAS®

SAY THAT?

WHAT COMMON DATA STEP AND

MACRO MESSAGES ARE TRYING

TO TELL YOU

CHARLEY MULLIN AND KEVIN RUSSELL

SAS INSTITUTE INC., CARY, NC USA

PRESENTED BY JAN SQUILLACE



TODAY YOU WILL LEARN TO…

•Better understand the SAS log

•Debug your code more easily

•Work more efficiently



FIRST, LET’S DISCUSS THE DATA STEP

The benefits of DATA step:

• Gives you the ability to read external files

into SAS data sets

• Enables you to manipulate data into a more

usable form

• Enables you combine data from various

sources

• And more…



IN THE SAS LOG, YOU WILL ENCOUNTER:

•Notes

•Warnings

•Errors



APPLYING A NUMERIC FORMAT TO A

CHARACTER VARIABLE



APPLYING A NUMERIC FORMAT TO A CHARACTER VARIABLE

Input var1 var2 var3 var4 $ var5 $;

Format var4 mmddyy8.;

2681 format var4 mmddyy8.;

--------

48

ERROR 48-59: The format $MMDDYY was not found

or could not be loaded.



VARIABLES WITH MULTIPLE DEFINITIONS



VARIABLES WITH MULTIPLE DEFINITIONS

ERROR: Variable VAR1 has been defined as both character and numeric.

data one;

input var1 $ var2;

datalines;

1 2

;

run;

data two;

input var1 var2;

datalines;

3 4

;

run;

data three;

merge one two;

by var1 var2;

run;



VARIABLES WITH MULTIPLE DEFINITIONS (CONTINUED)

ERROR: Variable VAR1 has been defined as both character and numeric.

data one;

set one(rename=(var1=temp));

var1=input(temp,??8.);

drop temp;

run;

data two;

set two(rename=(var1=temp));

var1=put(temp,8.);

drop temp;

run;



INPUT TO CONCATENATION FUNCTIONS



INPUT TO CONCATENATION FUNCTIONS

NOTE: Argument 1 to function CATS at line N column X is invalid.

NOTE: Further warning from this call to CATS will be suppressed.

WARNING: In a call to the CATS function, the buffer allocated for the

result was not long enough to contain the concatenation of all

the arguments. The correct result would contain 1040

characters, but the actual result may either be truncated to

200 character(s) or be completely blank, depending on the

calling environment. The following note indicates the left-most

argument that caused truncation.

NOTE: Argument 1 to function CATS at line N column 6 is invalid.



INPUT TO CONCATENATION FUNCTIONS (CONTINUED)

data final;

merge group1(rename=(results=r1))

group2(rename=(results=r2))

group3(rename=(results=r3));

results=cats(r1,r2,r3);

run;

data final;

merge group1(rename=(results=r1))

group2(rename=(results=r2))

group3(rename=(results=r3));

length results $ 1040;

results=cats(r1,r2,r3);

run;



ARGUMENTS TO THE FUNCTION SUBSTR



ARGUMENTS TO THE FUNCTION SUBSTR

• NOTE: Invalid second argument to function

SUBSTR at line N column X.

• NOTE: Invalid third argument to function

SUBSTR at line N column X.



ARGUMENTS TO THE FUNCTION SUBSTR (CONTINUED)

In typical usage, the three arguments to the

SUBSTR function are:

• The name of the variable from which to

extract characters

• The position in the variable to start

extracting characters

• The number of characters to extract




NOTE: Invalid second argument to function SUBSTR at line N column X.

data lab_work;

infile datalines truncover;

input raw $char20.;

machine=substr(strip(raw),1,4);

test_id=substr(strip(raw),6,4);

results=substr(strip(raw),11,4);

datalines;

1234 5678

1234 5678 9012

;

run;




NOTE: Invalid second argument to function SUBSTR at line N column

X.

data lab_work;

infile datalines truncover;

input raw $char20.;

machine=substr(left(raw),1,4);

test_id=substr(left(raw),6,4);

results=substr(left(raw),11,4);

datalines;

1234 5678

1234 5678 9012

;

run;




NOTE: Invalid third argument to function SUBSTR at line N column X.

data test;

date=‘24/04/2012’;

year=substr(date,7,10);

run;

data test;

date=‘24/04/2012’;

year=substr(date,7,4);

run;



AUTOMATIC VARIABLE TYPE CONVERSIONS



AUTOMATIC VARIABLE TYPE CONVERSIONS

• NOTE: Numeric values have been

converted to character values at the places

given by: (Line):(Column).

• NOTE: Character values have been

converted to numeric values at the places

given by: (Line):(Column).



AUTOMATIC VARIABLE TYPE CONVERSIONS (CONTINUED)

NOTE: Numeric values have been converted to character values at the

places given by: (Line):(Column)

data test;

ssn=111223333;

first_three=substr(ssn,1,3);

run;

proc print data=test;

run;

The SAS System

first_

Obs ssn three

1 111223333



AUTOMATIC VARIABLE TYPE CONVERSIONS (CONTINUED)

NOTE: Numeric values have been converted to character values at the

places given by: (Line):(Column)

data test;

ssn=111223333;

first_three=substr(put(ssn,z9.),1,3);

run;

proc print data=test;

run;

The SAS System

first_

Obs ssn three

1 111223333 111



UNINITIALIZED VARIABLE



UNINITIALIZED VARIABLE

NOTE: Variable FEMELE is uninitialized.

data two;

set one;

if sex=1 then gender=Femele;

run;



UNINITIALIZED VARIABLE (CONTINUED)

SAS Log:

3652 data two;

3653 set one;

3654 if sex=1 then gender=Femele;

3655 run;

NOTE: Variable Femele is uninitialized.



UNINITIALIZED VARIABLE (CONTINUED)

Correct syntax:

data two;

set one;

if sex=1 then gender=‘Female’;

run;



USING A FUNCTION NAME AS AN ARRAY NAME



USING A FUNCTION NAME AS AN ARRAY NAME

NOTE: The array <name> has the same

name as a SAS-supplied or user-defined

function. Parentheses following this name

are treated as array references and not

function references.



USING A FUNCTION NAME AS AN ARRAY NAME (CONTINUED)

43 data test;

44 array max(3) max1-max3 (80 90 70);

NOTE: The array max has the same name as a SAS-supplied or

user-defined function. Parentheses following this name are

treated as array references and not function references.

45 max_value=max(of max(*));

ERROR: Too many array subscripts specified for array max.

46 run;

NOTE: The SAS System stopped processing this step because

of errors.

SAS log:



USING A FUNCTION NAME AS AN ARRAY NAME (CONTINUED)

data test;

array max(3) max1-max3 (80 90 70);

max_value=max(of max(*));

run;

data test;

array maxx(3) max1-max3 (80 90 70);

max_value=max(of maxx(*));

run;



THE MACRO FACILITY



NOW LET’S DISCUSS THE MACRO FACILITY

The macro facility allows you to extend

and customize your code and reduce

the amount of text you must enter.



WHEN USING THE MACRO FACILITY, USE THESE SYSTEM OPTIONS:

•SYMBOLGEN

•MPRINT

•MLOGIC



MASKING SPECIAL CHARACTERS



MASKING SPECIAL CHARACTERS

ERROR: Macro function %substr has too many arguments. The

excess arguments will be ignored.

%let x=a,b,c;

%let y=%substr(&x,1,1);

%put &=y;

%let x=a,b,c;

%let y=%substr(a,b,c,1,1);

%put &=y;



MASKING SPECIAL CHARACTERS (CONTINUED)

Complete error in the SAS log:

189 %let x=a,b,c;

190 %let y=%substr(&x,1,1);

SYMBOLGEN: Macro variable X resolves to a,b,c

ERROR: Macro function %SUBSTR has too many arguments.

The excess arguments will be ignored.

ERROR: A character operand was found in the %EVAL function or

%IF condition where a numeric operand is required.

The condition was: b

ERROR: Argument 2 to macro function %SUBSTR is not a number.

ERROR: A character operand was found in the %EVAL function or

%IF condition where a numeric operand is required.

The condition was: c

ERROR: Argument 3 to macro function %SUBSTR is not a number.

191 %put &=y;

&=y



MASKING SPECIAL CHARACTERS (CONTINUED)

Corrected code:

%let x=a,b,c;

%let y=%substr(%bquote(&x),1,1);

%put &=y;

This syntax is new for SAS 9.3



AUTOCALL MACROS USED AS MACRO FUNCTIONS



AUTOCALL MACROS USED AS MACRO FUNCTIONS

• %CMPRES and %QCMPRES

• %COMPSTOR

• %DATATYP

• %KVERIFY

• %LEFT and %QLEFT

• %LOWCASE and %QLOWCASE

• %TRIM and %QTRIM

• %VERIFY



AUTOCALL MACROS USED AS MACRO FUNCTIONS (CONTINUED)

Example that illustrates a problem:

options mautosource sasautos=(‘c:\mymacs’);

%let x=%str(abc );

%let y=%trim(&x);




SAS log:

3 options mautosource sasautos=('c:\mymacs');

4 %let x=%str(abc );

5 %let y=%trim(&x);

WARNING: Apparent invocation of macro TRIM not

resolved.




Correct setting for the SASAUTOS system

option:

options mautosource sasautos=(sasautos, 'c:\mymacs');

%let x=%str(abc );

%let y=%trim(&x);



USING MACRO VARIABLES IN FILENAMES



USING MACRO VARIABLES IN FILENAMES

ERROR: Physical file does not exist, c:\class2011csv.

%let year=2011;

proc import

datafile="C:\class&year.csv"

dbms=csv

out=myclass

replace;

getnames=yes;

run;



USING MACRO VARIABLES IN FILENAMES (CONTINUED)


datafile=“c:\class2011csv”;



USING MACRO VARIABLES IN FILENAMES (CONTINUED)


Here is the correct syntax:

%let year=2011;

proc import datafile=“C:\class&year..csv”

dbms=csv

out=myclass

replace;

getnames=yes;

run;



REFERENCING STORED COMPILED MACROS



REFERENCING STORED COMPILED MACROS

ERROR: A LOCK IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR LIBREF.SASMACR.CATALOG.



REFERENCING STORED COMPILED MACROS (CONTINUED)

ERROR: A lock is not available for MYMACS.SASMACR.CATALOG.

libname mymacs ‘C:\macros’;

options mstored sasmstore=mymacs;

%macro test / store;

<code>;

%mend test;

%test




SAS log:

NOTE: The SAS System was unable to open the

macro library referenced by the

SASMSTORE = libref MYMACS.

ERROR: A lock is not available for

MYMACS.SASMACR.CATALOG.

ERROR: A dummy macro will be compiled.






INVOKING A MACRO WITH PARAMETERS



INVOKING A MACRO WITH PARAMETERS

Error: More positional parameters found than

defined.

%macro test(vals);

%put &=vals;

%mend test;

%test(x,y,z)



INVOKING A MACRO WITH PARAMETERS (CONTINUED)

SAS log:

19 %macro test(vals);

20 %put &=vals;

21 %mend test;

22 %test(x,y,z)

MLOGIC(TEST): Beginning execution.

MLOGIC(TEST): Parameter VALS has value x

ERROR: More positional parameters found than

defined.

MLOGIC(TEST): Ending execution.



INVOKING A MACRO WITH PARAMETERS (CONTINUED)

Corrected code:

%macro test(vals);

%put &=vals;

%mend test;

%test(%str(x,y,z))



REVIEW

• Variables with multiple definitions

• Concatenation function arguments

• Arguments to SUBSTR function

• Automatic variable type conversion

• Uninitialized variables

• Function name conflict with array name

• Macro debugging options SYMBOLGEN MPRINT MLOGIC

• Autocall macros used as macro functions

• SASAUTOS system option conflicts

• Macro variables used in filenames

• Stored compiled macros

• Macro parameters



Paper 248-2012

Why Does SAS® Say That? What Common DATA Step and Macro

Messages Are Trying to Tell You

Email: [email protected]

(919) 677-8008

http://support.sas.com/techsup

http://support.sas.com/resources

Documents

What Common DATA Step and Macro Messages are Trying … · what common data step and macro messages are trying to tell you charley mullin and kevin russell sas institute inc., cary,