CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sas
lord12
lord12

Reputation: 2927

SAS indirect references

Can someone give me an example of how indirect references to macro variables work and why they are used? I am still confused why indirect references are even required when you can just use a direct reference to a macro variable.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 801

Answers (1)

Joe
Joe

Reputation: 63434

Indirect references are used when you need to generate the reference through code, typically macro code (as a direct reference can usually be created through other code). For example:

%let n1=5;
%let n2=3;
%macro doit(whichn=);
%put &&n&whichn..;
%mend doit;

%doit(whichn=1);
%doit(whichn=2);

You often use this in macro loops, such as

%do x=1 to 2;
  %put &&n&x..;
%end;

which cycles through n1 and n2.

Upvotes: 2

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