JSD,

You really want that length stashed in a macro variable. Try this.

proc sql;

reset noprint;

select max( overall_length ) into :MAXLEN from formatting ; quit;

data mydata; set in; length my_var $&MAXLEN.; my_var = my_other_var; run;

HTH - Jack

-----Original Message----- From: JSD To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Sent: 6/24/02 4:05 PM Subject: Using a var value in a subsequent data step

Greetings,

I am stuck on particular block of code. Here is a snippet of some code that I am currently working with.

/********************************************************** proc means data=formatting; var overall_length; output out=formatting2 max(overall_length) = max_length; run; quit;

data mydata; length myvar $max_length.; /* <- stuck here */ set formatting2; myvar = my_other_var; run; quit;

************************************************************/

I get hung up in the data step. In the above proc the "max_length" var in the formatting2 data set will be of variable length. I would like to adjust the length of "myvar" to the value of the "max_length" var.

For example, if the value of the "max_length" var was 27, the length arument in the subsequent data step would be $27.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

JSD