Date:         Wed, 8 Oct 2003 12:08:05 -0600
Reply-To:     Jack Hamilton <JackHamilton@FIRSTHEALTH.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Jack Hamilton <JackHamilton@FIRSTHEALTH.COM>
Subject:      Re: Period following a Marco Variable
Comments: To: chang_y_chung@HOTMAIL.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Not everyone agrees that using periods at the end of macro variable
names is bad.

In some cases, periods, use of a period makes the code more readable,
not less.  In other cases, the use of the period is required, so whether
it's good or bad is irrelevant.

In the past, I used periods only when they were required.  I am moving
towards consistent of the trailing period, whether it's necessary or
not.

I also use a trailing period in the length statement; maybe I just like
periods.




--
JackHamilton@FirstHealth.com
Manager, Technical Development
Metrics Department, First Health
West Sacramento, California USA

>>> Chang <chang_y_chung@HOTMAIL.COM> 10/08/2003 10:46 AM >>>
Hi,

I am also guilty of using periods and did not realize that this lowers
readability of the source. First of all, my apologies for this "bad"
habit.

My execuse is that I am hooked on using the enhanced editor on Windows
with the less-than perfect syntax coloring. It colors correctly with
"&macrovar." while it fails to recognize "&macrovar".

I cannot go back to an editor without the syntax coloring. Can anybody
recommend a better editor? Or is it better in the enhanced editor in
Release 9?

Cheers,
Chang

charles_s_patridge@PRODIGY.NET (Charles Patridge) wrote in message
news:<200310081348.h98Dmr706672@listserv.cc.uga.edu>...
> To All,
>
> Can you tell me what is the importance of having a period at the end
of a
> macro variable?  I saw this in another program I had a chance to
review
> this past week and was wondering why it is being used.
>
> Is this something new in Version 9 that will be required going
forward in
> the future of SAS macro programming???
>
> Right now, I never use a period following my macro variables unless I
truly
> need to concatenate multiple macro variables or need a period for
other
> purposes.
>
> Just would like to know what I am missing.
>
> Thanks,
> Charles Patridge