Hu Ang,

I don't know of any standard macro that will completely compress all blanks. There is a macro that will trim leading and trailing blanks as well as compressing multiple blanks into a single blank: %cmpres(). If you wanted to try to index the single blanks, you can use the %index() function. You can to create the space as a macro variable as: %let e = %str( ) [with a single space between parentheses.] But I think your easiest solution is using the data _null_ step. However, you can combine the steps into one statement.

%let try = aa bb;

data _null_; call symput('try',compress("&try")); run;

A %put &try; statement results in aabb. Good luck.

Randy Childs Alpha-Beta Technology