Date:         Tue, 29 Dec 1998 13:16:36 -0600
Reply-To:     Jack Hamilton <jack_hamilton@FIRSTHEALTH.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         Jack Hamilton <jack_hamilton@FIRSTHEALTH.COM>
Subject:      Re: Macro params > 200 chars long...?
Comments: To: jcarter@SCTCORP.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Two suggestions, neither one tested:
 
- Use the IN operator instead:
 
     if "VARNAME5" in (&VARLIST) then ...
 
  VARLIST would have to consist of quoted strings, but you could
  do that in your macro.  Just use the %SCAN function to step
  through the words in the string.
 
- Rewrite your program to use the %INDEX macro function instead of
  the INDEX data step function.  If you're in a macro already, that
  might be easier.
 
 
James Carter <jcarter@SCTCORP.COM> wrote:
 
>     In a fairly involved macro I've written, one of the
>parameters has started to exceed the ever-popular 200 character
>limit.  I seem to recall a discussion on this topic a few months
>(years?) ago.  Does anyone know of any tips/tricks for getting
>around this?
>
>Here's an (obviously mocked-up) example:
>
>%MACRO MAC(VARLIST=,FLAG=);
>DATA _NULL_;
>  GOTIT = 0;
>  IF INDEX("&VARLIST","VARNAME5") > 0 THEN GOTIT = 1;
>  IF GOTIT THEN DO;
>     PUT "GOT IT!";
>  END;
>RUN;
>%MEND;
>
>%MAC( VARLIST=VARNAME1 VARNAME2 VARNAME3 VARNAME4 VARNAME5,
>FLAG=1 );
>
>In this example, an increasing number of variable names in the
>VARLIST macro var is
>causing VARLIST to get bigger than 200 chars...