There is a little "gothca" to the lack of a semicolon following CARDS/DATALINES data. Usually, the combination of the two tokens RUN and ; form a step boundary. As long as they occur sequentially it doesn't matter if there are spaces or lines between them. For example, the following code works just fine:

data test; put 'this is a test making test'; x = _n_; run

;

However, if the RUN is coming after CARDS/DATALINES data, the RUN and the ; *must* be on the same physical line. For example:

data test; input x; cards; 1 2 3 run ;

This causes an error as the value "run" is trying to be read into the numeric variable x. Putting the RUN and ; on the same line solves the "problem" as does inserting a null line (;) between 3 and RUN.

If I had to take my shot at Ron's question - the six step boundaries are RUN;, PROC, DATA, %MACRO, %MEND;, and ; when following CARDS or DATALINES data.

Pete Lund WA State Caseload Forecast Council (360) 902-0086 voice (360) 902-0084 fax peter.lund@cfc.wa.gov

-----Original Message----- From: Fehd, Ronald J. [mailto:rjf2@CDC.GOV] Sent: Friday, November 19, 1999 11:01 AM To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: Re: I'll take SAS History for 200, Alex.

From: Lambert, Bob [mailto:Bob_Lambert@AFCC.COM] /Why is semicolon needed at end of cards statement?

What SAS statements are step boundaries? [hint: six items]

Ya gotta know this stuff in order to do macros.

Ron Fehd that maven CDC Atlanta GA