VNAMEX Function
Validates the value of the specified argument as a variable name.
| Categories: | Variable Information |
| CAS | |
| Note: | This function supports the VARCHAR type. |
Syntax
VNAMEX(expression)
Required Argument
expression
specifies a character constant, variable, or expression.
| Restriction | The value of the specified expression cannot denote an array reference. |
Details
If the VNAMEX function
returns a value to a variable that has not yet been assigned a length,
by default the variable is assigned a length of 200.
Comparisons
-
VNAME returns the name of the specified variable. VNAMEX, however, evaluates the argument to determine a variable name. If the name is a known variable name, the function returns that name. Otherwise, the function returns a blank.
-
VNAME does not accept an expression as an argument. VNAMEX accepts expressions, but the value of the specified variable cannot denote an array reference.
-
Related functions return the value of other variable attributes, such as the variable label, informat, and format, among others. For a list, see the Variable Information functions in SAS Functions and CALL Routines by Category.
Example
The following SAS statements
produce these results:
|
SAS Statement
|
Result
|
|---|---|
array x(3) x1-x3;
array vx(3) $6 vx1 vx2 vx3
('x1' 'x2' 'x3');
y=vnamex(vx(1));
z=vnamex('x'||'1');
put y=;
put z=; |
y=x1 z=x1 |
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Last updated: March 16, 2017