Page 4 - SAS_manual

In a SAS data set, each row represents information about an individual entity and is called an
observation. Each column represents the same type of information and is called a variable. Each
separate piece of information is a data value. In a SAS data set, an observation contains all the data
values for an entity; a variable contains the same type of data value for all entities. To build a SAS data
set with Base SAS, you write a program that uses statements in the SAS programming language.

1.3 Rules for writing SAS programs

Before writing SAS programs we have to follow certain rules. For the above showing dataset, there
should be a specific name which should follow certain rules.

SAS NAMES

SAS names follow a simple naming rule:

All SAS variable names and data set names can be no longer than 32 characters.
All SAS variable names must begin with a letter or the underscore (_) character.
The remaining characters in the name may be letters, digits, or the underscore character.

Special characters such as dashes and spaces are not allowed.
Here are some valid and invalid SAS names::
Valid SAS Names
1. Parts 5. Cost_per_Pound

2. LastName 6. DATE
3. First_Name 7. Time
4. Ques5 8. X12Y34Z56

SAS HANDBOOK | VISIT:: http://nikhilanalytics.com 4