While many users take advantage of the SAS®
Macro Language, few take full advantage of its
capabilities to build and maintain libraries of
macros. Management of large numbers of
macros can be problematic. Names and
locations must be remembered, changes must be
managed, duplication and variations of individual
macros must be monitored, and efficiency issues
must be taken into consideration. These
problems come even more to the forefront when
macros are shared among programmers -
especially in a networked environment.
Macro libraries allow you to control and manage
the proliferation of your macros. Libraries can
consist of a formal use of the %INCLUDE
statement, a group of programs defining macros
that can be automatically called, or even
collections of macros that were previously
compiled and then stored.
Macro libraries are extremely useful, and not
really all that complicated. If you are not
currently using them as part of your macro
programming efforts, read on!
conference:
