Using Automatic Macro Variables (3)

Improving Program Efficiency with Macro Variables

Using Automatic Macro Variables

Using other automatic macro variables is just as easy as using the SYSDATE macro variable. For example, if you need the day of the week and the full date when a SAS session began, you can reference the SYSDAY and SYSDATE9 automatic macro variables. Simply specify the macro variable name, preceded by an ampersand.

     title 'Temporary Employees Hired in November';
     footnote "Report Run on &sysday, &sysdate9";
     data hrd.tempnov;
        set hrd.temp;
        if month(begindate)=11;
     run;
     proc print data=hrd.tempnov;
     run;

The output is displayed with the following footnote.

Report Run on Friday, 12MAY2000

Here is a list of some commonly used automatic macro variables and the information they supply.

Name Information Supplied Example
SYSDATE9 date the job or session began executing 21APR2000
SYSDATE date the job or session began executing 16FEB98
SYSDAY weekday the job or session began executing Tuesday
SYSTIME time the job or session began executing 15:32
SYSSCP operating system abbreviation CMS
SYSVER SAS software version and/or release number 7.0
SYSLAST name of the most recently created data set HRD.TEMP99

Name	Information Supplied	Example
SYSDATE9	date the job or session began executing	`21APR2000`
SYSDATE	date the job or session began executing	`16FEB98`
SYSDAY	weekday the job or session began executing	`Tuesday`
SYSTIME	time the job or session began executing	`15:32`
SYSSCP	operating system abbreviation	`CMS`
SYSVER	SAS software version and/or release number	`7.0`
SYSLAST	name of the most recently created data set	`HRD.TEMP99`

Reserved Names for Macro Variables
Notice that all automatic macro variables begin with the letters SYS. SAS software reserves the right to use the SYS prefix for automatic macro variables. It is recommended that you not begin the name of any user-defined macro variable with the letters SYS. For a complete list of automatic macro variables, refer to SAS Macro Language: Reference.