Comment

Comment

Documents the purpose of the statement or program

Valid: anywhere

Category: Log Control

Syntax
Arguments
Details
Examples

Syntax

*message;
or
/*message*/

Arguments

*message;

specifies the text that explains or documents the statement or program.

Range:	These comments can be any length.
Restriction:	These comments must be written as separate statements.
Restriction:	These comments cannot contain internal semicolons.

/*message*/

specifies the text that explains or documents the statement or program.

Range:	These comments can be any length.
Restriction:	This type of comment cannot be nested.
Tip:	These comments can contain semicolons.
Tip:	You can write these comments within statements or anywhere a single blank can appear.

Details

You can use the comment statement anywhere in a SAS program to document the purpose of the program, explain unusual segments of the program, or describe steps in a complex program or calculation. SAS ignores text in comment statements during processing.

CAUTION:: Avoid placing the /* comment symbols in columns 1 and 2. In some operating environments, SAS may interpret a /* in columns 1 and 2 as a request to end the SAS program or session. For details, see the SAS documentation for your operating environment.

Examples

These examples illustrate the two types of comments:

This example uses the *message format:

*This code finds the number in the BY group;

This example uses the *message format:

   *---------------------------------------*
   |  This uses one comment statement      |
   |           to draw a box.              |
   *---------------------------------------*;

This example uses the /*message*/ format:

 input @1 name $20.  /* last name    */
       @200 test 8.  /* score test   */
       @50 age 3.;   /* customer age */

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