SAS Helpful Hints

Biostat Macro Library

Break a long string into pieces <=120 characters for easier printing

%Macro mkcomm(oldlong,new,max);
    *Create an array to recieve the cut string: new1 new2 new3...;
    %Let ccomments= ;
    %Do ii=1 %To %Eval(&max);
        %Let ccomments=&ccomments &new&ii;
    %End;
    Array cm&new $ 120 &ccomments;
    ii=1;
    bbreak1=1;
    ccomlen=Length(&oldlong);
    Do While (ccomlen>ii*110+9+bbreak1);
        *Find a space in the 110-120th positions in the long string;
        bbreak2=Index(Substr(&oldlong,ii*110+bbreak1,10),' ');
        *Cut the long string;
        cm&new{ii}=Substr(&oldlong,(ii-1)*110+bbreak1,110+bbreak2);
        bbreak1=bbreak1+bbreak2;
        ii=ii+1;
    End;
    cm&new{ii}=Substr(&oldlong,(ii-1)*110+bbreak1,ccomlen-((ii-1)*110+bbreak1-1));
%Mend mkcomm;

Data work.B;
    Set work.A;
    %mkcomm(longstring,short,8);
Run;

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