POSITION Variable
Controls placement and alignment of a text string
specified by the LABEL function.
| Type: | character |
| Length: | 1 |
| Default: | 5 |
Syntax
POSITION='text-position' | '0';
Variable Values
- text-position
-
specifies the placement of the text string in relation to the position that is defined by the X and Y variables. Text-position can be one of the characters 1 through 9, A through F, <, +, or >. These characters represent the positions that are described in the following table:These positions are illustrated in Effect of POSITION Values on Text Strings.
Details
Stacking Text Strings
To stack text strings,
specify a different position value of each string. Combining POSITION Values to Stack Text shows two ways to stack text.
Positioning Numeric Labels
The <, +, and >
positions perform the same function as 4, 5, and 6, respectively,
but are recommended only for labels that are numbers. The <, +,
and > positions are especially useful when you are labeling a horizontal
bar chart. You can use <, +, or > if the numbers in your font
are significantly smaller than the text and you are having trouble
centering labels. If the numbers in your font are the same height
or close to the same height as the text, you can use positions 4,
5, and 6 to center the labels.
Changing Attributes in the Middle of a Text String
0 is a special value
to use when you want to pause and then continue a text string. With
this value, you can change colors, fonts, and so on, in the middle
of a line, while retaining the exact position of the text at the pause.
When POSITION='0', the combined text string is left-justified beginning
at the point that is defined by the X and Y variables. However, you
must define missing values for X for the continuation string. The
following Annotate data set changes the font in the middle of the
string. The result is shown in Using POSITION='0' to Change the Attributes of a Text String.
data anno;
length style $ 8 text $ 12;
xsys="3"; ysys="3"; hsys="3"; x=5; y=50;
style="swissb"; size=10; text="This is the";
position="0"; output;
x=.; style="swissbi"; text=" ITALIC font";
output;
run; 