MVARSIZE System Option: Windows

Specifies the maximum size for in-memory macro variables.

Valid in:	configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window
Category:	Macro: SAS Macro
PROC OPTIONS GROUP=	MACRO
Default:	65534 bytes
Windows specifics:	Default value
See:	MVARSIZE System Option in SAS Macro Language: Reference

Syntax

Required Arguments

Details

Syntax

-MVARSIZE n | nK | hexX | MIN | MAX

MVARSIZE= n | nK | hexX | MIN | MAX

Required Arguments

n | nK

specifies the maximum macro variable size in multiples of 1 or 1,024 (kilobytes), respectively. You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3k specifies 3,072 bytes.

hexX

specifies the maximum macro variable size as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0–9), followed by an X. For example, the value 2dx sets the maximum macro variable size to 45 bytes.

MIN

sets the macro variable size to the minimum setting, which is 0 bytes. This value causes all macro variables to be written to disk.

MAX

sets the macro variable size to the maximum setting, which is 65,534 bytes.

Details

The MVARSIZE system option specifies the maximum size for macro variables that are stored in memory. If the size of the macro variable is larger than the maximum value that is specified, variables are written out to disk.

The value of the MVARSIZE system option can affect system performance. Before you specify the value for production jobs, run tests to determine the optimum value.