specifies any SAS name,
which is followed by a colon (:). You must specify the label argument.
statement
specifies any executable
statement, including a null statement (;). You must specify the statement argument.
Restrictions:No two statements in a DATA step can have the same label.
If a statement in a DATA step is labeled, it should be
referenced by a statement or option in the same step.
Tip:A null statement can have a label:
ABC:;
Details
The statement label
identifies the destination of either a GO TO statement, a LINK statement,
the HEADER= option in a FILE statement, or the EOF= option in an INFILE
statement.
Comparisons
The LABEL statement assigns
a descriptive label to a variable. A statement label identifies a
statement or group of statements that are referred to in the same
DATA step by another statement, such as a GO TO statement.
Example: Jumping to Another Statement
In this example, if
Stock=0, the GO TO statement causes SAS to jump to the statement that
is labeled reorder. When Stock is not 0, execution continues to the
RETURN statement and then returns to the beginning of the DATA step
for the next observation.
data Inventory Order;
input Item $ Stock @;
/* go to label reorder: */
if Stock=0 then go to reorder;
output Inventory;
return;
/* destination of GO TO statement */
reorder: input Supplier $;
put 'ORDER ITEM ' Item 'FROM ' Supplier;
output Order;
datalines;
milk 0 A
bread 3 B
;