SCL Fundamentals

SCL Functions

Like the functions in the Base SAS language, each SCL function returns a value that is based on one or more arguments that are supplied with the function. Most of the special features of SCL are implemented as functions. In addition, SCL provides all of the functions of the Base SAS language except for the DIF and LAG functions. (The DIF and LAG functions require a queue of previously processed rows that only the DATA step maintains.)

SCL functions can be divided into the following groups according to the type of information they return:

functions that return a value representing the result of a manipulation of the argument values. For example, the MLENGTH function returns the maximum length of a variable.
functions that perform an action and return a value indicating the success or failure of that action. For these functions, the value that the function returns is called a return code. For example, the LIBNAME function returns the value 0 if it successfully assigns a libref to a SAS data library or directory. If the function cannot assign the libref, it returns a nonzero value that reports the failure of the operation. The SYSMSG function returns the text of the error message that is associated with the return code.

Note: Some functions use a return code value of 0 to indicate that the requested operation was successful, whereas other functions use a return code of 0 to indicate that the operation failed.

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