If you are reading data with DATALINES, or have source statements that are longer than 256 bytes, the data or the source statement is truncated at 256 bytes.

If source statements are longer than 256 bytes, an error might be generated based on any improper syntax resulting from the source statement truncation. A warning message might also be issued indicating that a record was truncated.

If source statements are brought into the program with a %INCLUDE statement, you can change the default 256-byte length by specifying the LRECL= option directly in the %INCLUDE statement following the forward slash (/). For example:

You can also use a FILENAME statement to assign a fileref to the file that contains the source code and specify an appropriate value for the LRECL= option, then use the fileref in the %INCLUDE statement. For further information about the %INCLUDE statement, as well as limitations on length or possible truncated data, records, or source lines, see the following SAS Notes:

• Problem Note 5953, "In batch mode, syntax error messages or "WARNING: Truncated record" might occur if the line length of source code exceeds 256 characters"
• Usage Note 8328, "%INCLUDE of file with LRECL greater than 2000 causes problems"
• Usage Note 15883, "Length limitations when submitting SAS code"
• Usage Note 39619, "Options you can use on the %INCLUDE statement such as a LRECL= specification"

If the DATALINES are longer than 256 bytes, the variables whose values are past the 256th byte in the logical record are assigned missing values. SAS does not generate a message in the SAS Log indicating that one or more records were truncated. In addition, you cannot specify the LRECL= option on the INFILE statement with the DATALINES file specification to prevent the truncation.

To circumvent this problem, do one of the following:

• Copy the DATALINES to an external file and use the path to that file (surrounded by quotes) instead of DATALINES as the file specification on the INFILE statement. This allows you to use the LRECL= option to specify the maximum logical record length.
• Split the DATALINES so that each segment is less than 256 bytes, and the break occurs at the same variable(s) for each logical record, then use line pointer controls (/) on your INPUT statement to advance input pointer through all the segments that comprise the logical record.

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