When variables that are passed to the FCMP procedure are used with the CAT function, the results are correct. However, if you use new variables with the CAT function that were created using variables that are passed to the FCMP procedure, the results are truncated to the first argument of the CAT function.

The example code below illustrates the truncation of the result of the CAT function with PROC FCMP:

proc fcmp outlib=work.funcs.samples;
   function abc(a $, b $) $;
   fa=a;
   fb=b;
   return(Cat(FA,FB));
   endsub;
quit;

options cmplib=work.funcs;

data one;
   a='hello';
   b='there';
   newvar=abc(a,b);
run;

proc print; 
run;

The result of NEWVAR is "hello" and not "hello there".

To circumvent the issue, you can add a LENGTH statement inside PROC FCMP and create a new variable that is the result of the CAT function. The modified PROC FCMP code is shown below:

proc fcmp outlib=work.funcs.samples;
   function abc(a $, b $) $;
   length temp $15 fa $6 fb $6;
   fa=a;
   fb=b;
   temp=cat(fa,fb);
   return(temp);
   endsub;
quit; 

Operating System and Release Information