Problem Note 53071: A recursive error is generated when referencing a non-existent macro variable that ends in a period
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The following error might be incorrectly generated if a macro variable has not been defined and it is referenced with a period following the macro variable name:
ERROR: The text expression &x. contains a recursive reference to the macro variable X1. The
macro variable will be assigned the null value.
The example code below causes the above error:
%let x1=&x.;
%put &x1;
Possible circumventions for this issue include the following:
-
%let x1=&x; %put &x1;
-
%let x=; %let x1=&x.; %put &x1;
Operating System and Release Information
| Product Family | Product | System | SAS Release | |
| Reported | Fixed* | |||
| SAS System | Base SAS | Teradata on Linux | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 |
| Netezza TwinFin 64-bit S-Blades | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Netezza TwinFin 64-bit SMP Hosts | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Netezza TwinFin 32-bit SMP Hosts | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| DB2 Universal Database on AIX | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Aster Data nCluster on Linux x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Netezza TwinFin 32bit blade | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| DB2 Universal Database on Linux x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Greenplum on Linux x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition | 9.3 TS1M0 | |||
| Microsoft® Windows® for x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Z64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| z/OS | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition | 9.3 TS1M0 | |||
| Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition | 9.3 TS1M0 | |||
| Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | |||
| Microsoft Windows Server 2008 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Microsoft Windows Server 2008 for x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Microsoft Windows XP Professional | 9.3 TS1M0 | |||
| Windows 7 Enterprise 32 bit | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows 7 Enterprise x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows 7 Home Premium x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows 7 Professional 32 bit | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows 7 Professional x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Windows Vista | 9.3 TS1M0 | |||
| Windows Vista for x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | |||
| 64-bit Enabled AIX | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| 64-bit Enabled HP-UX | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| 64-bit Enabled Solaris | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| HP-UX IPF | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Linux | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Linux for x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
| Solaris for x64 | 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.4 TS1M2 | ||
When referencing a non-existent macro variable followed by a period, a recursive error is generated.
| Type: | Problem Note |
| Priority: | low |
| Date Modified: | 2014-06-11 16:07:34 |
| Date Created: | 2014-05-28 14:52:45 |