When you run a SAS^® program that contains a line of code with more than 256 characters and it is submitted in batch mode, you might encounter one of the syntax errors similar, but not limited to, the following:

   ERROR 79-322: Expecting a).

   ERROR 180-322: Statement is not valid or it is used out of proper order.

In SAS^® 8.2 (TS2M0), you see an additional message before the truncated line of code:

   WARNING: Truncated record.

To circumvent the problem, reduce the line length of your code to less than 256 characters. For further information and other workarounds, see the following SAS Notes:

• Problem Note 4448, "Source code, %INCLUDE records, and DATALINES are truncated at 256 bytes"
• 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"

One possible way to verify that this is the problem is to invoke SAS, and open the same program in the Program Editor window (select View ► Program Editor). Then, submit the SAS code and check the SAS log. The same error might occur depending on the version because the Program Editor also has a line size limitation, but this line size varies by release (see Usage Note 15883). Make sure that the code is valid by opening the same program in an Enhanced Editor window (select View ► Enhanced Editor) and run the code. The code should run without the same error in the SAS log, because the Enhanced Editor has a longer line limitation. The Enhanced Editor has a maximum line length of 960 characters or more, depending on the SAS release.

A possible workaround is to create a new SAS program that calls the original program using the %INCLUDE statement, and also use the condition LRECL=32767.

Operating System and Release Information