The maximum length of a character variable in SAS^® is 32,767 bytes. However, if you reference a quoted string that is longer than 262 bytes, the following warning message is issued:

WARNING 32-169: The quoted string currently being processed has
                become more than 262 characters long.  You may have
                unbalanced quotation marks.

This is simply a warning message. The entire string is recognized and any assignments are made correctly. On platforms that set program return codes, this warning does not affect the return code for the SAS program.

Beginning in SAS^® 9, the NOQUOTELENMAX system option can be used to prevent a warning message from being written to the SAS log about the maximum length for strings within quotation marks.

See SAS Note 57574, "A long quoted string within the SAS^® Macro facility incorrectly generates a warning when it should be a note", about a related issue.

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