Syntax Rules for SAS/CONNECT Script Statements

To write a SAS/CONNECT script, you need to read about the specific information for each statement in the script. This section contains general rules that apply to some or all script statements.
  • Each script line is limited to 8192 characters.
  • All script statements must end with a semicolon.
  • Script statements have a free format, which means that there are no spacing or indention requirements. A statement can be split across several lines, or one line can contain one or more statements. Statement keywords can be specified in uppercase, lowercase, or mixed-case characters.
  • Text strings that are enclosed in quotation marks are case sensitive. For example, if your script defines a text string in a WAITFOR statement, ensure that the uppercase and lowercase characters in the text string exactly match the text string from the server.
  • Any script statement can include a label specification. The label must be a valid SAS name and not exceed a maximum of eight characters. The first character must be an alphabetic character or underscore. A label must be followed immediately by a colon (:) and must be defined only one time in the script.
  • Some script statements specify a time in seconds. The form of the time specification is as follows:
    n SECONDS;
    n can be any number; this number might include decimal fractions. For example, all of the following time specifications are valid:
    • 0 SECONDS;
    • 0.25 SECONDS;
    • 1 SECOND;
    • 3.14 SECONDS;
    Note: SECOND is an alias for SECONDS.
  • If a script statement specifies a quoted string, such as a server command, you can use either single or double quotation marks. To embed quotation marks in script statements, follow the same rules that you use for embedded quotation marks in SAS statements.