specifies a character
constant, variable, or expression.
Restriction
The value of the specified expression cannot denote an
array reference.
Details
If the VNAMEX function
returns a value to a variable that has not yet been assigned a length,
by default the variable is assigned a length of 200.
Comparisons
VNAME returns the name of the specified
variable. VNAMEX, however, evaluates the argument to determine a variable
name. If the name is a known variable name, the function returns that
name. Otherwise, the function returns a blank.
VNAME does not accept an expression
as an argument. VNAMEX accepts expressions, but the value of the specified
variable cannot denote an array reference.
Related functions return the value
of other variable attributes, such as the variable label, informat,
and format, among others. For a list, see the Variable Information
functions in SAS Functions and CALL Routines by Category.
Example
The following SAS statements
produce these results.
SAS Statement
Result
array x(3) x1-x3;
array vx(3) $6 vx1 vx2 vx3
('x1' 'x2' 'x3');
y=vnamex(vx(1));
z=vnamex('x'||'1');
put y=;
put z=;