Assigns descriptive labels to variables.
Valid: |
in a DATA step
|
Category: |
Information
|
Type: |
Declarative
|
LABEL variable-1=label-1 . . . <variable-n=label-n>;
|
LABEL variable-1=' ' ... <variable-n='
'>;
|
-
variable
-
specifies the variable that you want to
label.
Tip: |
You can specify additional
pairs of labels and variables. |
-
label
-
specifies a label of up to 256 characters,
including blanks.
Tip: |
You can specify additional
pairs of labels and variables. |
Tip: |
For more information about
including quotation marks as part of the label, see Character Constants in
SAS Language Reference: Concepts. |
Restriction: |
If the label includes
a semicolon (;) or an equal sign (=), you must enclose the label in either
single or double quotation marks. |
Restriction: |
If the label includes single quotation
marks ('), then you must enclose the label in double quotation marks. |
-
' '
-
removes a label from a variable. Enclose
a single blank space in quotation marks to remove an existing label.
Using a LABEL statement in a DATA step
permanently associates labels with variables by affecting the descriptor information
of the SAS data set that contains the variables. You can associate any number
of variables with labels in a single LABEL statement.
You can use a LABEL statement in a PROC step, but the
rules are different. See the
Base SAS Procedures Guide for more information.
Both the ATTRIB and LABEL statements can
associate labels with variables and change a label that is associated with
a variable.
Here are
several LABEL statements:
-
label compound=Type of Drug;
-
label date="Today's Date";
-
label n='Mark''s Experiment Number';
-
label score1="Grade on April 1 Test"
score2="Grade on May 1 Test";
This example
removes an existing label:
data rtest;
set rtest;
label x=' ';
run;
Copyright © 2011 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.