Macro Variables

Macro Variables Defined by the Macro Processor

When you invoke SAS, the macro processor creates automatic macro variables that supply information related to the SAS session. Automatic variables are global except SYSPBUFF, which is local.

To use an automatic macro variable, reference it with an ampersand followed by the macro variable name (for example, &SYSJOBID). This FOOTNOTE statement contains references to the automatic macro variables SYSDAY and SYSDATE9:

footnote "Report for &sysday, &sysdate9";

If the current SAS session is invoked on December 17, 2007, macro variable resolution causes SAS to receive this statement:

FOOTNOTE "Report for Monday, 17DEC2007";

Automatic macro variables are often useful in conditional logic such as a %IF statement with actions determined by the value that is returned. For more information, see %IF-%THEN/%ELSE Statement.

You can assign values to automatic macro variables that have read and write status. However, you cannot assign a value to an automatic macro variable that has read-only status. The following table lists the automatic macro variables that are created by the SAS macro processor and their read/write status.

Use %PUT _AUTOMATIC_ to view all available automatic macro variables.

There are also system-specific macro variables that are created only on a particular platform. These are documented in the host companion, and common ones are listed in Writing Efficient and Portable Macros. Other SAS software products also provide macro variables, which are described in the documentation for the product that uses them. Neither of these types of macro variables are considered automatic macro variables.

Automatic Macro Variables by Category
Status	Variable	Contains
Read and Write	SYSBUFFR	unmatched text from %INPUT
	SYSCC	the current condition code that SAS returns to your operating environment (the operating environment condition code)
	SYSCMD	last unrecognized command from the command line of a macro window
	SYSDEVIC	name of current graphics device
	SYSDMG	return code that reflects an action taken on a damaged data set
	SYSDSN	name of most recent SAS data set in two fields
	SYSFILRC	return code set by the FILENAME statement
	SYSLAST	name of most recent SAS data set in one field
	SYSLCKRC	return code set by the LOCK statement
	SYSLIBRC	return code set by the LIBNAME statement
	SYSLOGAPPLNAME	value of the LOGAPPLNAME option
	SYSMSG	message for display in macro window
	SYSPARM	value specified with the SYSPARM= system option
	SYSPBUFF	text of macro parameter values
	SYSRC	various system-related return codes
read-only	SYSCHARWIDTH	the character width value
	SYSDATE	the character value representing the date a SAS job or session began executing (two-digit year)
	SYSDATE9	the character value representing the date a SAS job or session began executing (four-digit year)
	SYSDAY	day of week SAS job or session began executing
	SYSENCODING	name of the SAS session encoding
	SYSENV	foreground or background indicator
	SYSERR	return code set by SAS procedures and the DATA step
	SYSERRORTEXT	text of the last error message formatted for display on the SAS log
	SYSHOSTNAME	host name of the operating environment
	SYSINDEX	number of macros that have begun execution during this session
	SYSINFO	return code information
	SYSJOBID	name of current batch job or user ID (varies by host environment)
	SYSMACRONAME	name of current executing macro
	SYSMENV	current macro execution environment
	SYSNCPU	the current number of processors that SAS might use in computation
	SYSODSPATH	the value of the PATH variable in the Output Delivery System (ODS).
	SYSPROCESSID	the process ID of the current SAS process
	SYSPROCESSNAME	the process name of the current SAS process
	SYSPROCNAME	name of current procedure being processed
	SYSSCP	the abbreviation of an operating system
	SYSSCPL	the name of an operating system
	SYSSITE	the number assigned to your site
	SYSSTARTID	the ID generated from the last STARTSAS statement
	SYSSTARTNAME	the process name generated from the last STARTSAS statement
	SYSTCPIPHOSTNAME	host names of the local and remote operating environments when multiple TCP/IP stacks are supported
	SYSTIME	the character value of the time a SAS job or session began executing
	SYSUSERID	the user ID or login of the current SAS process
	SYSVER	release or version number of SAS software executing
	SYSVLONG	release number and maintenance level of SAS software with a 2-digit year
	SYSVLONG4	release number and maintenance level of SAS software with a 4-digit year
	SYSWARNINGTEXT	text of the last warning message formatted for display on the SAS log.

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