CC09
Documenting the Database: A SASŪ Macro to Automate the Process
William C Murphy, Howard M. Proskin & Associates, Inc.

Creating the database for your client was straightforward, but now you have to list all of the data sets in the database, along with variable lists and sample contents. You could just run a PROC CONTENTS on all members of the library, but the client want s the variable list interleaved with sample printouts from each data set. You can easily accomplish this by alternating the PROC CONTENTS with PROC PRINT, along with appropriate TITLE statements for each data set in the library. However, to do this ev ery time you must report on a database could be an onerous programming task. But by using ODS, PROC DATASETS, and a %DO loop, you can create a macro to handle your variable and data set documentation needs for any database.