TT07
Punctuation in SAS Programming
John Morrill, Quintiles, Inc.
George Li, Quintiles, Inc.

It's the little things that get you! Punctuation is often relegated to less than even a second thought, only to be considered when an error exists. It is our contention that a systematic review of punctuation in SAS programming yields for even experience d users a number of interesting tidbits and valuable efficiencies. In this paper we first briefly identify the common uses of several type of punctuation. Then from the less obvious uses we found during our search, we present the cases most likely to inc rease efficiency or provide new functionality. Examples of coverage include the when and why of single versus double punctuation marks (e.g., the semi-colon, the period, the question mark, the exclamation mark, the @ sign, and the pipe) including a discus sion of macro processing, a review of punctuation usage differences between SQL and traditional SAS code, and some interesting notes on the underscore character.