SAS macro variables enable you to substitute text in your SAS programs. Macro variables can supply a variety of information, including

When you reference a macro variable in a SAS program, SAS replaces the reference with the text value that has been assigned to that macro variable. By substituting text into programs, SAS macro variables make your programs more reusable and dynamic.

The following sample code shows how a macro variable might be used to substitute a year value throughout a program, enabling you to quickly and easily change the value of year throughout the program:

%let year=2002;
proc print data=sasuser.schedule;
   where year(begin_date)=&year;
   title "Scheduled Classes for &year";
run;
proc means data=sasuser.all sum;
   where year(begin_date)=&year;
   class location;
   var fee;
   title1 "Total Fees for &year Classes";
   title2 "by Training Center";
run;