Scripting Guide - SAS

100 JSL Building Blocks Chapter 5
Name Resolution
Preventing Column Name and Variable Name Conflicts
When you run a script that includes a column and variable with the same name, an Invalid Row Number
error occurs. To prevent this problem, use unique column and variable names, or scope the names as
follows:
• In this example, age is both a global variable and column name. On line one, age is scoped as a global
variable name (shown here with the :: operator). Now that the global variable exists, only the column
name age needs to be scoped on line two.
::age = [];
age = :age