Scripting Guide - SAS

200 Programming Methods Chapter 8
Advanced Scoping and Namespaces
Note that if you use ::a instead of global:a in the Show() function, your output is a little different:
show(::a, a, here:a);
a = 1;
a = 5;
here:a = 5;
Example of Using the Names Default To Here() Function
You have two scripts with the following definitions, and Names Default To Here() is turned off (the
default condition) in both scripts.
Note: Both scripts must be in separate script windows for this example.
// Script 1
a = 1;
show(a);
// Script 2
a = 3;
show(a);
1. Run Script 1. The result is as follows:
a = 1
2. Run Script 2. The result is as follows:
a = 3
3. Run only the show(a); line in Script 1. The result is as follows:
a = 3
The log shows a = 3 because variable a is global, and was last modified by Script 2. This is the default
behavior in JMP 9 and later, and it is the only possible behavior in JMP 8 and earlier.
4. Now turn on Names Default To Here() in both scripts.
Names Default To Here(1);
Note: Names Default To Here() is local to a particular script. It is not a global setting.
5. Run Script 1. The result is as follows:
a = 1
6. Run Script 2. The result is as follows:
a = 3
7. Run only the show(a); line in Script 1. The result is as follows:
a = 1
The log shows a = 1, because a copy of variable a is maintained for each script.