Scripting Guide - SAS

Chapter 5 JSL Building Blocks 71
JSL Syntax Rules
JSL Syntax Rules
All scripting and programming languages have their own syntax rules. JSL looks familiar if you have
programmed in languages such as C and Java. However, rules for punctuation and spaces differ in JSL.
The following sections describe JSL syntax rules for the following basic components of the language:
• “Value Separators” on page 71
• “Numbers” on page 74
• “Names” on page 74
• “Comments” on page 75
Value Separators
Commas
Words in JSL are separated by parentheses, commas, semicolons, spaces, and various operators (such as +, –,
and so on). This section describes the rules for using these separators and delimiters in JSL.
A comma separates items, such as items in a list, rows in a matrix, or arguments to a function.
my list = {1, 2, 3};
your list = List(4, 5, 6);
my matrix = [3 2 1, 0 -1 -2];
If(Y < 20, X = Y);
If(Y < 20, X = Y; Z < 3, A);
TableBox(
stringColBox("Age",a),
NumberColBox("Count",c),...)
Note: To glue a sequence of commands into a single argument inside a function, separate each sequence
with a semicolon. For more information, see “Semicolons” on page 72.
Parentheses
Parentheses have several purposes in JSL:
• Parentheses group operations in an expression. The following parentheses group the operations in the
If() expression.
If(
Y < 20, X = Y,
X = 20
);
• Parentheses delimit arguments to a function. In the following example, parentheses enclose the
argument to the Open() function.
Open("$SAMPLE_DATA/Big Class.jmp")