'label' Statement

You can add variable labels using the label statement as shown here.

label varl='you supply label' var2='you supply label';

Variable labels are used to provide a more full description of a variable than the sometimes cryptic variable names.

label sbp1999='Systolic Blood Pressure in 1999';

When a label statement is placed in a data step, the label stays with the variable for all subsequent procedures, unless relabeled. When placed in a procedure the label only stays attached to the variable for that procedure.

Use double quotes if there is to be a single quote in the label. For example,

label mombp="mother's systolic bld pressure";

You can label multiple variables in one label statement.

label varl='you supply label' var2='you supply label';

Comments

You can make your program easier to follow by including comments. They will not appear in your output.

Comments start with * and end with ;

are placed inside /* */

They appear in green in your program.

Example:

title 'STUDY OF GENETIC COMPONENT OF HYPERTENSION';

footnote 'results of example for class 3';

data family;

input id mombp dadbp kidbp;

parentsbp=(mombp + dadbp) / 2; * CREATING A NEW VARIABLE;

/*Since a SAS statement ends with a semicolon (;), a statement may last over several lines like the label statement below. Or several SAS statements can be on the same line, like in the proc print step below.*/

label mombp="mother's systolic bld pressure"

parentsbp ="average of parents' bld pressure"

id='identification number for family';

datalines;