SAS Variable Names and Labels

Each variable (column) in a SAS data set must have a unique name. SAS variable names must conform to the following conventions:

1

The first character must be a letter (A, B, C, …) or underscore (_).

2

Subsequent characters can be letters, numeric digits (0, 1, 2 …) or underscores (_).

3

Blank spaces are not allowed.

4

Special characters, except for underscore, are not allowed.

5

Names must not exceed 32 characters.

SAS variable names are not case-sensitive.

SAS variables can be either character or numeric. In either case, a fixed length is assigned to store each observation of that variable.

Optionally, SAS variables can have a label. Labels have much less restrictive creation rules. For example, SAS labels can be up to 256 characters in length and can contain blanks and special characters. When JMP opens a SAS data set, it reads the labels (when they exist) and uses them as JMP data table column names.

Tip: You can quickly switch the column display of the active JMP table to SAS names or labels by using the View > SAS Names or View > SAS Labels commands located on the Menu Bar.

Another way to obtain information about all variable names and labels for a SAS data set at once is to run the Column Contents process under the SAS Data Set Utilities menu. There are other processes available for changing SAS variable names, labels, and lengths.

Tip: You can also inspect columns one-at-a-time for SAS variable name, label, and other detailed information by right-clicking a column name (either in the column heading, or under the Columns pane), and clicking Column Info....