Uhm, if DSNAME has zero observations, then the data step stops when the SET statement executes, and the CALL SYMPUT never executes. In that case, you probably get a value of 1 from some previous call. Reverse the SET and CALL statements. It is curious, but the nobs= option applies even if the statement never executes. To be cute, I sometimes code this as DATA _NULL_; CALL SYMPUT('NOBS',NOBS); STOP; SET DSNAME NOBS=NOBS; RUN;

Tim Berryhill - Contract Programmer and General Wizard TWB2@PGE.COM or http://www.aartwolf.com/twb.html Frequently at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Francisco The correlation coefficient between their views and my postings is slightly less than 0

> ---------- > From: Jacques Thibault[SMTP:JacquesT@IPRONLINE.COM] > Reply To: Jacques Thibault > Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 1999 8:00 AM > To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU > Subject: Number of obs in dataset > <SNIP> > ... > data _null_; > set dsname nobs=n; > call symput('nbobs',n); > stop; > run; > > I know this looks pretty simple, and when I test only this (presuming > dsname > has 0 obs.), it works. But when including the same lines in my macro, it > doesn't work anymore. Is anyone got this problem before? Is there any > other way to get the number of obs. (like in SQL...)?... > > Thanks for helping... >