Assignment Statement

Evaluates an expression and stores the result in a variable.

Valid in:	DATA step
Categories:	Action
Categories:	CAS
Type:	Executable

Table of Contents

Syntax

variable=expression;

Arguments

variable

names a new or existing variable.

Range	variable can be a variable name, array reference, or SUBSTR function.
Tip	Variables that are created by the Assignment statement are not automatically retained.

expression

is any SAS expression.

Tip	expression can contain the variable that is used on the left side of the equal sign. When a variable appears on both sides of a statement, the original value on the right side is used to evaluate the expression. The result is stored in the variable on the left side of the equal sign. For more information, see Expressions in SAS Language Reference: Concepts.

Details

Assignment statements evaluate the expression on the right side of the equal sign and store the result in the variable that is specified on the left side of the equal sign.

Example: Various Expressions in Assignment Statements

These assignment statements use different types of expressions:

```
name='Amanda Jones';
```
```
WholeName='Ms. '||name;
```
```
a=a+b;
```