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Macro quoting in SAS - %STR, %NRSTR, and %QUOTE

Why macro quoting is needed

• The SAS macro processor scans text before it reaches the SAS compiler and interprets certain characters as macro triggers
• Characters such as semicolons, commas, parentheses, and the ampersand and percent signs all have special meaning to the macro processor
• When these characters appear inside a macro call or a `%let` statement, SAS may misinterpret them as the end of a parameter, the start of a macro call, or a macro variable reference
• Macro quoting functions tell SAS to treat these characters as plain text and not as triggers
• The three most commonly used quoting functions are `%str`, `%nrstr`, and `%quote`

%STR - quote a text string at compile time

• `%str` is applied at macro compile time, before the macro is called
• It prevents the macro processor from interpreting special characters such as semicolons, commas, and parentheses as syntax
• `%str` does not mask ampersands or percent signs — those are still resolved normally
• The most common use is to include a semicolon or comma inside a `%let` value without ending the statement prematurely

%* Without %str a semicolon inside %let would end the statement early ; %let where_clause=%str(year=2023 and department='Sales'); %put NOTE: where_clause resolves to: &where_clause; Copy Code View Log

• The `%put` should print: `where_clause resolves to: year=2023 and department='Sales'`
• Without `%str`, the single quotes around `Sales` would cause a macro error because unmatched quotes confuse the macro tokeniser
• The value stored in `where_clause` can now be used safely inside a WHERE statement

data sales_2023; set all_sales; where &where_clause; run; Copy Code View Log

• SAS resolves `&where_clause` to the stored text, and the WHERE clause is syntactically correct
• Confirm that `sales_2023` contains only the 2023 Sales row

View Data

Use %STR to pass a comma-separated list as a single parameter

• Commas inside macro call arguments are treated as parameter separators by default
• Wrapping the value in `%str` prevents the comma from being interpreted as a separator
• This allows you to pass a list of values as a single parameter

%macro show_vars(varlist); %put NOTE: Variable list is: &varlist; %mend show_vars; %* Without %str the comma would split this into two parameters ; %show_vars(%str(year, amount, department)); Copy Code View Log

• The log should show the full three-variable list as a single value
• If you called `%show_vars(year, amount, department)` without `%str`, SAS would raise an error because the macro only has one parameter

%NRSTR - quote text including ampersands and percent signs

• `%nrstr` works like `%str`, but also masks ampersands and percent signs
• This means macro variable references and macro calls inside `%nrstr` are not resolved — they are kept as literal text
• This is useful when you need to store text that contains an ampersand or a macro call as a plain string rather than resolving it

%let literal_ref=%nrstr(&report_date); %put NOTE: Stored value is: &literal_ref; Copy Code View Log

• The `%put` prints the literal text `&report_date` rather than trying to resolve `report_date` as a macro variable
• Without `%nrstr`, SAS would attempt to resolve `&report_date` and produce a WARNING if that variable does not exist

%* Practical use: storing a title that contains an ampersand literal ; %let report_title=%nrstr(Study Results - Version 1 & 2); %put NOTE: Title is: &report_title; Copy Code View Log

• The ampersand in `Version 1 & 2` is kept as a literal character rather than being interpreted as the start of a macro variable reference
• Use `%nrstr` whenever your stored text must contain a literal ampersand or percent sign

%QUOTE - quote a value at macro execution time

• `%quote` is applied at macro execution time, rather than at compile time
• It is typically used inside a macro definition to quote a parameter value that was passed in at run time
• This is useful when the value passed to a parameter contains special characters that should not be interpreted
• `%quote` does resolve ampersands and percent signs — it only masks punctuation characters like semicolons and commas

%macro check_value(val); %if %quote(&val)=Yes %then %put NOTE: Value is Yes; %else %put NOTE: Value is not Yes; %mend check_value; %check_value(val=Yes); %check_value(val=No); Copy Code View Log

• `%quote(&val)` ensures the resolved value of `val` is treated as a plain string before comparison
• This pattern is standard practice for `%if` conditions that compare a macro parameter to a literal value
• The log should show `Value is Yes` for the first call, and `Value is not Yes` for the second call

%QUOTE with a parameter containing special characters

• When a macro parameter value contains a comma or parenthesis, `%quote` prevents SAS from misinterpreting them
• In the next example, a parameter contains a parenthesised range, which would normally confuse the macro parser

%macro describe_range(range); %put NOTE: The range described is: %quote(&range); %mend describe_range; %describe_range(range=%str(values from 1 to 10 (inclusive))); Copy Code View Log

• The parentheses in `(inclusive)` are safely masked and do not cause a macro syntax error
• Note that `%str` was used in the macro call to pass the parentheses as part of the argument, and `%quote` inside the macro protects the resolved value further

Summary - when to use each quoting function

• Use `%str` in `%let` statements and macro call arguments when the value contains semicolons, commas, unmatched quotes, or parentheses, but not ampersands or percent signs that should remain as literals
• Use `%nrstr` when the value also contains ampersands or percent signs that must be stored as literal characters rather than resolved
• Use `%quote` inside a macro definition to protect a parameter value at execution time, particularly in `%if` comparisons
• All three functions are transparent at the data level — they affect only how the macro processor tokenises text, not the content of datasets or output

data all_sales; input year amount department $; datalines; 2022 1200 Marketing 2022 1500 Sales 2023 1800 Marketing 2023 2100 Sales 2024 2000 Marketing 2024 2400 Sales ; run; Copy Code View Log

Key points to remember

• `%str` quotes special characters at compile time and is the right choice for most `%let` values that contain commas, semicolons, or unmatched quotes
• `%nrstr` additionally masks ampersands and percent signs, so they are not resolved — use it when you need a literal `&` or `%` in a stored string
• `%quote` quotes at execution time and is commonly used inside `%if` conditions to protect resolved parameter values from being misinterpreted
• Macro quoting never changes the actual content of the stored value — it only affects how the macro processor tokenises the text during scanning
• When in doubt, test with `%put` to confirm what value is actually stored in a macro variable