Figure Out Your Programming Logic Errors via DATA Step Debugger
Wuchen Zhao · 2012
Programming errors can be categorized into syntax errors and logic errors. Syntax errors can be easily fixed because these types of errors can be detected by SAS ® during the DATA step compilation phase and SAS will stop the program to generate an error report in the log window. Unlike syntax errors, logic errors are difficult to be found and/or corrected since programs with logic errors often operate correctly but result in unexpected results. One of the useful tools to repair logic errors is to utilize DATA Step Debugger, which allows you to see the contents of the Program Data Vector (PDV) during the DATA step execution. With the debugger running, you will be able to monitor and update data values by using data debugging commands which will help you to understand where the problem is so that you will be able to fix the error. This paper will illustrate some debugging techniques by using DATA Step Debugger.