sas MACRO ampersand?

Question

%let test = one; %let one = two; %put &test; %put &&test; %put &&&test; %put &&&&test; %put &&&&&test; Well. I'm TOTALLY BEATEN by these ampersands. I don't understand why they need SO MANY ampersands before a macro variable. Is there any trick to master the usage of ampersand? BTW, what are the five results, correspondingly?

Answer 1

Here is the program and the results (I added 6 and 7 ampersands as additional examples):

%let test = one;

%let one = two;

%let two = three;

%macro raa;

%put oneamp=&test;

%put twoamp=&&test;

%put threeamp=&&&test;

%put fouramp=&&&&test;

%put fiveamp=&&&&&test;

%put sixamp=&&&&&&test;

%put sevenamp=&&&&&&&test;

%mend;

%raa

==============================================

oneamp=one

twoamp=one

threeamp=two

fouramp=one

fiveamp=two

sixamp=two

sevenamp=three

==============================================

An explanation for what is going on here is beyond the scope of this facility. I'd recommended reviewing the following public document from SUGI 29:

https://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings/proceedings/sugi29/063-29.pdf