CALL SYSTEM Routine

Submits an operating environment command for execution

Category: Special

See: CALL SYSTEM Routine in the documentation for your operating environment.

Syntax

CALL SYSTEM ( command );

Arguments

command

• specifies any of the following: a system command that is enclosed in quotation marks (explicit character string), an expression whose value is a system command, or the name of a character variable whose value is a system command that is executed.

• Operating Environment Information: See the SAS documentation for your operating environment for information on what you can specify.

• Restriction: The length of the command cannot be greater than 1024 characters , including trailing blanks.

Comparisons

The behavior of the CALL SYSTEM routine is similar to that of the X command, the X statement, and the SYSTEM function. It is useful in certain situations because it can be conditionally executed, it accepts an expression as an argument, and it is executed at run time.

See Also

Function:

• 'SYSTEM Function' on page 852