GO TO Statement

Moves execution immediately to the statement label that is specified

Valid: in a DATA step

Category: Control

Type: Executable

Alias: GOTO

Syntax

GO TO label ;

Arguments

label

• specifies a statement label that identifies the GO TO destination. The destination must be within the same DATA step. You must specify the label argument.

Comparisons

The GO TO statement and the LINK statement are similar. However, a GO TO statement is often used without a RETURN statement, whereas a LINK statement is usually used with an explicit RETURN statement. The action of a subsequent RETURN statement differs between the GO TO and LINK statements. A RETURN statement after a LINK statement returns execution to the statement that follows the LINK statement. A RETURN after a GO TO statement returns execution to the beginning of the DATA step (unless a LINK statement precedes the GO TO statement, in which case execution continues with the first statement after the LINK statement).

GO TO statements can often be replaced by DO-END and IF-THEN/ELSE programming logic.

Examples

Use the GO TO statement as shown here.

• In this example, if the condition is true, the GO TO statement instructs SAS to jump to a label called ADD and to continue execution from there. If the condition is false, SAS executes the PUT statement and the statement that is associated with the GO TO label:

   data info;     input x;     if 1<=x<=5 then go to add;     put x=;     add: sumx+x;     datalines;  7  6  323  ; 

  Because every DATA step contains an implied RETURN at the end of the step, program execution returns to the top of the step after the sum statement is executed. Therefore, an explicit RETURN statement at the bottom of the DATA step is not necessary.

• If you do not want the sum statement to execute for observations that do not meet the condition, rewrite the code and include an explicit return statement.

   data info;     input x;     if 1<=x<=5 then go to add;     put x=;     return;        /* SUM statement not executed  */        /* if x<1 or x>5              */     add: sumx+x;     datalines;  7  6  323  ; 

See Also

Statements:

• DO Statement on page 1143

• Labels, Statement on page 1279

• LINK Statement on page 1294

• RETURN Statement on page 1386