SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

458 DEFINE—!ENDDEFINE
Direct Assignment of Macro Variables
The macro command !LET assigns values to macro variables. The syntax is as follows:
!LET !var = expression
• The expression must be either a single token or enclosed in parentheses.
• The macro variable !var cannot be a macro keyword (see the syntax chart on p. 440 for a
list of macro keywords), and it cannot be the name of one of the arguments within the
macro definition. Thus, !LET cannot be used to change the value of an argument.
• The macro variable !var can be a new variable or one previously assigned by a !DO
command or another !LET command.
Example
!LET !a = 1
!LET !b = !CONCAT(ABC,!SUBSTR(!1,3,1),DEF)
!LET !c = (!2 ~= !NULL)
• The first !LET sets !a equal to 1.
• The second !LET sets !b equal to ABC followed by 1 character taken from the third position
of !1 followed by DEF.
• The last !LET sets !c equal to 0 (false) if !2 is a null string or to 1 (true) if !2 is not a null
string.