alias aliased_name : original_name;
The
alias statement allows for the creation of new names to alias, or to provide an alternative reference to, names in a program. This can be used to shorten, or lengthen, variable names, or to match names in a dictionary with preexisting code using a certain naming convention.
alias P14 : P14_AGE,
P15 : P15_RELATIONSHIP,
P16 : P16_SEX;
alias AGE : P14_AGE,
RELATIONSHIP : P15_RELATIONSHIP,
SEX : P16_SEX;
In both examples,
P14_AGE,
P15_RELATIONSHIP, and
P16_SEX are the names of items declared in a dictionary. Once the
alias statement has been specified (in
PROC GLOBAL), the names
P14 and
P14_AGE can be used interchangeably. For example, these two statements are identical: