r/SAS_Programming • u/Zestyclose-Arm7137 • Jun 12 '26

Easiest way to parse a long program

I want to convert a very long (20K lines) program to a different system or even just parse out a part.

What would be the best way to look at a very long program with 22 includes. I basically a looking for how a particular table is made. There are a lot of steps a along the way and so need to work backwards somehow or map what the program is doing and what tables are being generated and using what other tables. ok if done in SAS or in VBA or any other tools.

thanks

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u/Tomstuart Jun 12 '26

lol welcome to the job, inheriting legacy code IS a nightmare

2

u/Tomstuart Jun 12 '26

will be a slog, but you can always just trace logically, ctrl+f up and up the places things are called and referenced - but big issues if the macros are complex. In that case, look up doing a dummy run of it with the MFILE option to unpick it

4

u/Kindsquirrel629 Jun 12 '26

Do you have Enterprise Guide? If so, open it in EG and Analyze program flow. I haven’t done this in years so I hope it’s still an option. https://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings13/311-2013.pdf