MACRO ALERT! Don't use End as a parameter name ;-(((

[David Marso]

DEFINE !oops (Beg !TOKEN(1) / End !TOKENS(1) )
VECTOR v=!BEG TO !END.
LOOP i=1 TO 2.
COMPUTE v(i)=1.
END LOOP.
!ENDDEFINE.

DEFINE !ohCrap  (Beg !TOKEN(1) / End !TOKENS(1) )
DO REPEAT v=!BEG TO !END.
COMPUTE v=1
END REPEAT,
!ENDDEFINE.


The following BIZARRE behavior has been revealed ;-(((
---------------------------------------------------------------
SET MPRINT ON PRINTBACK ON.
DATA LIST FREE / X Y.
BEGIN DATA
1 2
END DATA.

!oops BEG=x END=y.

Ends up with:
VECTOR v= x TO y y.

!ohCrap BEG=x END=y.

Ends up with:
DO REPEAT v= x TO y y.

Looks like !End is somehow RESERVED. (maybe used internally to macro?)
Dear whoever please document this little weirdness??

[Kirill Orlov]

David, thank you for the alert.
However, I think that one wouldn't use !END as variable name because it so much resembles !ENDDEFINE.
Even if they are not mixed up in this specific case (I don't know if they are) we should always keep in mind the fact that SPSS allows to abbreviate command names.

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[David Marso]

http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/delete-duplicate-brand-names-in-the-concatenated-variable-td5729898.html

This is how the mystery came to light ;-)

Kirill Orlov wrote

David, thank you for the alert.
However, I think that one wouldn't use !END as variable name because it
so much resembles !ENDDEFINE.
Even if they are not mixed up in this specific case (I don't know if
they are) we should always keep in mind the fact that SPSS allows to
abbreviate command names.


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[Richard Ristow]

At least in SPSS 14, "!END."  is apparently accepted as a synonym for
"!ENDDEFINE.", although the Command Syntax Reference is quite
explicit to the contrary ("DEFINE and !ENDDEFINE must be spelled in
full. They cannot be abbreviated." -v.22 C.S.R., p. 525):

*  Macro /* !MacEcho */ is used to display the macro expansion   .
DEFINE !MacEcho(!POS !NOEXPAND !CMDEND)
     ECHO  !QUOTE(!CONCAT('     Call  : ',!1)).
     ECHO  !QUOTE(!CONCAT('     Result: ',!EVAL(!1))).
!ENDDEFINE.

DEFINE !Alpha ()
     A B C
!ENDDEFINE.

DEFINE !Beta ()
    D E F
!END.

!MacEcho !Alpha.
      Call  : !Alpha
      Result: A B C

!MacEcho !Beta.
      Call  : !Beta
      Result: D E F

So I guess this brings "!END" under the scope of the rule "Argument
names ... cannot match the character portion of a macro keyword, such
as DEFINE, TOKENS, CHAREND, and so forth" (-v22 C.S.R., p. 528).

But since the observed behavior, though consistent, explicitly
contradicts the documentation, the most charitable reasonable term is
"confusing."

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