proc fcmp - file log put % bug
Having worked a lot with proc fcmp lately, I think it’s fair to say that the procedure should be ‘handled with care’
Here’s an example of one of these weird / wonderful bugs (LIN X64, 9.04.01M3P062415):
proc fcmp outlib=work.funcs.pkg;
function test(cval $);
file log; put cval=;
put ‘also.. you can % see % this’;
return;
endsub;
quit;
options cmplib=work.funcs;
data null;
x=“example %”;
rc=test(x);
run;
When you look at the log, the percent symbols are missing:
cval=example
also.. you can see this
So this is strange, but it gets stranger. If you don’t have a clean session, you will also see parts of previous messages in the log. For instance, if you now run the exact same above code again, you get:
cval=example % see % this
also.. you can see this
So the % symbols return, in a different place! Now, whilst this is a strange bug, it only seems to affect messages sent to the log. So not an issue right?
Wrong.. It seems that this can cause a fatal error:
ERROR: An exception has been encountered.
Please contact technical support and provide them with the following traceback information:
The SAS task name is [TKSRV ]
Segmentation Violation
Traceback of the Exception:
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/sasexe/sas(+0x15aa8e) [0x7f7163e73a8e]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/sasexe/sas(+0x4cb0b) [0x7f7163d65b0b]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/sasexe/tkmk.so(bktsignalhandler+0x144) [0x7f71626873c4]
/lib64/libpthread.so.0(+0xf370) [0x7f71638ea370]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/dbcs/sasexe/sasxkern(+0x7462e) [0x7f7151f4f62e]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/dbcs/sasexe/sasxkern(ypslf+0xa2b) [0x7f7151f4eabb]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/dbcs/sasexe/sasxkern(ypsllog+0x13c) [0x7f7151f51b9c]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/sasexe/sastksrv(adjustline+0x59e) [0x7f714a60c1ce]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/sasexe/sastksrv(sastksrv+0xec1) [0x7f714a60b531]
/pub/sas/SASFoundation/9.4/sasexe/sas(vvtentr+0x13d) [0x7f7163d656ad]
/lib64/libpthread.so.0(+0x7dc5) [0x7f71638e2dc5]
/lib64/libc.so.6(clone+0x6d) [0x7f7162ed476d]
Conclusion? Don’t send code to production that has proc fcmp writing character values to the log that may contain a % symbol!
