GOTO Statement

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GOTO Statement

jumps to a new statement

GOTO label;

where label is a labeled statement. Execution jumps to this statement. A label is a name followed by a colon (:).

The GOTO (or GO TO) statement directs IML to jump immediately to the statement with the given label and begin executing statements from that point. Any IML statement can have a label, which is a name followed by a colon preceding any executable statement.

GOTO statements are usually clauses of IF statements, for example,

   if x>y then goto skip;
   y=log(y-x);
   yy=y-20;
   skip: if y<0 then
      do;
        more statements
      end;

The function of GOTO statements is usually better performed by DO groups. For example, the statements above could be better written

   if x<=y then
      do;
         y=log(y-x);
         yy=y-20;
      end;
      more statements

CAUTION: You can only use the GOTO statement inside a module or a DO group. As good programming practice, you should avoid GOTO statements when they refer to a label above the GOTO statement; otherwise, an infinite loop is possible.

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