In reply to DB.

Thanks for writing. To declare that a character variable that holds, say, 20 characters, simply put a dollar sign ($) after the name on the LENGTH statement, such as
length MyCharVar $20; /* allocate space for 20 chars */
You can declare multiple character variables by listing several names:
length A B C D $20;
You can declare multiple variables that have a common prefix by using
length C1-C10 $20;

For help with elementary SAS programming, you can ask questions at the SAS Support Communities: communities.sas.com