Referencing one computed column from another

Question

I'm using SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 and i'm having a problem with something that seems fairly basic. I'll simplify the problem but fundamentally I have one computed column (Computed_column1) that uses a CASE/WHEN statement e.g.

CASE
WHEN x > y THEN "TRUE"
ELSE "FALSE"
END

I'd like to reference the first computed column in a second computed column (Computed_column2) but instead of referring to the computed column name the advanced expression tab in the query builder pulls through all of the contents from the first computed column. Therefore if i need to change the first column i'll have to change the second one also.

So my second computed column looks something like this:

CASE
WHEN (CASE WHEN x > y THEN "TRUE" ELSE "FALSE" END) > z THEN "TRUE"
ELSE "FALSE"
END

When i'd like it to be some type of dynamic reference like:

CASE
WHEN Computed_column1 > z THEN "TRUE"
ELSE "FALSE"
END

This way if the first computed column changes the second will also. Is this not possible?

Cheers in advance.

Answer 1

You can read more about calculated variables here (paragraph name "THE CALCULATED OPTION ON THE SELECT"). In your case you should write:

CASE
WHEN CALCULATED Computed_column1 > z THEN "TRUE"
ELSE "FALSE"
END

Answer 2

This works almost as exactly as you've imagined it. Just use calculated rather than computed.