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  • Writing a PROCEDURE:
    • Procedures are one of the fundamental building blocks of a macro. They allow code to be written once and then called many times within a macro. A procedure starts with PROCEDURE and ends with RETURN. 
      PROCEDURE <name> <parameters>
  ...
RETURN
    • The rules for procedure names are the same as those for command names (starts with a letter and then can include letters, numbers, or underscores). 
      PROCEDURE MYPROC <parameters>
  ...
RETURN
    • A procedure can take in a number of parameters which are specified in the same way that parameters are listed on the STARTMACRO line. 
      PROCEDURE MYPROC L:MYNUM[42] T:MYTABLE S:MYSTRING
  ...
RETURN
    • Two important things to note:
      • Procedures can not directly return anything (i.e. there is nothing after the RETURN).
      • Procedures share a common results table with the rest of the macro.
Java Experts Take Note:
Duke The two primary differences between a PROCEDURE in a Macro and a Java method are that a PROCEDURE does not return anything and it shares variable-name-space with the rest of the macro.

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