code: def symget(self, name):
          
          ll = self.submit("%put " + name + "=&" + name + ";\n")
  
          l2 = ll['LOG'].rpartition(name + "=")
          l2 = l2[2].partition("\n")
          try:
              var = int(l2[0])
          except:
              try:
                  var = float(l2[0])
              except:
                  var = l2[0]
  
          return var
docs: :param name:  name of the macro varable to set:
  
              - name    is a character