NESUG 1988 Papers - Index

14 papers. Source: NESUG (Northeast SAS Users Group) conference proceedings.

go 1989

#	Title ×	Authors ×	Abstract ×	Keywords ×	Extras	Pages
1	Advanced SET and MERGE Processing	Robina G. Thornton, Merry G. Rabb	Most SAS programmers are familiar with the following uses of the `SET AND MERGE` statements for processing SAS data sets: 1) To read a SAS data set sequentially, one observation at a time. 2) To concatenate two or more SAS data sets. 3) To interleave two or more SAS data sets. 4) To perform a ONE TO ONE MERGE. 5) To combine observations from two or more data sets into one observation. This paper will build upon these standard uses of the `SET AND MERGE` statements to demonstrate solutions to complex programming problems. The problems have been simplified for the purpose of illustration in this paper. The concepts behind these examples make evident the power of the SAS programming language to control the processing of data in the `DATA STEP`.	set statement, merge statement, by group processing, point= option, data step, do loop, master data management		14
2	Efficiency Techniques for Improving I/O and Processing Time in the DATA Step	Neil H. Howard	Saving money is uppermost in the minds of DP managers, and the SAS System is certainly a "programmer efficient" tool: minimal SAS code is required to perform traditionally code intensive tasks. Gratification and results are immediate. A familiar quote suggests that the SAS System is easy to use, and just as easy to abuse. Because the SAS System is becoming increasingly popular as a development tool, it is essential to evaluate techniques for its effective use. This tutorial will define efficiency, suggest factors to be considered in measuring efficiency, and provide comparisons of techniques that improve efficiency. A primary area where the SAS System can be used more effectively is I/O. It should be noted that over 90% of the processing time in any given program involves reading and/or writing data (reference 1). This tutorial will illustrate how to avoid unnecessary I/O, minimize passes of the data, and control read/write loops. These efficiency techniques also will be discussed in the context of the various resources influencing software development: development personnel, maintenance personnel, CPU time, clock time, region, and space. By demonstrating the cost savings in the `DATA STEP` alone, it is hoped that users will realize that alternative techniques are available and should be evaluated in their approach to accomplishing tasks with the SAS System.	proc step, conditional do loop, proc format, dataset, put statement, raw data, set statement, input statement, proc append, sample, formatted input, list input, proc means, cpu time		14
3	Efficient Use of Table Lookup Procedures	Craig K. Ray, Howard Levine	Table lookup procedures (i.e., cross referencing a lookup file based on the value of a variable in the main file) are generally rather simple and easily performed using SAS. Both the `MERGE` statement and `PROC FORMAT` with the PUT function are commonly utilized for this purpose. However, if the main file is large, MERGE can be very inefficient since it requires sorting and a `DATA STEP` for each lookup and finally another sort. Likewise, if the lookup file is very large, using `PROC FORMAT` becomes prohibitively expensive. Two other table lookup techniques are discussed here. One uses MACRO variables and is similar to `PROC FORMAT` in its advantages and disadvantages. The other is a binary search. Other techniques can be found in Reference 1	lookup, proc format, macro variable, proc step, set statement, symbol table		15
4	How to Become a Consultant	Tom Marx	This is a quiz.			2
5	Introduction to the Macro Language	Sandra Hendren	The purpose of this paper is to explain the macro language at a conceptual level. It will not discuss the syntax of the language in any detail. Correct syntax can be acquired fairly easily from the manual. Instead, this paper will attempt to give an introduction to the way the macro language works internally in the SAS system in order that you can better program, debug, and design systems using it.	macro facility, macro variable, error message, macro definition, proc step		6
6	PROC QPRINT: A Little Known and Under-utilized SAS Gem	Ray Pass	In April, 1986, SAS Institute quietly inserted a new `PROC` into the Base Product, namely `PROC` QPRINT. There was a notice in SAS Communications and a few sessions dealing with QPRINT were held at various SUGI meetings, but no further announcement was made to the SAS Community. The result is that there exists an alternative to `PROC PRINT` which is far superior, but not widely known. Up to and including version 5.16, QPRINT was part of the Base Product, but the documentation was only included in SAS Technical Report: P-146, Changes and Enhancements to the Version 5 SAS System. This is probably the main reason that the procedure is little known. In version 5.18, QPRINT will be included in the SUGI Supplemental Library, with documentation in the SUGI Supplemental Library User's Guide. These additional procedures are shipped with the Base Product, but must be independently installed. Once they are, they are used in any SAS program alongside Base Product procedures. The SUGI Supplemental Library User's Guide must be ordered separately from the Base Product manual.	proc step, sample		21
7	SAS End-User Training: What's Available and What Can be Done	Mike Marselle	Why SAS Training? The simplest answer to that question is... "So you don't have to be the sole SAS programmer for your entire company, their families, friends, and neighboring cities!!!" It is nice to be the resident SAS expert in your company. I know, there is a good feeling of power when everyone comes to you for SAS help. But why not assist the end user community to do some of their own programming. Let them use SAS to get exactly what they want. Let them customize a report, or massage some data. Believe me, those end users will still call you for help. I am sure that as soon as they want some help, or some kind of report - within seconds your phone is ringing. So we begin to see...	proc step, sas programmer		8
8	SAS/FSP - A Productive Application	Charles Partridge	Pros & cons of: `PROC` FSCAL, `PROC` FSCON, `PROC FSEDIT`, `PROC FSBROWSE`, `PROC FSLETTER`, `PROC FSLIST`, and `PROC` FSPRINT.	proc step, variable		3
9	Starting an In-House SAS User Group	Janice E. Rashed	An In-house SAS User group can be a useful vehicle to develop and support new SAS users. The group can complement classroom instruction and informal programming information networks. The In-house SAS User group may incorporate multiple program formats targeted to the applications and databases used within a single company, organization or department. Topics covered are not required to be as broad in scope as those presented at local/ metropolitan area, regional and/or SUGI meetings. Thus, subjects may be targeted more easily to the mutual concerns of group members. Featured subjects may include tutorials, vendor demonstrations, reports from larger user group meetings and communications from external sources such as consultants or the SAS Institute.	sas programming, inferential statistics		4
10	Starting to Use SAS System Options	Hallett German, Mike Keohan	A discussion of SAS system options for beginning SAS users is generally not included in introductory courses. Nor has the topic been presented at a SUGI tutorial or included in the sample library. The result is many unnecessary headaches for new SAS users. It is the aim of this paper to relieve this problem by presenting a comprehensive overview on this topic. This includes: 1) What are SAS system Options? 2) What are your current default SAS system options? 3) How do I set SAS system options? 4) A review of common SAS system options. a) Options that affect both steps. b) Options that affect primarily the `DATA STEP`. c) Options that affect primarily the `PROC STEP`.	options statement, proc step, sas log, error message, sas output, dataset, proc options, sample, macro facility, proc print, macro definition		13
11	The Right Approach to Learning PROC TABULATE	Robert Virgile	`PROC TABULATE` produces tables as illustrated by the samples in Figures 1 and 2. These tables incorporate some special features, features which no other SAS procedure can produce. The first feature is that the rows (or columns) may be composed of a number of variables. The variables may be concatenated (as with STATE and COMPANY in Figure 1) or nested (as with COMPANY and JOB in Figure 2). The other unique feature of `PROC TABULATE` tables is that the numbers in the table are not necessarily frequency counts. The numbers can represent statistics (means, sums, etc.) based on the values of numeric variables.	proc step, proc tabulate, proc means, format statement, missing value		10
12	The SAS Supervisor	Donald J. Henderson, Merry G. Rabb	This tutorial discusses the functions of the SAS Supervisor during the execution of a SAS `DATA STEP` program and is a repeat presentation of a paper given in the Tutorial and the Advanced Tutorial sessions of SUGI 12. The functions of the SAS Supervisor can be categorized as follows: 1) Compiling SAS Source Code, and 2) Executing Resultant Machine Code The actions of the Supervisor during both the compile and execution phases of a SAS job will be illustrated. When a SAS `DATA STEP` program is written, the `DATA STEP` "module" must be integrated within the structure of the SAS System. This integration is done by the SAS Supervisor. Gaining a more complete understanding of what the Supervisor does and how our "program" is controlled by it is crucial to using the SAS System more effectively.	dataset, set statement, by group processing, keep statement, merge statement, drop statement, output, execution phase, do loop, automatic variable, update statement, proc step, sas programmer	pdf	16
13	Unlimiting a Limited Macro Environment	David S. Septoff	The full Macro facility provides SAS users with an extremely powerful programming tool. It allows for conditional execution of DATA and of `PROC` steps, creation of parameter drive applications, passing SAS variables across steps and much much more. Unfortu nately, the full power of Macro is not available in some operating environments. These programmers need not despair. SAS code can be written to simulate SAS Macros using the Base product available on all operating systems. This paper presents an example of a "SAS Macro Based System" developed in a VAX environment and, finally draws some conclusions on how SAS, as a programming language, can be just as powerful in a "partial" Macro environment as it is in a "full" Macro environment	macro definition, proc step, macro facility		8
14	Using SAS/ETS Software for Instruction and Research at Pace University	Gerry Pauline, Walter Morris	This paper will be divided into two sections. The first section will describe how data is extracted from the Citibase and Compustat II databases here at Pace University. Section two will explain how students use various `SAS/ETS` procedures to analyze the extracted data.	proc step, time series analysis		5

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