PNWSUG 1997 Papers - Index

28 papers. Source: PNWSUG (Pacific Northwest SAS Users Group) conference proceedings.

#	Title ×	Authors ×	Abstract ×	Keywords ×	Pages
1	%Comment: A Macro to Create Formatted Comments in Your SAS Log	Peter J. Lund	If you've ever %included code or used macros with embedded SAS code, it is often frustrating to miss inline comments in the log or be unable to clearly track what the program has done. You can always turn on the SOURCE2 or MPRINTI.MLOGIC options, but that sometimes gets to be too much. Likewise, you can add your own comments with `%PUT`, but you have to go to a lot of work to make them look nice. This paper discusses a macro which formats comments which are written to the SAS log. The comment is bordered with asterisks and the user can control indentation, justification and line breaks. Macro references in the comment are resolved so comments can be made dynamic. The border automatically adjusts to the size of the longest line and there is no limit to the length or number of lines in the comment. You get consistent, formatted comments with fewer keystrokes than keying all those `%PUT` statements yourself	macro variable, %if-%then-%else, macro put, macro loop, macro definition	4
2	A New Reporting System in SAS	Steven M. Epp	This paper describes the process by which a large reporting system was created for the Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) engineering organization of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Among other things, the R&M group is charged with managing the in service data on all of the Boeing planes currently flying. Almost all of this data comes from the various operators of the airplanes, and while the coverage is not perfect, there isa large amount of data. This data is stored in relational tables in NCR 5100M computer, a successor to the Teradata 1012 database computer (DBC). At the time the project began, the Teradata 1012 DBC was being used. Now it is a cliche that acquiring and keeping data of and by itself is not very useful. There have always been reports from the data, mostly trend analysis to identify potential problems for further analysis	macro facility, dataset	9
3	Always There When I Need You: Macros to Create Directories	Peter J. Lund	There are many production processes which output data to directories which may not exist when the job is ready to run. The options are to create all the needed directories before you start the job, or have your SAS code do the work for you. This paper discusses three macros which create directories "on the fly". The discussion begins with the very simple, a three-line macro which generates a directory and assigns a file reference. We'll conclude with a complicated recursive macro which can generate a directory many levels deep and has extensive error checking. The programs presented are 100% macro code, just to make it fun!	%if-%then-%else, macro variable, macro function, exception handling, macro parameter, macro definition	4
4	Computing Age Correctly	William Kreuter	This macro returns an integer representing an age calculated according to common usage - i.e., incremented exactly on a person's birthday, and always correct on all days in all leap years and non-leap years. The macro could also be used to return any other number of anniversaries which have passed since some event.	date variable, macro call	1
5	Consistency = Success: Using SAS Software to Develop Sales Forecasts and Targets	Ken Seiden	In most large companies sales and revenue forecasts are developed by a centralized economics/statistics group to support financial planning, resource planning, and other strategic business decisions. In contrast, the Marketing department usually develops sales targets. As different groups within the organization develop forecasts and targets, it is a rare occurrence when the assumptions and data used to develop forecasts and targets are derived from the same sources or yield similar results. This paper describes how a proprietary `SAS/AF` application, the ATLAS System, generates sales projections that can be used for centralized strategic business decisions, as well as to establish sales targets across geographic and market dimensions. Consistency is guaranteed because all information resides in a unified data and analysis warehouse, where individual market dimensions sum to company totals	call symput, macro loop, macro variable, do loop, customer segmentation, data step, sas programming	9
6	Data Warehousing Panel	Robin E. Way, Paul OldenKamp, Mark E. Thompson, T. Randall Betancourt	The Data Warehousing panel represents a new session format for the PNWSUG annual conference. In contrast to traditional paper presentation sections and plenary sessions, the moderated panel discussion allows for more give-and-take between panelists and audience members. Desired outcomes from this format are a different type of education and learning taken away by the audience, and greater insights and feedback taken away by the panelists. Data warehousing was a logical choice for the context of this panel discussion. Quite a few large and medium-scale organizations in the Pacific Northwest are engaged in data warehouse implementation, and many more are involved in the planning and design phases. This discussion drew a sizable audience and healthy discussion. The PNWSUG conference organizers plan to repeat this format in their 1998 conference. The discussion was organized around three themes: Tracing the historical roots of data warehousing The application of data warehousing in contemporary organizations The likely futures of data warehousing as a driver for business success The flow of discussion consisted of 15-minute prepared remarks by each panelist, followed by approximately one hour of questions from the floor and from the moderator. The moderator's role is to facilitate, rather than lead the discussion.	data warehouse, sas programmer	5
7	Debugging your SAS Output	Lauren E. Haworth	There is nothing more embarrassing than an end user finding an error in your results. Before you deliver your SAS output, it's important to be confident that your program is running correctly. ERROR messages are an obvious sign of trouble, but what about tho·se pesky WARNING messages and NOTES? And what about the programming mistakes that SAS can't spot? This paper is a step-by-step guide to reviewing your SAS output. I will cover common problems and solutions, and provide a basic checklist to use in reviewing your output	missing value, proc step, error message, sas output	7
8	Developing SAS/AF Class Libraries for Automated Program Generation	Carl R. Haske	STATPROBE, Inc., has developed a standard SAS" program ming system that has been used for a number of years to pro duce computer-generated reports for clinical trials. It is set up to maximize flexibility and efficiency during the oourse of report production for data analysis, whether the report is a basic clinical report, e report for a Data Safety Monitoring Board (oSMB), a new drug application (NoA), or integrated summaries of safety or efficacy (ISSlISE). The programming system consists of a generic macro library and a standard file structure that is created for each project. The standard file structure is organized hierarchically, allowing. support for multiple protocols and the opportunity to develop and store reusable program code. The final phase of development in this programming system consisted of classifying the computer-generated report specifi cations and creating a class library in `SAS/AF` corresponding to these classifications	adverse events, clinical trial, study day, macro definition	9
9	Disk I/O Considerations for SAS Processing	John Hall	An understanding of the operation of Disk Input/Output (I/O) can be fundamental to a successful SAS processing environment. This paper explores various configuration options that can be used when designing a SAS processing server. The particular implementation discussed is a Hewlett-Packard server using the HP-UX operating system. We begin with a discussion of file systems implementations and explore attributes and benefits of each. We next focus on considerations for SAS server processing, including partitioning and striping. Real world examples are referenced to demonstrate our experiences in these areas. General Concepts It is necessary to understand some fundamental concepts to effectively use the various options available in creating and using file systems in HP-UX. Because the SAS system utilizes the underlying file system of the host OS, an understanding of the file system implementation on HP UX becomes important in configuring a SAS server environment	dataset, cpu time	4
10	Documenting SAS Software: Technologies Impact an Age-old Process	Kathryn A. Council	This paper highlights some of the products available through the publications division and presents a glimpse of the future direction of SAS Publications. Current Products and Services The SAS Publications Catalog, in an online version on the web or in hardcopy, is the best place to see the complete list of up-to-date documentation for all SAS System products and the library of books in the Books by Users program. Versions of the online catalog are available for the U.S. and Canada as well as countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. With few exceptions, the SAS documentation listed in these catalogs is available from SAS offices around the world. The online SAS Publications Catalog is available in two versions: * A secure version through which you can order items using a credit card or purchase order. Note: This version can only be accessed by secure (SSL-compliant) browsers. All other browsers will receive an error message	catalog, credit card	6
11	Extreme Events	Terry Pease	Extreme events (such as floods) can be costly and dangerous. This paper examines the theory and practice of predicting n-year events from previous observations. SAS INSIGHT proves to be a useful tool.	confidence interval, monte carlo	4
12	Fun with %SYSFUNC()	Peter J. Lund	The SAS macro language has always been a powerful tool in the SAS programmers tool kit. One major limitation of the macro language has always been the relatively small number of macro functions. SAS Version 6.12' introduces a new macro function, %SYSFUNC, which allows the use of almost all datastep, screen control language (SCL) and user-written 2 functions in the macro environment. It also allows formatting of macro variable values using SAS or user-written formats. This paper discusses the general syntax of %SYSFUNC as well as some examples of its use.3 It should also be noted that the SCL functions available to %SYSFUNC are now also available in the `DATA STEP`. The syntax and use of a number of these functions will also be discussed	macro function, macro variable, proc step, sysdate9, macro put, sas base, data step, macro definition	6
13	LPUT and RPUT and Macros .. Oh My!	James R. Cowles	In the use of `SAS/CONNECT`, occasions arise in which it is necessary to send macro parameters from a local host to a remote host, or vice versa, and have those macro parameter values resolved on the. host to which they are sent. The exchange and resolution of macro values between hosts during a `SAS/CONNECT` session is accomplished by the use of two very useful but little-known SAS macros, SY~LPUT and SYSRPUT. SYSLPUT sends macro parameters from a local host to a remote host; SYSRPUT, the reverse. This paper illustrates the usage of both SYSLPUT and SYSRPUT in macro-parameter interchange and resolution. 17 On occasion, the necessity arises to use `SAS/CONNECT` to establish a conversation across a network between two platforms, and to run a m-acro on the remote host which takes as parameters values which must be passed in from the local host, and vice versa. The question then arises as to how to create on one host values that will be passed to the other host and resolved as macro parameters	macro parameter, macro definition, macro variable, proc download, macro quoting function, proc step	4
14	Make Your Life Easier with SAS Formats	Sean Burnett	This paper demonstrates how to use SAS Formats to simplify adhoc programming. By keeping an up to date, well document format library, you can make your SAS programming life a lot easier. This paper will give you a step by step guide to create and store your own SAS Format library. It will cover the following topics: Common uses of formats; The difference between Picture Formats, Value Formats, and Informats; Using `PROC FORMAT` to build your own Value Formats as an alternative to lookup tables; A step by step example of creating character and numeric formats; When and when not to use formats;	proc format, proc step, lookup, format statement, character variable, sysdate9	9
15	More Fun with %SYSFUNC()	Paul D. Hamilton	As the SASe System has evolved, new functionality has been added to many components of the system. While new statements have been added to the `DATA STEP`, the	macro variable, macro function, macro put, dataset, macro loop, macro definition, options statement, proc step, sas base, sas programmer, %if-%then-%else	6
16	PROC REPORT, A Guided Tour	Martin Haase	This paper demonstrates a process for rapid creation of a series of production reports using the `REPORT` procedure. You are first introduced to the `REPORT` procedure. and its key components. You then examine examples of code and the corresponding output which illustrate the features of the procedure. This is followed by a discussion of the limitations faced when using the `REPORT` procedure and some options for working around these limitations. This discussion focuses on using `PROC REPORT` in a nonwindowing environment. The sample data set used for this paper replicates a health irisurance claims data set. What is `PROC REPORT`? `PROC REPORT` is a 'report writer' intended to generate columnar output. As stated in SAS Technical Report P-258 Using the REPORT ProcedW'e in a Nonwindowing Environment, Release 6.07. 'The `REPORT` procedure combines features from the PRINT	proc report, proc step, variable list, sample, class variable, numeric variable, insurance claims	7
17	Qualitative Choice Models	Donald M. Perry	Illustrate how `PROC NLP` can be used to perform ML estimation of a wide range of Discrete Choice Models. Why we chose to use `PROC NLP`? Brief Review of Discrete Choice Models: model types, likelihood functions, SAS code used for estimation.	proc step, likelihood function, binomial distribution, maximum likelihood estimation	2
18	Real-World Database Marketing Experiences Using SAS Software	Robin E. Way	Database marketing is a proven method for improving the efficiency of targeted marketing campaigns in generating sales leads and reducing marketing costs, impacting the bottom line directly . Various elements of SAS software enable marketing analysts to design and implement powerful and highly tailored database marketing efforts unique among software systems. This paper will describe the lessons learned from several database marketing campaigns conducted by NW Natural, a natural gas distribution company serving Oregon and Washington. These insights include data quality issues, predictive modeling, target selection, and metrics used in evaluating the incremental value of database marketing techniques over more traditional methods	predictor variable, response variable, sample, data cleaning	10
19	SAS/GRAPH Over the Web: A Reliable Method Using PDF	Adam Hendricks	Presentation	sample, macro variable	6
20	Sunrise-Sunset Calendar	William Kreuter	This program uses `PROC CALENDAR` to create a display of the current month. Each day's cell shows the times of sunrise and sunset for the location which is named in the TITLE statement and whose coordinates appear in the `CARDS` data. The three numbers in the `CARDS` statement are, respectively, latitude in degrees (north is positive), longitude in degrees (east is positive), and time zone in hours (east is positive; do not correct it for daylight savings time; the US Pacific time zone is thus "-8" during all months).	title statement, proc step	2
21	The DATA Step Debugger	Paul D. Hamilton	The `DATA STEP` debugger is a newly released, frequently neglected component of the SASe Software System. Descended from the Screen Control Language debugger, it provides rich functionality for finding logical or data-driven errors in the `DATA STEP`. Traditionally, SAS programmers and applications develop ers have relied on the use of PUT statements embedded in the aberrant `DATA STEP` in order to examine the inner logic and sequencing of the code. Once the PUT statement was coded to print out the relevant data values at the relevant time, the problem (although perhaps not the solution) became readily apparent. However, this often required repeated tries, considerable time pouring through the `SASLOG`, and a substantial amount of effort. Using PUT was further complicated if the `DATA STEP` involved DO loops of one sort or another. This tutorial will examine the tools provided by the `DATA STEP` debugger which aid in program correction and validation'	do loop, sas programmer, put statement, sas log	7
22	Use SAS/AF, SCL and MACRO to Build User-friendly Applications on UNIX	Minghui Yang	In the business application environment, many business analysts know their business very well. But they may not have the right tools in their analysis. Although SAS is a great tool for business analysis, some business analysts do not have enough experience in SAS programming. They have some knowledge about SAS and SAS applications. And they know WINDOW applications very well. But on UNIX, they may not have the user-friendly tools that SAS PC has. How to use SAS to build user-friendly applications on UNIX is a challenge job for a SAS developer. The author participated in a big project for MCI to use `SAS/AF`, SCL, and MACRO to build a user-friendly application for investigators to do business analysis on UNIX environment. The project was successful and the author would like to share the experience with other SAS users.	length statement, sas base, call records, infile statement, variable, data science, sas programmer	8
23	Using Excel with SAS to Combine Customer Survey Data Sets	Cyndi V. Thompson, Mark E. Thompson	Companies routinely survey their customers on many issues including customer satisfaction, product awareness, company image, and demographics; however, due to changes in company needs, personnel, and external vendors, customer surveys tend to change in content and format from survey to survey. These changes make combining data sets from more than one survey difficult. However, the rewards from a richer customer information data set can pay large dividends through more informed market planning. In an effort to reap these rewards, an approach for combining customer survey data sets from several years into one customer research data set was developed utilizing `EXCEL` to build SAS code for applying data conversion macros and consistent formatting and labeling. This method was used to successfully merge the results of five years of customer surveys for a Pacific Northwest company and is presented in this paper.	excel, missing value, macro definition	5
24	Using SAS Software in Pharmacoepidemiological Research: Identifying Epidsodes of Drug Use and Determining Average Daily Dose	Charlotte Corelle, Majorie Bennett, Richard E. Johnson, Bentson McFarland	This paper describes how we used base SAS software to transform pharmacy records of all dispensings of a particular drug to records of all episodes of use of that drug. The challenge was to develop a sound and efficient process that would correctly link dispensings into episodes. This paper presents a flexible algorithm for constructing episode records from dispensing records and displays the code for implementing the algorithm. The algorithm uses variables common to many pharmacy databases (i.e., user number, product number, dispensing date, dispensed quantity, strength, and dayOs supply) to set the boundaries of a userOs dose and duration for each period of eKposure to a particular drug. The flexibility of the algorithm comes from its use of some function of either quantity andlor dayOs supply andlor milligrams of drug dispensed to decide whether or not to link one dispensing to another as part of the same drug use epi sode	unique key, sas base	3
25	Using SAS to Determine the Revenue Impacts from Emerging Products	Mark E. Thompson	This paper demonstrates the use of SAS to determine the revenue impacts from emerging products. Consumer demand for natural gas fireplaces and logs, collectively referred to as hearth products, has grown significantly since 1990. However, little was known about the actual impact sales of hearth products had on sales of natural gas. In order to determine a marketing and planning strategy, NW Natural, a natural gas distribution company headquartered in Portland, Oregon, requested a rigorous analysis of the expected impact of hearth products on natural gas sales. In order to integrate hearth products in company market and system planning, NW Natural wanted to determine whether natural gas hearth products increased or decreased total home consumption and by how much. Furthermore, NW Natural wished to better understand the home characteristics that might be determinants of gas usage increases or decreases	binary variable, sample	8
26	Using SAS/Insight as an Introductory Data Mining Platform	Robin E. Way	SAS software has been recognized by the broad IT community as an outstanding platfoml for data mining, given its combination of data warehousing and analytic techniques. A very powerful way to conduct data mining is available today using SASlInsight software. While not as comprehensive as the soon-to-arrive SAS Enterprise Data Miner, the SEMMA approach promoted by SAS Institute applies very well to the suite of data analysis and visualization techniques available in SASlInsight. This paper will review the usefulness of SASlInsight for exploratory data analysis, interactive regression modeling, and advanced multidimensional data visualization. Along the way, we'll explore how to win baseball games and still save enough money to build the stadium luxury boxes next year. Review of the SEMMA process SAS Institute has done a fine job of popularizing this acronym, so discussion of SEMMA here will be brief	data mining, data science	7
27	Using the Factor Relationship Diagram to Identify the Split-plot Factorial Design	Wendy A. Bergerud	Split-plot experimental designs can be hard to identify and understand. This paper will show how to correctly identify split-plot designs and will contrast them to simple factorial designs. The process of developing a factor relationship diagram (FRD) can help elucidate the correct design. An example will be used to show how the FRD works and the appropriate SAS code to obtain the correct ANOVA F-tests.	residual, response variable	5
28	Why Business Intelligence is Being Asked to Demonstrate a Return on Investment	John McIntyre	Like it or not, Year 2000 projects are going to begin eating up resources that might have been dedicated to business intelligence projects. To successfully compete for your share of those . resources, you, as a business intelligence sponsor, will need to demonstrate the measurable value of your application initiatives. This presentation will examine some elements of 'return on investment' calculations, and show how SAS applications have been successful in impacting bottom line results	business intelligence, data mining	3

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