Kirk Paul Lafler, consultant and founder of Software Intelligence Corporation, has been a SAS user since 1979. As a SAS Certified Professional, Kirk provides IT consulting services and training to SAS users around the world. He is the author PROC SQL: Beyond the Basics Using SAS, Second Edition. He’s also written more than 100 peer-reviewed technical articles and writes the popular SAS tips column, "Kirk's Korner, " that appears in several SAS Users Group newsletters. Kirk is a frequent speaker at SAS Users Group meetings.
A popular DATA step programming technique frequently used by SAS users is the ability to identify the beginning and ending observation in by-groups. The way it works is whenever a BY statement is specified with a SET statement, two temporary variables are created in the Program Data Vector (PDV), FIRST.variable
After just returning home from the greatest SAS conference on earth, I wanted to share a few highlights from the 2014 SAS Global Forum (SASGF) conference, where more than 4,500 attendees from every corner of the globe took part in a multi-day SAS-fest. For four days, from sun-up to well
The SAS System provides users with the ability to create, store and access custom functions using the Function Compiler (FCMP) procedure. Once defined with PROC FCMP, a user-defined function can be used, or called, just like any other SAS function in the SAS System. This powerful capability gives users the
