Michael A. Raithel is a senior systems analyst for Westat, an employee-owned contract research organization in the Washington, DC area. An internationally recognized expert in the use of SAS software in mainframe and UNIX environments, he is the author of over 25 SAS technical papers and is a popular lecturer at SAS Global Forum and at regional SAS conferences. He has written four books for SAS; the most recent book is How to Become a Top SAS Programmer. A copy of the first edition Tuning SAS Applications in the MVS Environment, resides in the Smithsonian Institution of American History’s Permanent Research Collection of Information Technology.
The little SAS program’s official name was Extract_Transform_Load_ 0314.sas. But, that name was much too formal, way too long, and did not roll off of the tongue very easily at all. So, everybody simply called her: ETL Pi. ETL Pi was conceived in a 2-hour project strategy meeting in conference
SAS Programming Professionals, SAS & bugs & rock & roll? But, of course! SAS Because of its amazing versatility, SAS is indisputably the greatest software package currently in use anywhere within the Milky Way Galaxy. Can SAS input every type of flat file imaginable? Yes! Can SAS read and write
We have all heard the old joke about the person who sidles up to a doctor at a party and describes in great detail a medical problem a "friend" is having in order to get free medical advice. It could just as easily be a person buttonholing an accountant for
I am all about sharing. Knock on my door and I will gladly lend you a stick of margarine, a cup of sugar, an egg or two, some flour, a corkscrew, or a beer. Not a problem to borrow a tie, one of my extra belts, a white shirt (if
So, how did you first learn SAS programming? Originally, I was self-taught. Many years ago, I learned SAS on the job when a systems programmer quit and I took over supporting a mainframe performance software package that was written in SAS. I got a copy of the Base SAS users
Have you ever peered intently into an unfamiliar data delivery directory, realized what was in it, rolled over onto your side, stared blankly into the distance, and dejectedly uttered something akin to: "Spreadsheets! Why did it have to be spreadsheets?" If so, then we are definitely on the same page.
I know what you did last summer. If it was unintentional, then you probably don't know what I am talking about. If it was intentional, then you probably thought that I would never find out. Either way, the damage is done. The actions that you took on that warm summer
I don’t know about you, but I get pretty determined to prove them wrong when people tell me that I cannot do something. I am not talking about fantastical things such as flying through the heart of the sun and out the other side without getting burned. Nor, am I
I would bet that the most popular four-letter-word in the English language; the one that gets the most attention; the one that everybody loves to see; the one that makes people the happiest is: free. Everybody likes to get something for free. We love it when we purchase two garments
SAS Programming Professionals, Are you doing things SAS backwards? Yea; we have all been there. A manager, or a user, or a client, asks you to perform an analysis or create a data set and gives you a sketchy description of what they want. Maybe they say "It's like that
Happy New Year to you, your families, and your colleagues! This is the time of year when people make all types of New Year's resolutions. According to the USA.Gov web site, the most popular resolutions are: Lose Weight Volunteer to Help Others Quit Smoking Get a Better Education Get a
26.2! If you smiled when you read that number, then you are likely one of the cognoscenti who ran a marathon or know somebody that ran a marathon. If you didn’t recognize that number, then by now you may have guessed that it is the number of miles in a
