I recently had a student in a SAS Enterprise Guide class declare that EG was the next best thing since sliced bread. I couldn't have agreed with her more!

In this post, I‘ll share four ways where EG outperforms SAS code –yes I know you’re a codeaholic dear reader, but these reasons just might have you pointing and clicking in EG5.1 to extend your SAS work.

1.    Pointing to foreigners is no longer rude

DATA EXTRACTION just got easy with EG 5.1 using 64-bit SAS. With the earlier EG4.3 version on 64-bit SAS you had to write code to point to foreign data sources like Excel. Remember code that went something like this:

 libname test pcfiles path='c:\custfm.xls' server='localhost' port=9621 ;

You can point to .xls and .xlsx files and let SAS treat them like SAS data sets.

2.    A spanking new data explorer makes mincemeat of your data needs

DATA MANAGEMENT is the bane of the data worker. How do you analyze data if you don’t know what sort of data hits your desk? How do you practice the #1 rule of all programmers  easily, quickly? Simply use the new data explorer available in EG 5.1 by right clicking on your data set in the resource pane bottom left to activate the data explorer.

You can also get quick stats to get to know your data even better. Here, I analyzed the cars data set available freely in the SASHELP library.

3.    Subquerying lets you use the result from one query in another query

DATA ANALYSIS is probably the biggest reason you use SAS. What if you want to embed a query within a query? The EG developers took the guesswork out of your PROC SQL code writing in EG5.1 to offer a drop down to embed a query within a query.

4.    Being stylish is always in style

DATA REPORTING with style sheets have typically stumped end users. Which one to use? What fonts/ colors go with each style? Use the SAS Enterprise Guide Style Manager to help out.

The SAS Enterprise Guide Style Manager (good news- now available version 4 upwards) glides effortlessly across styles visually. This is something that you couldn't accomplish with SAS code.

Just scroll down the style list and on the right you’ll see a preview of colors, fonts the style uses.

I know I said I’d share four tips, but I can’t seem to leave without sharing this parting tip on how SAS EG5.1 has a built-in artificial intelligence in the auto complete feature. It’s a big plus whether you’re a skilled programmer or not. The auto complete feature in the program editor can now even complete SAS data set and SAS data set column names.

Finally, you can use the new Web links in the syntax help window to get additional help when you are writing or editing a SAS program. 

How do you add value to your time by using SAS enterprise guide? Do you use it in conjunction with code? I’d love to hear your ways.

If this post caught your attention due to the food reference, dear reader, you might be interested in my other blog. As a passionate foodie, who’s also health conscious, I've been blogging about some delicious East Indian cooking using locally available ingredients.