The ODS DOCUMENT and the DOCUMENT procedure give you the ability to save ODS output. Once saved, you can print that same work, as many times as you want, to any ODS destination. But what does this mean for you?

With PROC DOCUMENT, you can:

Make changes to the appearance of your ODS output. For instance, you can save a report and then print the same report as a PDF file, an HTML file, a Word document (RTF file), an Excel spreadsheet, and many others. You can do this without having to re-run the code that created that output.

Print only the output needed to make your point. SAS procedures can create voluminous output, but much of that is needed only for reference. When you want to present your results, PROC DOCUMENT can print out your SAS procedure output in the order you want, and let you select only the output you need to make your point. Furthermore, even if the output was produced by different procedures, you can arrange to print them out together. For example, if you have a graph, a table, and some related remarks, you can store them all in their own folder, and replay only that folder. This permits you to group together your key results and have them at your fingertips.

Annotate your output. In addition to adding textual remarks to your output, you can also make changes to titles, footnotes, and subtitles after the output is completed, and without having to re-run the output. For example, if you notice in your table that sales in the leading region are twice as high as those in the second-place region, you can add this remark to your output as a note or footnote. When you print your output, this remark can appear as a footnote, a note before the table, a note after the table, or even a subtitle. This ability permits you to save your insights along with your data.

In conclusion, PROC DOCUMENT makes it easier to select, enhance, and replay output--all using the power of SAS.

Michael Tuchman is the author of PROC DOCUMENT by Example Using SAS. Read a free chapter from the book here.