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Data Visualization

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeJanuary 9, 2012 0

In good company

A recent post on the SAS website shows the SAS Annual Revenue History. It would be interesting to see how we could create such a graph using SG procedures, and how we could add more information and interest in the presentation. So, I started with the basic informaiton on the annual revenues provided,

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeJanuary 5, 2012 0

Panel graph with axis-aligned statistics

Following up on the theme of graphs commonly used in many applications, here is another one that displays a horizontal bar chart with multiple data columns aligned with the bars. Recently at WUSS, a user stopped by asking how to create just such a graph. While this user wanted something more complex

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeJanuary 2, 2012 0

Simply useful

Let us ring in the new year with something simple and useful. A recent question by a user over the holidays motivated this article on what is likely a commonly used graph. We want to compare the preformance of two categories along with a third measure. This could be something like "How

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Data Visualization

Dan HeathDecember 22, 2011 0

Creating graphs can be a (multi-layered) piece of cake

When I give presentations on using the SG procedures, I try to describe how you can take simple plots and layer them to create more complex graphs. I also emphasize how you must consider the output of each plot type so that, as you overlay them, you do not obscure

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeDecember 19, 2011 0

Map overlays

In Simple maps can go a long way, we discussed some techniques to create simple outline maps from map datasets in the MAPS library using GTL. Now, let us take this a step further to do something more useful with this feature. For some graphs, the map information is an essential part of the

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeDecember 15, 2011 0

Secrets of statistical graphics procedures revealed

A new book from SAS Press, "Statistical Graphics Procedures by Example" co-authored by Dan Heath and I has now been published (phew!). For both Dan and I, this was our first foray into writing a book, so it was highly educational to say the least. The key idea behind the presentation

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeDecember 12, 2011 0

Simple maps can go a long way

Charlie Huang recently posted an article on a new way to draw maps using SGPlot procedure. The basic idea is simple, just use the SCATTER statement to plot the (x, y) points from the data sets in the MAPS library. The GROUP option can be used to color the markers for each

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Data Visualization

Pratik PhadkeDecember 8, 2011 0

Calendar Heatmaps in GTL

Calendar Heatmaps are an interesting alternative view of time-series data. The measured value is displayed as color mapped cells in a calendar. Calendar Heatmaps can be easily created with SAS 9.3 using just the HEATMAPPARM, SERIESPLOT and BLOCKPLOT statements in GTL and some simple data manipulation. The example below shows

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Advanced Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallDecember 8, 2011 0

Building custom measures for OLAP cubes

In one minute (and 10 seconds, but are you measuring that?) you can add a custom measure (also known as calculated members) to your OLAP cube. Watch this video to create a simple calculation multiplying units * price. Remember that this mechanism is not just used for multiplications, you can

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeDecember 6, 2011 0

Adding a spark to your data

When viewing time series data, often we only want to see the trend in the data over time and we are not so concerned about the actual data values. With multiple time series plots, forecasting software can find clusters to help us view series with similar trends. Recently I saw a graph showing the trend of unemployment

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Advanced Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Dropping into the abyss of Detail Data

Angela HallDecember 5, 2011 0

OLAP users can fall into the abyss of detail data

OLAP cube developers might have noticed that the amount of time required to generate any aggregation (including the NWAY) can negatively impact their productivity. Developers remove the NWAY aggregation (following the sample screens in a prior post) to significantly reduce build time and allow quick modifications to the cube definition.

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Data Visualization

Prashant HebbbarDecember 1, 2011 0

Graphs you can ‘bank’ on with aspect ratio

The dimensions of your graph can affect the aspect ratio, which in turn, can subtly affect the perception of your viewers. When visual perception is of prime importance, the aspect ratio of the graph needs to be adjusted with care. This technique is known as ‘banking’, was introduced by William

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeNovember 28, 2011 0

Survival Plot with external "At Risk" table

A frequently asked question about the Survival Plot is: "How can I display the 'At Risk' data outside the plot area?". The survival plot rendered by the LIFETEST procedure displays the at risk data inside the plot data area. The reason for this is the potential for varying number of treatment groups. Here

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeNovember 23, 2011 0

SGPLOT with axis-aligned statistics columns

In a previous article we discussed how to add axis aligned statistics table to a Lipid graph using GTL. Other graphs such as the Survival Plot also utilize the same technique to display the "at risk" statistics aligned by time or visits along the X axis. Often, we also need to display

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Data Visualization

Pratik PhadkeNovember 21, 2011 0

Creating Heatmaps using GTL

The heatmap is a graphical representation of a table where colors are used to represent the values in the table. This is an effective graphic for finding the minimum and maximum values across the table and may surface patterns in the data. With the addition of the HEATMAPPARM statement to

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeNovember 17, 2011 0

Abbreviation for GTL boiler plate

Rick Wicklin's blog post on using abbreviations provided a solution for a long standing pain. When writing a new GTL program for simple graph, often the bulk of the code is boiler plate. To create a simple scatter plot of weight by height, you need to type in the following program:

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeNovember 17, 2011 0

SGPLOT procedure - the basics

In this blog we will discuss many aspects of the SG Procedures. This article will cover some basic features and workings of the SGPLOT procedure to establish a baseline. The single-cell graph is the work horse for data visualization. From the simple bar chart to the complex patient profiles for clinical

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Data Visualization

Dan HeathNovember 14, 2011 0

The Power of Unicode

The Unicode character table contains a vast array of characters and symbols that can be quite useful for making your text more descriptive in your graph. These characters can be inserted into any viewable string that you can define in the GTL or SG procedure syntax. These strings include titles,

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeNovember 12, 2011 0

Graphs with axis-aligned statistics tables

The display of statistics, aligned with graphical plot of the data, is a common requirement for graphs, especially in the Clinical Research domain. In the previous post on Discrete Offset, I used an example of the Lipid Profile graph. Now, let us use the same example and add the display of statistics in

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeNovember 10, 2011 0

It pays to be discrete

Often we have the need to display multiple columns of data in a graph, and we want to introduce some separation into their placement in the graph. Or, we want to display a bar chart of multiple response variables, and place the values side-by-side, like in a grouped bar chart. For both

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallNovember 9, 2011 0

Limit the number of drill-through to detail records available from OLAP cubes

Drill-through to detail is the ability to right click within a cell of a web report or OLAP viewer and request the detail source records that make up that specific cell's measure. The maximum number of records, by default, is set to 300,000. Feasibly the report user could download all

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Data Visualization

Sanjay MatangeNovember 5, 2011 0

Hello, World

Welcome to this new blog on data visualization at SAS. Our goal is to engage with you on a discussion about analytical and business graphics for reporting and interactive applications. Our primary focus will be on ODS Graphics and related topics, but we look forward to a lively discussion on all things

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Advanced Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallNovember 1, 2011 0

Adding format catalogs without losing others

As I mentioned when creating a user-defined format for Information Maps in a prior post custom or user-defined formats can be created and stored quickly in the default format catalog for all Business Intelligence products within "Lev1SASAppSASEnvironmentSASFormats". This is useful for custom sorting, reclassifying or grouping data as well as

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallOctober 27, 2011 0

Revisiting the starting file location for Enterprise Guide

Years ago and a seemingly far galaxy away, I wrote about how to modify 9.1.3 to start Enterprise Guide users in a different location for the File folder. By default, the user only can access their personal SAS Temporary File. Why change this? I would prefer to use a central

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallOctober 25, 2011 0

Promoting SAS BI Dashboard content

If you are unable to export BI Dashboard Content the BI Dashboard Logical types was not installed on the system running SAS Management Console. Update this by following these steps Run the software install from the SAS Depot (mine is located at C:SAS Software Depotsetup.exe) Select ‘Install Additional Software’ Then

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Service Window vs Batch Script

Angela HallOctober 21, 2011 0

Become super-efficient at starting & stopping services via scripting

Which would you rather do? Click stop (or start) over and over, while waiting in between the services to make sure everything is up and running ... OR ... click one button and go have lunch? Honestly I prefer the lunch option. (And for administrators, the quickest option is always

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Advanced Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallOctober 18, 2011 0

Troubleshooting a web file upload

Functionality to upload files onto the SAS server (from 9.2 on) is available using stored processes and an html input type="file". I introduced this topic last year in my blog post using the SAS Stored Process Developer Guide sample. Of course, it is never as easy as the sample is

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallOctober 12, 2011 0

Dynamic dashboard ranges - its all in the data

Business Problem: The traffic lighting (red/green/yellow) range is different for one group/category than the others but the indicator needs to include all group values. Recommendation: It's all in the data. Here is an example. For the Candy_Sales_Summary data (located in the EG Sample Data folder) there are three groups of

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Advanced Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallSeptember 29, 2011 0

Updating your global style

Every six months or so I try to find a recent picture that captures who I am and what I am feeling. Loading this into my various social/online profiles in Twitter, SAS Community, Forums, LinkedIn, corporate internal, Facebook etc then take me a bit of time to implement. Wouldn't it

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Advanced Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Angela HallSeptember 22, 2011 0

Link to a specific section of Web Report Studio

If you would like to link users to a specific section within a Web Report Studio report, there is a quick way to generate the URL. Just send yourself an email from Web Report Studio. A parameter &rsTS is included in the link which corresponds to the specific section selected.

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