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Learn SAS

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJuly 22, 2013 0

The inverse CDF method for simulating from a distribution

There are many techniques for generating random variates from a specified probability distribution such as the normal, exponential, or gamma distribution. However, one technique stands out because of its generality and simplicity: the inverse CDF sampling technique. If you know the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a probability distribution, then

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJuly 15, 2013 0

Bin observations by using custom cut points and unevenly spaced bins

It is often useful to partition observations for a continuous variable into a small number of intervals, called bins. This familiar process occurs every time that you create a histogram, such as the one on the left. In SAS you can create this histogram by calling the UNIVARIATE procedure. Optionally,

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Output Delivery System

Shelly GoodinJuly 12, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: Moving ODS output into your internet or intranet site

This week's SAS tip is from Lauren Haworth, Cynthia L. Zender, and Michele Burlew's book Output Delivery System: The Basics and Beyond. This example-driven book includes broad coverage of some of the best features of ODS. To learn more about the book and the authors, visit our Web catalog to read

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Charu ShankarJuly 8, 2013 0

Top 10 SAS coding efficiencies

Tried, tested and true -- I’m sure you already practice some, if not all, of these efficient techniques to save resources. I recently shared these 10 techniques with the Wisconsin Illinois SAS users group in Milwaukee. The conference ran smoothly under the incredibly able guidance of Dr. LeRoy Bessler. I’ll

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJuly 8, 2013 0

How does the IF-THEN statement in SAS treat a missing value?

Every programming language has an IF-THEN statement that branches according to whether a Boolean expression is true or false. In SAS, the IF-THEN (or IF-THEN/ELSE) statement evaluates an expression and braches according to whether the expression is nonzero (true) or zero (false). The basic syntax is if numeric-expression then do-computation;

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJuly 5, 2013 0

Obtain data sets from the book Statistical Programming with SAS/IML Software

On the Web site for the book Statistical Programming with SAS/IML Software, I provide instructions on how to download the sample data sets and install them so that they can be used from within SAS/IML Studio. When I wrote the book I did not anticipate that SAS users might want

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Learn SAS

Carpenter's Guide to Innovative SAS Techniques

Shelly GoodinJune 14, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: Using the %DS2CSV macro

This week's SAS tip is from Art Carpenter and his latest book Carpenter's Guide to Innovative SAS Techniques. Art is a talented SAS user and prolific author--and was just recognized in the SAS Circle of Excellence for 30 years of using SAS software. After taking a look at this week's book

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Learn SAS

Shelly GoodinJune 7, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: Understanding tokens

This week's SAS tip is from Michele Burlew and her book SAS Macro Programming Made Easy, Second Edition. Michele is the author of several extremely helpful SAS books. Visit her author page to learn more about her work and for additional free content. The following excerpt is from SAS Press

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJune 3, 2013 0

Passing values from PROC IML into SAS procedures

A SAS user told me that he computed a vector of values in the SAS/IML language and wanted to use those values on a statement in a SAS procedure. The particular application involved wanting to use the values on the ESTIMATE and CONTRAST statements in a SAS regression procedure, but

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Chris Hemedinger

Chris HemedingerMay 20, 2013 0

Export and download any file from SAS Enterprise Guide

Last week I alluded to some very useful applications of the Copy Files task. This is one of them. If you have SAS Enterprise Guide 7.13 or later, the Copy Files task is in the Tasks->Data menu. In earlier versions, you'll have to download/install the task as a custom task.

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinMay 20, 2013 0

Ways to multiply in the SAS/IML language

For programmers who are learning the SAS/IML language, it is sometimes confusing that there are two kinds of multiplication operators, whereas in the SAS DATA step there is only scalar multiplication. This article describes the multiplication operators in the SAS/IML language and how to use them to perform common tasks

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Learn SAS

Shelly GoodinMarch 29, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: Turning off output to the results window

This week's SAS tip is from Lauren Haworth, Cynthia L. Zender, and Michele Burlew's book Output Delivery System: The Basics and Beyond. This monumental guide is packed with a wide-array of techniques and examples. As SAS programmer Christine Iodice said, "This book is one-stop shopping for all your ODS needs!"

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Radical Action for Radical Times

Julie PlattMarch 25, 2013 0

Working on “stuff that matters”

“It’s not about how much money you make but to work on stuff that matters," according to Tim O’Reilly, founder of O'Reilly Media. At the recent Tools of Change conference, Tim O’Reilly mentioned during his keynote that writers tend to be motivated to work on “stuff that matters.” Through SAS

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Chris Hemedinger

Chris HemedingerMarch 25, 2013 0

Upcoming SAS Talks: Getting started with SAS

Are you a new SAS user who isn't sure where to begin? Have no fear, because you're not alone. Here at SAS, we often receive questions from people who need help getting started with the software. Getting Started with SAS is the topic of a SAS Talks session that I

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinFebruary 27, 2013 0

How to use PROC SGPLOT to display the slope and intercept of a regression line

A SAS user asked an interesting question on the SAS/GRAPH and ODS Graphics Support Forum. The question is: Does PROC SGPLOT support a way to display the slope of the regression line that is computed by the REG statement? Recall that the REG statement in PROC SGPLOT fits and displays

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinFebruary 25, 2013 0

Initializing vectors by using repetition factors

The SAS/IML language has a curious syntax that enables you to specify a "repetition factor" when you initialize a vector of literal values. Essentially, the language enables you to specify the frequency of an element. For example, suppose you want to define the following vector: proc iml; x = {1

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Practical Data Analysis with JMP

Shelly GoodinFebruary 22, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: Using JMP to conduct a significance test

This week's tip is from Robert Carver and his book Practical Data Analysis with JMP. If you're a JMP user, be sure to take a look at additional bonus content from the book. The following excerpt is from SAS Press author Robert Carver and his book "Practical Data Analysis with JMP". Copyright © 2010, SAS

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinFebruary 18, 2013 0

Empty subscripts: How to fill rows and columns of a matrix

Suppose that you have a SAS/IML matrix and you want to set each element of a submatrix to zero (or any other value). There is a simple syntax that accomplishes this task. If you subscript a matrix and do not specify a row, it means "use all rows." So, for

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Learn SAS

Shelly GoodinFebruary 15, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: Creating a composite index for a new SAS table

This week's tip is from Michael Raithel and his classic book The Complete Guide to SAS Indexes. Michael has a wealth of SAS experience and is a frequent and sought-out speaker at SAS Global Forum and regional user group conferences. If you get the opportunity to hear him speak, don't

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinFebruary 13, 2013 0

How to access any program or data set that appears in the SAS/STAT documentation

If you are like me, you've experienced the following frustration. You are reading the SAS/STAT documentation, trying to understand some procedure or option, when you find an example that is very similar to what you need. "Great," you think, "this example will help me understand how the SAS procedure works!"

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Learn SAS

Jim SimonFebruary 11, 2013 0

Time to trade in your jalopy macro?

Suppose you have an old jalopy that's perfectly reliable. Your jalopy gets you where you wanna go: no frills; no drama. Do you trade your old wheels in for a racecar that accelerates like crazy and corners like it's on rails? Or stick with what's old and comfortable? Your choice

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Rick WicklinFebruary 11, 2013 0

How the J function got its name

In linear algebra, the I symbol is used to denote an n x n identity matrix. The symbol J (or sometimes 1) is used to denote an n x p matrix of ones. When the SAS/IML language was implemented, the I function was defined to generate the identity matrix. The J function was defined

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Learn SAS

Shelly GoodinFebruary 8, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: SAS/ACCESS interface to Microsoft SQL server

This week's SAS tip is from Frederick Pratter and his book Web Development with SAS by Example, Third Edition. The many real-world examples in the book guide lend it to being frequently excerpted on this blog! Previously featured tips include: Formatting XML documents, Configuring TCP security, and SQL pass-through. The following excerpt is from SAS

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Charu ShankarFebruary 4, 2013 0

A database professional’s best friend

To optimize a Structured Query Language (SQL), the database professional must befriend this order and perhaps even embrace it. Who is your best friend? I’m talking about the order in which SQL processes your statements. Simply put, in what order does SQL do your work? (From my previous post you

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinFebruary 4, 2013 0

Simulate discrete variables by using the "Table" distribution

I wanted to write a blog post about the "Table distribution" in SAS. The Table distribution, which is supported by the RAND and the RANDGEN function, enables you to specify the probability of selecting each of k items. Therefore you can use the Table distribution to sample, with replacement, from

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Learn SAS

Data Quality for Analytics Using SAS

Shelly GoodinFebruary 1, 2013 0

SAS author's tip: Outlier detection with ARIMA(X) models

This week's tip is from Gerhard Svolba and his book Data Quality for Analytics Using SAS. Gerhard is a product manager and pre-sales consultant at SAS in Austria, where he specializes in analytics and customer intelligence. Visit his author page to learn more about him and his work. The following excerpt is

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Andy RavennaJanuary 30, 2013 0

An easy way to find variables in common to data sets

Over the holidays I was having a discussion with my cat, Ms. Trixie Lou. A question that often arises during the first programming class is the following: how do I find the variables that are in common to these two or three data sets? As it turns out, Ms. Trixie

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJanuary 30, 2013 0

Oh, those pesky temporary variables!

The SAS/IML language secretly creates temporary variables. Most of the time programmers aren't even aware that the language does this. However, there is one situation where if you don't think carefully about temporary variables, your program will silently produce an error. And as every programmer knows, silent wrong numbers are

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJanuary 23, 2013 0

Breaking bad programming habits. What's yours?

I like to be efficient in my SAS/IML programs, but sometimes I get into bad habits. Recently I realized that I was reshaping a bunch of SAS/IML row vectors because I wanted to write them to a SAS data set. This is completely unnecessary! The SAS/IML language will create a

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Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJanuary 21, 2013 0

Reading big data in the SAS/IML language

A SAS/IML user on a discussion forum was trying to read data into a SAS/IML matrix, but the data was so large that it would not fit into memory. (Recall that SAS/IML matrices are kept in RAM.) After a few questions, it turned out that the user was trying to

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