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Programming Tips

Strengthen your programming skills with tips and techniques from the experts

Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Jody CarltonJune 22, 2018 0

A transcoding story (or, How Oliver S. Füßling lost his last name and comes to find it again)

There are many ways to avoid transcoding problems when you have national language characters in SAS programs that you save from a SAS®9 (English) session and move to a UTF-8 environment. In this article, we'll share tips to help you avoid such issues.

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Programming Tips

Steven SoberJune 21, 2018 0

How to reference CAS tables using a one-level name

To reference CAS tables using a one-level name we will issue two statements that alter which libref houses the tables referenced as one-level names.

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Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 21, 2018 0

Tableplots and ACS data

A question recently popped up in a discussion forum about creating table plots using SAS. So I thought I'd dabble in this topic, and see what I could come up with. If you're interested in tableplots, or American Community Survey (ACS) data, or data visualization, I invite you to follow

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Excel named range

Chris HemedingerJune 21, 2018 0

How to use SAS to read a range of cells from Excel

I've said it before: spreadsheets are not databases. However, many of us use spreadsheets as if they were databases, and then we struggle when the spreadsheet layout does not support database-style rigor of predictable rows, columns, and variable types -- the basic elements we need for analytics and reporting. If

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Analytics | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 20, 2018 0

The bootstrap method in SAS: A t test example

A previous article provides an example of using the BOOTSTRAP statement in PROC TTEST to compute bootstrap estimates of statistics in a two-sample t test. The BOOTSTRAP statement is new in SAS/STAT 14.3 (SAS 9.4M5). However, you can perform the same bootstrap analysis in earlier releases of SAS by using

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Programming Tips

Stephen FoersterJune 19, 2018 0

Threads and CAS DATA Step

Cloud Analytic Services (CAS) is really exciting. It’s open, multi-threaded and distributed. And, best of all for SAS programmers, it’s SAS. You can even run DATA Step in CAS. Here's more on how DATA Step work in a multi-threaded, distributed context.

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Allison SaitoJune 18, 2018 0

Changing font size in SAS

When making a new piece of code, I like to use the smallest font I can read. This lets me fit more text on the screen at once. When presenting code to others, especially in a classroom setting, I like to make the font large enough to see from the back of the room. Here’s how I change font size in SAS in our three programming interfaces.

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Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 18, 2018 0

SAS analytics for the Gorge Downwind Champs race

Ever since the Moneyball book & movie came out, athletes have been scrambling to use data and analytics to gain a competitive advantage. One of my favorite sports is boat racing - the ones you paddle. Follow along as I lead you through some maps and graphs I created for

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Sports & Entertainment

Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 15, 2018 0

Cremation rates in the US, by state

I recently read an interesting article that claims "a single cremation emits as much carbon dioxide as a 1,000-mile car trip." This got me wondering about cremation data, and I ended up on the Wikipedia page about cremation rates. They had a map of the US cremation rates by state ... but the more

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Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 15, 2018 0

Video: New random number generators in SAS

My 2018 SAS Global Forum paper was about "how to use the random-number generators (RNGs) in SAS." You can read the paper for details, but I recently recorded a short video that summarizes the main ideas in the paper. In particular, the video gives an overview of the new RNGs

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 11, 2018 0

6 ways to use the _NULL_ data set in SAS

In SAS, the reserved keyword _NULL_ specifies a SAS data set that has no observations and no variables. When you specify _NULL_ as the name of an output data set, the output is not written. The _NULL_ data set is often used when you want to execute DATA step code

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Programming Tips | SAS Events

Lexi HawksJune 8, 2018 0

SAS Studio: A new way to program in SAS

SAS Studio is the latest way you can access SAS. This newer interface allows users to reach SAS through a web browser, offering a number of unique ways that SAS can be optimized. At SAS Global Forum 2018, Lora Delwiche and Susan J Slaughter gave the presentation, “SAS Studio: A New Way to Program in SAS.” This post reviews the paper, offering you insights of how to enhance your SAS Studio programming performance.

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 8, 2018 0

Video: A new syntax for lists in SAS/IML

I recently recorded a short video about the new syntax for specifying and manipulating lists in SAS/IML 14.3. This is a video of my Super Demo at SAS Global Forum 2018. The new syntax supports dynamic arrays, associative arrays ("named lists"), and hierarchical data structures such as lists of lists.

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Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 6, 2018 0

Sample and obtain the results in random order

The SURVEYSELECT procedure in SAS 9.4M5 supports the OUTRANDOM option, which causes the selected items in a simple random sample to be randomly permuted after they are selected. This article describes several statistical tasks that benefit from this option, including simulating card games, randomly permuting observations in a DATA step,

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Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 4, 2018 0

Using Texas as a unit of measure

Everything's big in Texas - at least that's what they say! Therefore let's have a bit of graphical fun, and use Texas as a unit of measure (let's call it a 'tex'). More on that later - but first, here's a picture of my friend Jennifer posing beside a rather

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Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 4, 2018 0

An easy way to make a "Top 10" table and bar chart in SAS

Years ago, I wrote an article about how to create a Top 10 table and bar chart. The program can be trivially modified to create a "Top N" table and plot, such as Top 5, Top 20, or even Top 100. Not long after the article was written, the developer

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Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 1, 2018 0

Can you bypass tariffs with a foreign-trade zone?

With talk of tariffs in the news lately, I'm sure everyone is curious about possible ways to bypass them. One possible loophole is using the foreign-trade zones (FTZs) in the US. What are FTZs, and where are they located? Read along and find out!... The Foreign-Trade Zone act was passed in

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Programming Tips

Melanie CareyMay 31, 2018 0

Exploring interactive reports with SAS Visual Analytics

Interactive reports with SAS Visual Analytics allow you to access the interface and product instantly. Simply choose a report to navigate and explore in our SAS Visual Analytics 8.2 viewer. There are reports for warranty analysis, retail insights, water consumption and quality, banking and risk and network performance.

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips | SAS Administrators

Leonid BatkhanMay 30, 2018 0

Are you developing foolproof solutions?

It is imperative for developers, whether hardware or software engineers, to foresee unintended (probable or improbable) system usages and implement features that will make their creations foolproof, that is protected from misuse. Learn more about developing foolproof solutions with this old Russian anecdote.

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinMay 29, 2018 0

6 easy ways to specify a list of variables in SAS

The SAS language provides syntax that enables you to quickly specify a list of variables. SAS statements that accept variable lists include the KEEP and DROP statements, the ARRAY statement, and the OF operator for comma-separated arguments to some functions. You can also use variable lists on the VAR statements

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Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonMay 25, 2018 0

Plotting data on Antarctica - a mapping challenge!

Have you ever tried to plot data on a map of Antarctica ... and been thoroughly frustrated or confused? If you're that person, or even a seasoned map maker wanting to hone your skills, then this blog post is for you! But first, here is a picture to get you

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Jane EslingerMay 23, 2018 0

Custom Style Templates: Start Small

SAS author Jane Eslinger shows give you tips for working with PROC TEMPLATE when diving into the Output Delivery System (ODS) world. Learn how to create a custom style template to get the stylized output you want.

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Programming Tips

Rick WicklinMay 21, 2018 0

Position items in a grid

In a recent blog post, Chris Hemedinger used a scatter plot to show the result of 100 coin tosses. Chris arranged the 100 results in a 10 x 10 grid, where the first 10 results were shown on the first row, the second 10 were shown on the second row, and so

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Martin MinceyMay 18, 2018 0

How to change your working directory for SAS® with the DLGCDIR DATA step function

Learn how to change your working directory for SAS. Beginning with SAS® 9.4 TS1M4, you can use a new DATA step function, DLGCDIR, to change the location of your working directory.

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Data Visualization | Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Sanjay MatangeMay 13, 2018 0

A Combined WaterFall and Swimmer Plot

The PharmaSUG 2018 conference was held two weeks ago, with great enthusiasm and a record attendance. The highlight for me was the large spread on visual presentation of data, from papers to poster presentations. I will provide a more detailed report on all the exciting graphical presentations. One topic of

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Health Care | Life Sciences

Analytics | Programming Tips

How to generate random numbers in SAS

Rick WicklinMay 9, 2018 0

Independent streams of random numbers in SAS

In a previous blog post, I discussed ways to produce statistically independent samples from a random number generator (RNG). The best way is to generate all samples from one stream. However, if your program uses two or more SAS DATA steps to simulate the data, you cannot use the same

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Programming Tips

NASA black hole

Chris HemedingerMay 7, 2018 0

Which random number generator did Thanos use?

WARNING: This blog post references Avengers: Infinity War and contains story spoilers. But it also contains useful information about random number generators (RNGs) -- tempting! If you haven't yet seen the movie, you should make peace with this inner conflict before reading on. Throughout the movie, Thanos makes it clear

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Advanced Analytics | Data Management | Programming Tips

Leonid BatkhanMay 7, 2018 0

SAS tools for GDPR privacy compliant reporting

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) taking effect on 25 May 2018 pertains not only to organizations located within the EU; it applies to all companies processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the European Union, regardless of the company’s location. Here are four selected SAS tools for GDPR that allow you to protect personal data in SAS reports by suppressing counts in small demographic group reports.

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Jim SimonMay 7, 2018 0

"Wide" versus "Tall" data: PROC TRANSPOSE v. the DATA step

Datasets can present themselves in different ways. Identical data can bet arranged differently, often as wide or tall datasets. Generally, the tall dataset is better. Learn how to convert wide data into tall data with PROC TRANSPOSE.

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Jim SimonMay 7, 2018 0

Deleting global macro variables

Do you periodically delete unneeded global macro variables? You should! Deleting macro variables releases memory and keeps your symbol table clean. Learn how the macro language statement that deletes global macro variables and about the %DELETEALL statement that can be a life saver for macro programmers.

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