Programming Tips Posts

Programming Tips

Strengthen your programming skills with tips and techniques from the experts

Robert AllisonJuly 15, 2019 0

As the 2020 Census approaches, I'm getting my code ready to plot the data! And a question I often hear is "Can you use SAS software to plot data on a Census block map?" Rather than tell you 'yes', let me show you 'yes' :) Preparing the map First I

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Data Visualization | Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJuly 15, 2019 0

Create a discrete heat map with PROC SGPLOT

Heat maps have many uses. You can use a heat map to visualize correlation matrices, to visualize longitudinal data ("lasagna plots"), and to visualize counts in any two-dimensional table. As of SAS 9.4m3, you can create heat maps in SAS by using the HEATMAP and HEATMAPPARM statements in PROC SGPLOT.

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJuly 11, 2019 0

Plotting California earthquake data!

Earthquakes have been in the news lately - in particular, two very strong earthquakes that recently hit California. Exactly where did they hit? ... Let's plot it on a map! But before we get busy analyzing the California data, here's a picture to get you in the mood for studying

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Insurance

Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Missy HannahJuly 10, 2019 0

SAS Press Author Derek Morgan on Timetables and Model Trains

Posted on behalf of SAS Press author Derek Morgan. I was sitting in a model railroad club meeting when one of our more enthusiastic young members said, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could make a computer simulation, with trains going between stations and all. We could have cars and

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJuly 10, 2019 0

Find the center of each cell in a mosaic plot

I recently showed how to create an annotation data set that will overlay cell counts or percentages on a mosaic plot. A mosaic plot is a visual representation of a cross-tabulation of observed frequencies for two categorical variables. The mosaic plot with cell counts is shown to the right. The

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJuly 8, 2019 0

Which counties in the US are still 'dry'?

We just had the big July 4th holiday weekend here in the US. And as with many holidays, there was a lot of drinking. Which got me thinking/wondering ... which counties do not allow alcohol to be sold (ie, which counties are 'dry')? And it seemed like a question that

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Government | Sports & Entertainment

Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJuly 8, 2019 0

How to add an annotation to a mosaic plot in SAS

The mosaic plot is a graphical visualization of a frequency table. In previous articles, I showed how to create a mosaic plot in SAS by using PROC FREQ and how to define a template in the Graph Template Language (GTL) by using the MOSAICPARM statement. This article shows how to

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJuly 3, 2019 0

Can you choose an SUV based on MPG?

I think it's time to replace my 2008 Prius. It has served me well, been basically maintenance-free, and gotten good gas mileage ... so, why not just get a newer Prius? Well, I've got the itch to get back into an SUV for my daily driver (I had a Bronco

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Energy & Utilities

Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJuly 3, 2019 0

Create a custom informat in SAS

An informat helps you read data into a SAS data set. SAS supports more than 100 informats. The most common informats are related to dates and times and make it easy to read an input string such as 28JAN2001 and convert it to a SAS date such as 15003. Yet

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Missy HannahJuly 2, 2019 0

Summer reading – Book recommendations from SAS Press authors

One of my favorite parts of summer is a relaxing weekend by the pool. Summer is the time I get to finally catch up on my reading list, which has been building over the year. So, if expanding your knowledge is a goal of yours this summer, SAS Press has

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Programming Tips

Chris HollandJune 27, 2019 0

Working with ever-changing CDISC standards

When Jack Shostak and I first started thinking about writing a SAS book on implementing CDISC (Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium) standards, we held one truth to be self-evident: that at least some parts of the book would be outdated before it was even published. Thanks to some lucky timing

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Life Sciences

Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Leonid BatkhanJune 26, 2019 0

Finding n-th instance of a substring within a string

"There's a way to do it better - find it." - Thomas A. Edison When it comes to SAS coding, this quote by Thomas A. Edison is my best advisor. Time permitting, I love finding better ways of implementing SAS code. But what code feature means “better” – brevity, clarity

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Analytics | Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 26, 2019 0

Jump-start PROC LOGISTIC by using parameter estimates from PROC HPLOGISTIC

SAS/STAT software contains a number of so-called HP procedures for training and evaluating predictive models. ("HP" stands for "high performance.") A popular HP procedure is HPLOGISTIC, which enables you to fit logistic models on Big Data. A goal of the HP procedures is to fit models quickly. Inferential statistics such

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Programming Tips

Deva KumarJune 25, 2019 0

"CAS Stored Process" with my Favorite Action Hero runCasl

In his article How to use CASL to develop and work with user-defined CAS actions, Brian Kinnebrew defines CASL as "a language specification used by the SAS client to interact with and provide easy access to Cloud Analytic Services (CAS). CASL is a statement-based scripting language with many uses and

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Programming Tips

Kevin RussellJune 21, 2019 0

Learn the three easiest ways to load data into CAS tables

For every project in SAS®, the first step is almost always making your data available. This blog shows you how to load three of the most common input data types—a data set, a text file, and a Microsoft Excel file—into SAS® Cloud Analytic Services (CAS) tables. The three methods that

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 19, 2019 0

Airbnb's top wish-listed homes in NC!

As the sharing economy grows, you can catch a ride on Uber, have meals delivered by Grubhub ... and even stay in someone else's house (rather than a hotel) via sites like Airbnb. And speaking of that last one, I recently read an article listing Airbnb's top 20 'wish-listed' homes

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Hospitality | Travel

Analytics | Programming Tips | Risk Management

Frederik VandenbergheJune 18, 2019 0

Deploy SAS Viya on AWS - Quick Start

As a data scientist, did you ever come to the point where you felt the need for an evolved analytics platform bringing together the disparate skills of open source and commercial software? A system that can enable advanced analytic capabilities. This is now possible and easy to implement. With many

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Banking

Programming Tips

Sian RobertsJune 18, 2019 0

Understanding Item Response Theory with SAS

What is Item Response Theory? Item Response Theory (IRT) is a way to analyze responses to tests or questionnaires with the goal of improving measurement accuracy and reliability. A common application is in testing a student’s ability or knowledge. Today, all major psychological and educational tests are built using IRT.

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 14, 2019 0

Fine-tuning the date axis in your bar chart

In these modern times, my utility bill has a bar chart so I can see how my current consumption compares to my historical usage. I decided to create my own version of this utility bill bar chart, and make a few improvements along the way. If you're into SGplot bar

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Energy & Utilities

Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 12, 2019 0

Converting from SAS/Graph to ODS Graphics - color control

In this 'Rosetta Graph' example, I demonstrate how to control bar chart colors in Gchart and SGplot. But first, here's a little diversion... some artwork in my office here at SAS. There's a *lot* of artwork hanging around at SAS, but this particular painting wasn't created by the SAS artists

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Advanced Analytics | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 12, 2019 0

Leave-one-out statistics and a formula to update a matrix inverse

For linear regression models, there is a class of statistics that I call deletion diagnostics or leave-one-out statistics. These observation-wise statistics address the question, "If I delete the i_th observation and refit the model, what happens to the statistics for the model?" For example: The PRESS statistic is similar to

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Programming Tips | SAS Administrators

Joe FurbeeJune 10, 2019 0

Deploying the Full SAS Viya Stack in Kubernetes

This article is a follow-on to a recent post from Jeff Owens, Getting started with SAS Containers. In that post, Jeff discussed building and running a single container for a SAS Viya runtime/IDE. Today we will go through how to build and run the full SAS Viya stack - visual

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 10, 2019 0

5 reasons to use PROC FORMAT to recode variables in SAS

Recoding variables can be tedious, but it is often a necessary part of data analysis. Almost every SAS programmer has written a DATA step that uses IF-THEN/ELSE logic or the SELECT-WHEN statements to recode variables. Although creating a new variable is effective, it is also inefficient because you have to

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 6, 2019 0

Converting from Gchart to SGpie - simple pie chart

For my third 'Rosetta Graph' example, I will focus on a simple pie chart. Hopefully this example will show you how to convert your SAS/Graph Proc Gchart pies into almost-identical Proc SGpie pies. And speaking of almost-identical pies, here are two beautiful pies my friend Beth made - which one

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Data Visualization | Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 5, 2019 0

Plot a family of curves in SAS

A family of curves is generated by an equation that has one or more parameters. To visualize the family, you might want to display a graph that overlays four of five curves that have different parameter values, as shown to the right. The graph shows members of a family of

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonJune 4, 2019 0

Converting from Gchart to SGplot - simple bar chart

You've probably heard of the famous Rosetta Stone. It had the same decree written on it in both ancient Egyptian and Greek, and was an essential key to help modern historians decipher and translate the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. To help the 'old timers' (like me) shift from using SAS/Graph to the

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Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Mike ZizziJune 4, 2019 0

SAS or Python? Why not use both? Using Python functions inside SAS programs

Two sayings I’ve heard countless times throughout my life are “Work smarter, not harder,” and “Use the best tool for the job.” If you need to drive a nail, you pick up a hammer, not a wrench or a screwdriver. In the programming world, this could mean using an existing

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Data Visualization | Learn SAS | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJune 3, 2019 0

Graph wide data and long data in SAS

Statistical programmers and analysts often use two kinds of rectangular data sets, popularly known as wide data and long data. Some analytical procedures require that the data be in wide form; others require long form. (The "long format" is sometimes called "narrow" or "tall" data.) Fortunately, the statistical graphics procedures

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Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonMay 29, 2019 0

Converting from Gplot to SGplot - scatter plots

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Analytics | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinMay 28, 2019 0

The Theil-Sen robust estimator for simple linear regression

Modern statistical software provides many options for computing robust statistics. For example, SAS can compute robust univariate statistics by using PROC UNIVARIATE, robust linear regression by using PROC ROBUSTREG, and robust multivariate statistics such as robust principal component analysis. Much of the research on robust regression was conducted in the

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