SAS Hints Delete temporary files Determine if a file exists Direct output to different directory Errors (specify # of errors

for SAS to put into log) Execute Unix command from SAS Generate delimited file with no spaces between columns Input Group variables and informats Noterminal option for PROC EXPORT or PROC IMPORT Provide timing and memory usage information Read in compressed data file using zcat Read in space/tab delimited files Return ID of a user in Unix environment Return value of a specified operating environment variable Rounding in SAS (ceil and floor functions) Specify a character string to pass to SAS programs using sysparm Use SAS with pipes or as a filter under Unix Using X commands in Solaris vs. Linux

* Delete temporary files Use proc datasets to delete temporary files created by SAS. data name; set name; run; SAS code ... proc datasets nolist; delete name run; * Determine if a file exists Use %sysexec to spawn a shell %sysexec /bin/ksh -c "if [ ! -a /etc/passwd ]; then exit 99; else exit 0; fi;"; %put &sysrc; or Use filename pipe %let thefile=/etc/passwd; filename testit pipe "if [ ! -f &thefile ]; then echo 'no'; else echo 'yes'; fi"; data _null_; infile testit pad missover lrecl=3; input answer $3.; put answer=; run;

May 30, 2008

* Direct output to different directory Direct SAS output to a directory (other than the one where SAS is being run) sas work /different_directory program-name * Errors (specify # of errors for SAS to put into log) Specify the number of errors for SAS to list in the log file in the options line (useful to obtain list of errors, i.e., missing values for markers) options ls=65 ps=55 pageno=1 errors=40 * Execute Unix command from SAS Single Unix commands can be executed by X command; or call system (command); (call system can only be used inside a data step) Multiple Unix commands can be executed by X command 1; command 2; command n; or call system (command1; command2; command n); %sysexec macro can also be used (macro test will execute Unix commands pwd and ls l): %macro test %sysexec %str(pwd; ls l); %mend test; %test; X; (no Unix commands) starts a shell. The user can run programs, check output, etc., then type exit to return to SAS. * Generate delimited file with no spaces between columns data _NULL_; set sasdataset; file output.txt; (or output.csv) newvar=compress(var1||DELIM||var2); put newvar; run; DELIM is comma , or tab 09x * Input Group variables and informats Informat lists can be grouped when input values are arranged in a pattern. A group informat list consists of 2 lists the names of the variables to read enclosed in parentheses and the corresponding informats separated by either blanks or commas and enclosed in parentheses. If values for the 5 variables SCORE1 through SCORE5 are stored as four columns per value without intervening blanks the input statement is input (score1-score5) (4.);

May 30, 2008

The +1 column pointer moves the pointer forward one column after X is read. X is read with the 2. informat and the pointer moves to Y, which is read with the 2. informat. The pointer then moves to Z, which is read with the 2. informat. data test; input (x y z) (2.,+1); datalines; 2 24 36 0 20 30; The n* modifier can be used to specify the number of times to repeat the next informat. input (name score1-score5) ($10. 5*4.); score will be read in 5 times * Noterminal option for PROC EXPORT or PROC IMPORT The message Error: Cannot open X display may be received when using PROC IMPORT or PROC EXPORT in batch mode on Unix systems without a terminal present. This can be avoided by using the noterminal option. sas program-name -noterminal * Provide timing and memory usage information fullstimer collects performance statistcs on each SAS job step and for the job as a whole and puts them in the log file. Note: measures are a snapshot view of performance at step and job level; each SAS port yields different fullstimer statistics based on the host operating system. sas fullstimer program-name Sample result of SAS data step NOTE: DATA statement used: real time user cpu time system cpu time Memory Page Faults Page Reclaims Page Swaps Voluntary Context Switches Involuntary Context Switches Block Input Operations Block Output Operations

0.06 seconds 0.02 seconds 0.00 seconds 88k 10 0 0 22 0 10 12

May 30, 2008

* Read in compressed data file using zcat filename thedata pipe 'zcat datafile.Z'; OR filename thedata pipe gunzip c datafile.gz for gzipped files data _null_; infile thedata pad lrecl=40; input theline $80.; put theline=; run; run; * Read in space/tab delimited files data name; infile use dsd delimiter=" " firstobs=2 truncover; input heading1 :$10 heading2 $ heading 3 ; run; dlm can be used in place of delimiter Tab delimited files: use dlm=09x Comma delimited files: use dlm=, firstobs=2 tells SAS to start reading at line 2 (skips header line) :$10 colon tells SAS to read up to the number of characters specified or to the next delimiter, whichever comes first * Return the ID of a user in Unix environment %let person=%sysget(USER); %put User is &person; SAS log: User is uniqname * Return the value of a specified operating environment variable %let homedir=%sysget(HOME); (HOME must be in capital letters) data _null_; put "The value of my HOME environment variable is: &homedir"; run; SAS log: The value of my HOME environment variable is: /afs/sph.umich.edu/user/uniqname

May 30, 2008

* Rounding in SAS CEIL (ceiling) function (rounds up) Returns the smallest integer greater than or equal to the argument data a; x=2.102; y=ceil(x); put x= y=; run; Results in: x=2.102 y=3 Floor function (rounds down) Returns the smallest integer less than or equal to the argument data a; x=2.102; y=floor(x); put x= y=; run; Results in: x=2.102 y=2 * Specify a character string to pass to SAS programs using sysparm sas program-name -sysparm dept.projects (sysparm supplies name of data set for proc report) proc report data=&sysparm report=test.resorces.priority.rept; title "%sysfunc(date(),worddate.)"; title2 'Active Projects By Priority'; run; SAS sees: proc report data=dept.projects report=test.resorces.priority.rept; title Todays Date"; title2 'Active Projects By Priority'; run; or sas height.sas sysparm cm data height; set height; if sysparm() = cm then do; height=height*2.54; unit=centimeters; end; run;

May 30, 2008

SAS output (data height contains name, height, and inches as unit) NAME HEIGHT UNIT John 175.26 centimeters Sally 162.56 centimeters Peter 190.50 centimeters * Use SAS with pipes or as a filter under Unix (writing stdout to stdin without using an intermediate file. See http://support.sas.com/sassamples/quicktips/pipes_0702.html. * Using X commands in Solaris vs. Linux Solaris run X program, redirect STDOUT to file, and read file into SAS dataset: %let xcomm="getrand -n &numobs > rand.dat"; X &xcomm; data new; infile "rand.dat"; input ranu; run; Linux this will only work with the pipe option %let xcomm="getrand -n &numobs"; filename fromunix pipe &xcomm; data new; infile fromunix; input rannum; run;

May 30, 2008