NOTE: There's No In In Macro (or is there?!)

I love the SAS macro language and the power it gives you. Being able to control the creation of a SAS program, or its execution path, is immensely valuable. The SAS macro language contains the vast majority of the functional and logic capabilities of the Base SAS language but one notable exception is the ability to use the IN operator in a %do / %end statement. However, you might be pleased to know there's a little-known option to allow the use of IN in macros.

SAS v9.2 introduced the MINOPERATOR system option. It defaults to NO, but if you switch it on then you gain the use of the IN operator in SAS macro language. See the code example in the SAS log below:

26 option minoperator;
27
28 %macro babbage;
29
30   %if &sysver in 9.2 9.3 %then
31     %put I have the use of MINOPERATOR! ;
32   %else
33     %put I have no MINOPERATOR option ;
34
35 %mend babbage;
36
37 %babbage
I have the use of MINOPERATOR!

The SAS macro IN operator has had a checkered history. Introduced in v9.0/9.1 (together with a lot of other nice new macro features), it disappeared in later versions of 9.1 (for instance, the copy of 9.1.3 I have in front of me does not support IN). Regardless, it seems to be back to stay now! I presume there are some possible syntax clashes with existing SAS programs and that's why it firstly disappeared and secondly reappeared as a switched-off option..

You'll notice that the syntax differs a little from Base SAS, but it's all described in the online help. In short, there's no brackets around the list of values, and the values are separated by spaces. You can use the MINDELIMITER system option to specify an alternate delimiter. You can use the hash character (#) instead of "in", but I suggest that would just make your code hard to read.

If you're not already a keen user of SAS macro, find out more and see what you're missing!

NOTE: Updated Pocket Reference

When Rick Aster first saw his book Professional SAS Programmer’s Pocket Reference published can he have imagined that a sixth edition would be published nearly twenty years later? Well, it has. Suitably updated for SAS 9.3.

There's a good reason why Rick's book is still in print: people find it an invaluable tool. The book offers key information about SAS statements, options, routines, and more, all in a compact, easy-to-use, handily-sized format.

To find out more about Rick, and to see the variety of other SAS resources on offer, see Rick's Global Statements web site. For some crosswords with a SAS and technology theme (and some other R&R activities), see Rick's PROC RASTINATE page. Don't delay.

Dennis Ritchie (1941-2011)

I was saddened to hear of the death of Dennis Ritchie recently. As creator of the C programming language and co-creator of unix, there are elements of his work throughout my personal and professional life: Android and Apple iOS are based on linux (a flavour of unix), and many of my clients run unix or linux servers for SAS software. As a Computer Science student between 1980 and 1983, C and unix were my bread and butter.

As somebody who has struggled, not yet mastered, but at least come to terms with unix, I'm amused by a quote associated with Dennis:

UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand the simplicity

Dennis's name and work may not be as well recognised as others with greater marketing and self-promotion skills, but rest assured that the scope and influence of his work is far greater.

Dennis, we salute you. RIP.

NOTE: (Constructive) Feedback is Good

Sometimes it's adequate that SAS simply does what you ask. On other occasions, it's useful to know a little more detail of what SAS is doing on your behalf - maybe because it's making decisions for you, or maybe you're trying to figure-out a problem with your code.

Adding the FEEDBACK keyword to a PROC SQL statement will result in a bunch of useful information being written to the SAS log:

• Any asterisk (for example, SELECT *) is expanded into the list of qualified columns that it represents. 
• Any PROC SQL view is expanded into the underlying query. 
• Macro variables are resolved. 
• Parentheses are shown around all expressions to further indicate their order of evaluation. 
• Comments are removed.

Here's an example log, showing the SELECT * being expanded and a macro variable being fully resolved (note how the column name is prefixed with the table name, and the sort order (ASC) is shown):


15 %let ob = age; 
16 proc sql feedback; 
17   select * 
18     from sashelp.class 
19     order by &ob 
20     ; 
NOTE: Statement transforms to: 


        select CLASS.Name, CLASS.Sex, CLASS.Age, CLASS.Height, CLASS.Weight 
          from SASHELP.CLASS 
      order by CLASS.Age asc; 


 21 quit; 

Quite apart from revealing some of what SAS is doing behind the scenes, the expansion of SELECT * into the log allows you to subsequently copy/paste the column names back into your program and then remove one or two that you don't want to keep.

Another good option for revealing information is OPTION MSGLEVEL=I. Setting this option will also result in some hitherto "secret" information being written to the SAS log. For example, SAS will tell you if it has used an index (and it will tell you which index it has used). Here's an example log (demonstrating how indexed data sets can be successfully read through a BY statement even if the data set is not physically sorted):

15 option msglevel=i; 
16 data holiday; 
17   set maps.spain2; 
18   by regname; 
19 run; 
INFO: Index REGNAME selected for BY clause processing. 
NOTE: There were 53 observations read from the data set MAPS.SPAIN2. 
NOTE: The data set WORK.HOLIDAY has 53 observations and 10 variables.

The FEEDBACK and MSGLEVEL options are both useful techniques to get more of an insight into what SAS is doing and hence what your program is doing.

NOTE: SAS Global Forum (SGF) 2012 Call For Papers

Next year's SAS Global Forum will be held in Orlando, Florida, USA from April 22 to 25. As ever, it will be your best opportunity of the year to get up-to-date with SAS news and latest releases; pick up a bucket-load of hints, tips, and experiences; meet SAS's developers and pick their brains.

Why not make your own contribution to the event? Consider submitting a paper or poster. You have until November 14 to make a proposal. If you've not done such a thing in the past, fear not, some of the section heads are very supportive of new blood and will provide invaluable help, advice and feedback. Just go to the event home page and click the Get Involved link near the top of the page.

Will I see you there?

NOTE: More Tip Sheets

In response to the SAS/Base tip sheets I mentioned a couple of weeks back, Rick Wicklin sent me a comment to say he'd been inspired to publish a couple of tip sheets for SAS/IML. He's highlighted these in his latest posting on his The DO Loop blog. One is for standard SAS/IML coding, the other is for the IMLPlus language - available through SAS/IML Studio. Both look very smart and very useful.

NOTE: IBM to Acquire Platform Computing

There's interesting news coming out of IBM this afternoon with their announcement that they are to acquire Platform Computing. This is of relevance to SAS customers because Platform Computing supplies key parts of some SAS solutions (such as the LSF for scheduling and RTM for grid monitoring).

IBM would like to see themselves as competitors for SAS. Their disparate portfolio of products includes SPSS, Cognos and DataStage. All have been acquired (rather than developed in-house) and all provide various levels of integration with each other. IBM may be reluctant to share their soon-to-be-acquired technology with competitors such as SAS. On the other hand, SAS may have a firm, long-term supply contract with Platform.

If we assume that SAS were aware of IBM's interest in Platform, one wonders whether they considered out-bidding IBM. Or do SAS have an in-house set of solutions that they might roll-out soon?...

Clearly, nothing's going to suddenly stop working, and nothing's going to change in the near future, so this acquisition isn't a concern for SAS customers. However, it's a matter of interest for SAS customers, and I for one am intrigued to see what the longer-term outcome of this acquisition turns-out to be.

NOTE: Enterprise Guide Autoexec

I'm part-teaching 10 Tips for Organising Your SAS Enterprise Guide Projects (EG1) in Marlow this week. Thus I was all the more interested to note the latest posting in the SAS Dummy blog wherein Chris Hemedinger lists his top ten EG tips.

The tips are applicable to all levels of EG expertise. Quite apart from being reminded that we can change the background colour of each process flow (tip 8), I was most grateful for the reminder of the ability to have an automatically executed process flow in EG 4.3 (tip 9). Chris provided some background/history to this back in January. If you're using EG 4.2 you can't use the autoexec process flow to provide a project-specific autoexec, but you can use Tools -> Options -> SAS Programs to create a "user-specific" autoexec.

NOTE: Free SAS Book (ODS Graphics)

You don't have to have an Amazon Kindle device to read Kindle books, which is why the free copies of the Kindle version of SAS 9.3 ODS Graphics caught my eye and led me to acquire a copy for myself (albeit through a convoluted route because I live in the UK).

I have the kindle reader software on my PC, my Android tablet, and my Android phone, so I can get myself updated on SAS graphics almost anywhere I like. Amazon's own readers are limited to black and white viewing (except for the new Kindle Fire), whereas my PC and Android devices display the book's contents in colour - handy for a book about graphics.

This Kindle book is free until October 16. Don't hesitate, don't miss out!

NOTE: Security Metadata Tool Enhanced (Metacoda Security Plug-Ins)

Back in April at SAS Global Forum (SGF) I wrote to say how I was impressed by the Metacoda Security Plug-Ins. SAS's security capabilities are not in question; the Metacoda Security Plug-Ins are a collection of plug-ins for SAS Management Console offering a large number of new, business-focused views on your SAS security metadata, making SAS's range of security capabilities more accessible, understandable, and easier to use.

The version I saw in April worked for SAS version 9.1.3 and 9.2. Michelle from Metacoda recently dropped me a line to highlight version 2 of the plug-ins. Version 2 introduces support for SAS 9.3. I recommend you take a look and contact Metacoda for more information.

And, Metacoda's Paul Homes's blog is featured in the right-hand margin of the NOTE: web site. If your job responsibilities/interests include SAS platform administration then Paul's blog will undoubtedly be a good read for you.

BBC, on SAS

The BBC's Technology of Business site featured an interview with SAS's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Keith Collins this week. The interview is themed on "big data" and it includes Keith's thoughts on the accelerating interest in understanding one's customers. Use of the internet as a channel for promoting and selling products and services means that even the smallest of organisations can reach large volumes of (potential) customers. All of these companies are potential beneficiaries of customer intelligence.

It's an interesting interview, and worthy of a read.

Keith finishes-off by talking of one or two mistakes he feels he's made, one of which was not realising how fast the market for tablet computers would develop. If you thought there a lot of mobile BI stuff at SAS Global Forum this year, next year will be even bigger!