Introduction to SAS Essentials

Mastering SAS for Data Analytics

Alan Elliott and Wayne Woodward

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 Chapter 1: Getting Started

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To be able to use the SAS software program in a
Windows environment.
To understand the basic information about getting
data into SAS and running a SAS program.
To be able to run a simple SAS program.

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Introducing SAS
SAS is a programming language that specializes in
data analytics.
There are several ways to use SAS this book
teaches you how to use SAS code, which provides
the most flexibility.
Well be using SAS in a Windows environment,
although SAS is available on most platforms.
A brief tutorial on the University Edition is in the books
appendix.
Also, information on using the Citrix SAS (Apps) version
is included in the text.

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Getting Started Download Example
Files
Getting the data needed for the course
Data files are available at

http//:www.alanelliott.com/sas

Choose one of three options to download files:

OPTION 1 - Download self-extracting file to copy SAS
files to C:\SASDATA) Recommended.
OPTION 2 Download a zipped version of data files.
Option 3 Download SAS files in text format a
chapter at a time.
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1.1 Using SAS in A Windows
Environment
SAS runs on a number of computer platforms
(operating systems) including mainframes and
personal computers whose operating systems are
UNIX, Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows.
This book is based on using SAS in a Windows
environment where you have the software installed
on your local computer. The vast majority of the
content in this book will apply to any SAS computer
environment.

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Creating a Folder for Storing Your
SAS Files
Install the data and SAS programming files in your
(Windows) C:\SASDATA folder.
Well be accessing SAS files from
Your Hard Disk
the C:\SASDATA folder on your
computer

C:\SASDAT SAS Program

A

If you are using the University edition, consult Appendix E regarding the
location of the data files. For other versions of SAS, see Table 1.1 on page 4 for
information on accessing files.

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Using the APPS version on campus
At some universities there is a network version of
SAS available. For example at SMU it is:

apps.smu.edu

When using apps version, instead of C:\ use

\\CLIENT\C$\

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Understanding the SAS Interface

LOG Window

Explorer
&
Results
Program Editor

NOTE TABS

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SAS Editor
Also called the Enhanced Editor or Windows
Programming Editor (WPGM), this is the area where
you write SAS code. It is like a simple word
processor. When you open a previously saved SAS
program, its contents will appear in this window.
SAS code is stored in plain ASCII text, so files saved
in the ASCII format from any other editor or word
processor may be easily opened in this editor.
You can also copy (or cut) text from another editor or
word processor and paste it into the Editor window.

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SAS Log
When you run a SAS program, a report detailing how
(and if) the program ran, appears in the LOG
window. Typically, when you run a SAS program, you
will first look at the contents of the LOG window to see
if there were any errors in the program. Errors appear
in red. You should also look for warnings and other
notes in the LOG Window to that tell you that some
part of your program may not have run correctly.

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SAS Explorer/Results Window
This window appears at the left of the screen and
contains two tabs: The Results tab displays a tree
listing of your output, making it easy to quickly scroll to
any place in your output listing. The Explorer tab
displays the available SAS libraries these libraries
are where SAS data files are stored.

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Graph Window
If your SAS program creates graphic output, SAS will
display a Graph window that contains the SAS graph.
It is usually automatically displayed. If it does not
appear click on the Graph tab to display this window.

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Results Viewer
Beginning with SAS 9.3, SAS displays output from
your SAS analysis in HTML format in the Results
Viewer. Well discuss more about how to control this
output in the section on Output Delivery System (ODS)

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Oops
What if you close one of these Windows?
Reopen it by going to the View pull-down menu and
select the windows you want to reopen

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1.2 Your First SAS Analysis
In SAS, choose File/Open Program and open the
program named C:\SASDATA\First.SAS

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Note Sections in Code

This section
defines the data for
the analysis

This section defines

an analysis

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Defining a Data Set

Well discuss this more in detail

later, but notice that this code
defines data set named
EMPLOYEES that consists of
two variables GENDER and
AGE.

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Requesting an Analysis

The second section of the

code requests an analysis.
In this case, the requested
analysis is called MEANS
(which indicates simple
statistics) and the CLASS
(classification or grouping) of
the data is request by
GENDER.

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Run the code

To tell SAS to run

(Submit) this code,
click on the Running
Man icon or select
Run/Submit

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Output Created, Results Window

The output created by this simple program displays simple statistics for the
numeric variables (AGE) in the data set By Gender. This type output is
HTML.

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What to do with output
You can print from the output window
Save the output
Copy and paste the results in Word, PowerPoint, etc.
Later, well see how to automatically output the
analyses to .DOC, .PDF, etc

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Do Hands-On Example p 9
Make sure you are in the Editor window.
Open Second.SAS.
Add a line to the program.
Run the program and observe the output.

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Results

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1.3 How SAS Works
1. Define a data set in SAS using the DATA step (which begins
with the key word DATA.) In this case, the data values are a
part of the code (although it is not always the case.) The data
values to be used in this analysis follow the keyword
DATALINES.

2. Once you have a data set of values, you can tell SAS what
analysis to perform using a procedure (PROC) statement In this
case, the keywords PROC MEANS initiate the "MEANS"
procedure.

3. Run the program and observe the output (in the Results
Viewer).

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1.4 Tips and Tricks for Running SAS
Within a SAS program, each statement begins with
an identifying keyword (DATA, PROC, INPUT,
DATALINES, RUN, etc.) and ends with a semicolon
;. For example:

DATA TEMP;
PROC PRINT DATA=TEMP;
RUN; All three lines start with a SAS keyword

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SAS Tips continued

Statements can begin anywhere and end anywhere.

Statements can continue over several lines, ends with
semicolon.
Several statements may be on the same line.
Blanks, as many as you want but at least one, separating
the components (words) in a SAS program statement.
Case, (lower and UPPER) doesnt matter in most SAS
statements.
Case does make a difference in data and quoted
information. (such as M or m for MALE or male).

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SAS Tips Continued
The most common error in SAS programming is a misplaced
(or missing) semicolon.
A second common error is a missing RUN; statement.
A third common error in a SAS program is the presence of
unbalanced quotation marks.
Look for errors in a program log from the top down.
If program errors cause problems that result in SAS freezing
up or not completing the steps in your program, a way to stop
SAS from continuing to run is to press CTRL-Break and to
select the Cancel Submitted Statements option.
If you cannot resolve a problem within SAS, save your files,
exit the SAS program, and restart.
Make the structure of your SAS programs easy to read.

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Enhanced Editor
Green - Comments appear in green.
Dark Blue - Major SAS commands (also called
step-boundaries) begin with the keyword in dark
blue.
Blue - Keywords that have special meaning as SAS
commands appear in blue.
Yellow highlight - Data are highlighted in yellow.
Boundary Line - A section boundary line separates
each step.

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SAS Function Keys (Defined)
Function SAS command Result
Key
F2 RESHOW reshows window interrupted by system
command
F3 END; /*GSUBMIT submits SAS statements in clipboard
BUFFER=DEFAUL
T*/
F4 RECALL recalls current SAS code to editor
F5 PROGRAM (PGM) display SAS program editor window
F6 LOG displays SAS log window
F7 OUTPUT displays SAS output window
F8 ZOOM submits (runs) the current SAS program
OFF;SUBMIT
F9 KEYS displays keys window
F10 NOT DEFINED
F11 COMMAND BAR moves cursor to command bar
F12 NOT DEFINED

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Define a new F12 Key (page 13)
Step 1: Select Tools, Options, and Keys.
Step 2: Next to the blank F12 option enter this code:

CLEAR LOG; ODSRESULTS; CLEAR; WPGM;

(Press the Enter key to lock in the new command.)
Step 3: Exit the Key Window and try out this function
key by re-running one of the previous examples. With
the output displayed on the screen, press F12. The
output will be cleared, the log file information will be
cleared and the editor window will be displayed still
containing the current program code. Thus, this
command allows you to quickly clear the log and output
windows while keeping the program code.
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SAS Menus (Change depending on
Window)
File Menu - Used for opening and saving files, and for printing.
Edit Menu - Used to copy, cut and paste text, as well as to find and replace text.
View Menu - Allows you to go back and forth between viewing SAS editor, log
and output windows.
Tools - Allows you to open programs for graphic, image, and text editing, along
with other options available to customize the program to your preferences.
Run - Allows you to run (submit) a SAS program and also contains options for
accessing remote SAS options.
Solutions - Contains links to SAS programs that allow you to interactively
design, select, and perform analyses.
Window - Contains options found in most Windows program that allow you to
choose display strategies for opened windows such as tiled, cascade, etc. Also
allows you to select a particular window to open such as Log, Output, etc.
Help - Contains options for the SAS Help System as well as online
documentation.

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Common File Extensions
SAS Code File (filename.sas): This is an ACSII text file
and may be edited using the SAS Editor, Notepad, or any
text editor that can read an ASCII file.
SAS Log File (filename.log): This ASCII text file contains
information such as errors, warnings, and data set details
for a submitted SAS program.
SAS Results File (filename.mht or filename.html): This
file contains web-formatted output such as that displayed
in the Results Viewer. HTML stands for Hyper-Text
Markup Language and is the common language of
Internet web files. MHT is short for MHTML and stands
for Microsoft (or MIME) Hypertext Archive file.

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More extensions
SAS Data File (filename.sas7bdat): This file contains a
SAS data set that includes variable names, labels, and the
results of calculations you may have performed in a DATA
step. You cannot open or read this file except in SAS or in a
few other programs that can read SAS data files.
Raw Data Files (filename.dat or filename.txt or
filename.csv): These ASCII (text) files contain raw data that
can be imported into SAS or edited in an editor such as
Notepad.
Excel File (filename.xls or filename.xlsx): The data in a
Microsoft Excel file (when properly formatted into a table of
columnar data) can be imported into SAS. (Well discuss
data file types that can be imported into SAS in Chapter 3.)

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Help -> SAS Help and Documentation

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1.5 Summary, Chapter 1
This chapter provided an overview of SAS and
examples of how to run an existing SAS program. In
the following chapters, we will discuss the
components of a SAS program, including how to
enter data, how to request analyses, and how to
format and read output.
Continue to Chapter 2: Getting Data Into SAS.

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 These slides are based on the book:

Introduction to SAS Essentials

Mastering SAS for Data Analytics, 2nd
Edition

By Alan C, Elliott and Wayne A. Woodward

Paperback: 512 pages

Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (August 3,
2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 111904216X
ISBN-13: 978-1119042167
These slides are provided for you to use to teach SAS using this book. Feel
free to modify them for your own needs. Please send comments about errors
in the slides (or suggestions for improvements) to acelliott@smu.edu.
Thanks.
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