ARCHIVE: Introduction to SAS – Updated W22

Before we can start using the SAS program and learn how to write the code and match it to our data and trials, we need to be aware of different versions of SAS that we have access to.

Available Versions of SAS

• PC Standalone Version – PC-SAS or SAS 9.4
  • Available for Windows ONLY – if you’re using a Mac, you will need to have a VM to emulate Windows to run this version
  • Available through CCS Software Distribution Centre for a fee, please check https://guelph.onthehub.com/WebStore/Welcome.aspx for updated pricing and access information or email 58888help@uoguelph.ca for more information
• SAS OnDemand For Academics – SAS Studio
  • Since this is a Cloud system – please recognize that your data and programs reside in the cloud and NOT on your local system, and you are using their computer resources NOT your own system – accessed through a web browser with your own personal login

SAS 9.4 & SAS Studio (OnDemand):  What Parts of SAS do you have access to?

SAS is an extremely large and complex software program with many different components.  We primarily use Base SAS, SAS/STAT, SAS/ACCESS, and maybe bits and pieces of other components such as SAS/IML.

• BaseSAS – base SAS programming, DATA Step
• SAS/STAT – the PROCs used for statistical analyses
• SAS/IML – SAS’ matrix programming language
• SAS/ACCESS – allows you to interact with different data formats
• Some parts of SAS/ETS – time series analysis

To see exactly what you have access to, you can run the following code:

Proc Setinit;
Run;

You will see the components available to you listed in the log window.

Also note the additional information available to you:

• License information
• Expiration date – very handy to be aware of, especially if you are running your own copy of your PC
• SAS components available to you

SAS 9.4:  What does SAS look like?

There are a number of components to the SAS interface:

• Results and Explorer windows to the left
• Editor, Log, Output, and Results Viewer windows to the right, taking up most of the screen

SAS 9.4: What do each of these windows do?

• Results Window –  a Table of Contents for all of your results.
• Explorer Window – similar to Windows Explorer – allows you to navigate SAS libraries and files
• Editor Window – this is where you will spend most of your time, writing and editing program files
• Log Window – this window is extremely helpful, think of it as your best friend in SAS, it tells you what SAS has done every step of your program and processing
• Output Window – SAS versions 9.2 and earlier, use this window to display all results and output.  SAS 9.3 and higher use a new window called the Results Viewer.  All the results are presented in an HTML format.

SAS Studio:  What does SAS look like?

You’ll notice the same windows as SAS 9.4 – but called slightly different things.  CODE = Editor;  LOG = log;  RESULTS=Results Viewer;

However, you’ll see a few handy items on the left-hand side of your screen in SAS Studio – items you will become very familiar with!  But let’s dig into these as we work through getting our data in and so on – in the next part of our session.

How does SAS work?

SAS is divided into 2 areas:

• DATA step
• PROCs (short for PROCedures)

DATA step is all about data manipulation – one of the key strengths to SAS
PROCs – this is where you will find most of your statistical procedures.

Let’s Get Started with Reading Data

Notes to Reading Data into SAS are available as a PDF document for participants in the OAC W22 Intro to SAS workshop.  If you did not participate in the workshop and would like a copy of the notes – please send me an email.