SAS Training at OSEDA Fall, 2001 Objectives are to teach –Fundamentals of the SAS system (“SAS Classic +”) –Basics of the current OSEDA / MCDC data archives (SAS data collections) –How to create and access the new “Key Indicators” database.

SAS Software We’ll take a very selective approach to this huge subject. Focus on “classic” data and proc steps, with some emphasis on producing web format output. Using The Little SAS Book as sort of a “text”. Custom examples for our environment.

Why SAS? Best “power per learning hour” ratio. 20-year history of converting census and other public data files to SAS data libs. SAS data libs are relatively simple, provide fast access and great flexibility. Good interfaces to other formats (dbf, mdb, xls, Oracle, etc.) Runs on Unix and Windows with easy interface.

The Data Archive (s) Current data collection spread over two AIX (Unix on RS6000) machines: –oseda –mcdc2 Includes SAS data libs + raw data + metadata. SAS code used to create sets kept in the archive.

Archive Data Focus on decennial census data (mcdc) Other Census Bureau data (pop. Estimates, Census of Ag, county business patterns.) Data from BEA, NCES, etc (other federal) Data from DESE, MSCHS, etc (other state) Most data converted here to SAS data sets.

Unix Platforms Oseda.missouri.edu: classic OSEDA AIX machine, since Mcdc2.missouri.edu: new AIX machine (2001): bigger, faster. Plan is to migrate most data from the oseda machine to this one. (Version 7 format SAS data sets). Web applications provide public access to the public data on both these machines.

Uexplore / Xtract The software that provides web access to the data archive(s). Uexplore is a cgi-bin (Perl) that gives Explorer- like access to data directories. Xtract is a SAS program suite running with a web interface that allows basic queries to extract contents of our SAS data sets. Hypercon is companion app that displays “proc contents”-like reports.

Direct Access vs Uexplore Objective of this course is to make Uexplore/Xtract unnecessary. You should be able to do your extracts directly in SAS now. Benefits are speed, flexibility, repeatability and creation of an “audit trail” in terms of the SAS program that creates the extract.

Linking Data to Web Content New OSEDA web paradigm includes a requirement that we be able to point to our data source for any report/map/chart etc. Using SAS program modules helps in achieving this goal since you can reference the.sas file that created the data. Reduces possibility of a “typo” problem. Esp. in cases where you manually create 115 subfiles.

SAS at OSEDA Specifics The Little SAS Book will describe the SAS language and give some oversimplified examples of how to edit and submit code in a Windows 95 environment. But … You need more specific info re how SAS works here, especially because we plan to suggest and promote a multi-platform approach. Most will write code in a Windows DM environment, but the data will be on Unix servers.

Modes of SAS Execution Many possibilities exist, but only a few are practical. We define “mode” as a combination of: –Local platform (operating system) –Interactive vs. batch submission. –Where and how data are accessed/processed: Local platform Remote platform via SAS/Connect Remote platform via SAS/Share server.

SAS Usage Notes Page We have created a web page on the OSEDA S: drive: s:\sas8\usgnotes.html and on the web at oseda.missouri.edu/jgb/sas8.usgnotes.html This document contains information specific to the OSEDA site re SAS software. Everyone needs to read and understand this page.

Assignment By next class you should have read the SAS Usage Notes page and used what you learned to: –Install SAS8.2 on your PC under Windows. –Define the two SAS/Share servers oseda.demoserv and mcdc.mcdcshr in your services file. –Create your own autoexec.sas file. The file should contain at least 1 libname statement referencing a SAS/Share library.

Approach to Learning SAS We’ll use chapters of The Little SAS Book (“TLSB”) as general outline for subject matter. A few topics will be added that are not in the book. We’ll augment with examples using the data archive instead of the trivial sample data used in the book. We’ll point you to more examples and assign exercises. Emphasize “real world” examples.