1. You deserve ARRAYs! How to be more efficient using SAS®
By: Kate Burnett-Isaacs
Presented at SAS Global Forum 2015

2. Introduction
An array is a group of related variables defined in a DATA step
Arrays are extremely useful when a repetitive process, such as a calculation, transformation or function, needs to be applied to a large set of variables
An array enables the programmer to set a list of variables once and then refer this list, or elements within the list, any number of times within a single DATA step
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3. Establishing The Array
We define an array in an ARRAY statement within the DATA step by the keyword ‘array’ :
Array name: array_name
Length of the array: {N} or {*}
Variables or array elements that it will contain: variable1 … variableN
All array elements must be character or numeric
array array_name {N} variable1 … variableN;
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4. Using The Array
The number in the braces indicates the corresponding element in the array
To refer variable2:
To apply a repetitive process to a large set of variables, use the DO loop:
Use all of the array elements together in the calculation of the sum or mean with OF operator:
array_name {2};
do i=1 to dim(array_name);
array_name {i}=i;
end;
Total=sum(of array_name {*});
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5. Example
You are an employer, whose employees took a week long SAS course
If they were absent, no grade is present
To reward participation, each employee gets 2% of their weekly earnings for every day they attend the course
You want to show your employees how much they made each day of the course and what their total weekly salary will be at the end of the week long course
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6. Example Dataset
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7. Example with IF-ELSE Statement
data No_Arrays;
set SAS_scores;
if NOT MISSING(Monday) then BnsMon=(Wkearn*0.02);
else BnsMon=0;
if NOT MISSING(Tuesday) then BnsTues=(Wkearn*0.02);
else BnsTues=0;
if NOT MISSING(Wednesday) then BnsWed=(Wkearn*0.02);
else BnsWed=0;
if NOT MISSING(Thursday) then BnsThurs=(Wkearn*0.02);
else BnsThurs=0;
if NOT MISSING(Friday) then BnsFri=(Wkearn*0.02);
else BnsFri=0;
fnlearn=wkearn+sum(BnsMon, BnsTues, BnsWed, BnsThurs, BnsFri);
keep Name BnsMon BnsTues abWed BnsThurs BnsFri fnlearn;
run;
we would use an IF-ELSE statement for each day of the week in order to create a daily bonus variable (bnsMon-bnsFri) that reflects the amount earned by each employee for each day of the week they attended the SAS course. In order to determine the final weekly earnings (fnlearn), any daily bonuses attained will be added to the weekly earnings of each employee
This method is fairly tedious to code and error-prone. Imagine the number of IF-ELSE statements needed to conduct these calculations over several months or even a year, instead of a week!
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8. Example with Arrays data Using_Arrays; set SAS_scores;
array array_day {*} Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday;
array bonus {*} BnsMon BnsTues BnsWed BnsThurs BnsFri;
do i=1 to dim(array_day);
if NOT MISSING(array_day {i}) then bonus{i}=Wkearn*(0.02);
else bonus {i}=0;
end;
fnlearn=(wkearn+sum(of bonus {*}));
keep Name BnsMon BnsTues abWed BnsThurs BnsFri fnlearn;
run;
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9. Results Copyright © 2013, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.
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10. Conclusion
Arrays can easily scale with the size of the program and the data, the time and effort saved will also increase accordingly
An array is a very useful tool when repetitively processing large sets of variables.
Arrays allow repetitive code to be more efficiently executed and less prone to coding mistakes.
Use arrays and in no time you will receive your raise!
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Copyright © 2013, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

11. The SAS Global Forum Experience
OASUS Spring or Fall YYYY
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The SAS Global Forum Experience
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13. How to Choose a Paper Topic
What you found challenging in your own SAS experience
What you would like to learn more about
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14. Session Choice
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15. Application Process Apply on SAS Global Forum website Abstract
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16. Presenting Minimal text or code on the slides
At most, one slide per minute
Leave time for questions
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17. OASUS Spring or Fall YYYY
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18. OASUS Spring or Fall YYYY
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