1. Introduction to SAS Essentials Mastering SAS for Data Analytics
Alan Elliott and Wayne Woodward
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

2. Chapter 5 Preparing to Use SAS Procedures
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES To be able to use SAS® Support Statements
To be able to use TITLE and FOOTNOTE
To be able to include comments in your code
To be able to use RUN and QUIT correctly
To understand SAS PROC statement syntax
To be able to use VAR statements
To be able to use BY statements
To be able to use ID statements
To be able to use LABEL statements in a SAS procedure
To be able to use WHERE statements
To be able to use PROC PRINT
Going Deeper: To be able to use common System Options
Going Deeper: To be able to split column titles
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

4. 5.1 Understanding SAS Support Statements
Using TITLE and FOOTNOTES Statements
Specify up to 10 titles or footnotes
TITLE ‘title text’;
FOOTNOTE ‘footnote text’; or
TITLEn ‘title text’;
FOOTNOTEn ‘footnote text
First line of either Title or Footnote
Define line 2 to 9 of Titles or Footnotes
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

5. TITLE and FOOTNOTES Examples
TITLE 'The first line of the title';
TITLE2 'The second line of the title';
TITLE5 'Several lines skipped, then this title on the fifth line';
FOOTNOTE 'This is a footnote';
FOOTNOTE3 'This is a footnote, line 3';
Cancel all TITLE and FOOTNOTE lines with the statement
TITLE; FOOTNOTE;
Do Hands On Exercise P 114
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

6. HANDS ON Example p 114 (DTITLE1.SAS)
Creates titles on lines 1, 2 and 4, and a Footnote on line 1 of footnotes.
The title for line 1 is retained, TITLE4 is erased, FOOTNOTE 1 remains.
All titles and footnotes are erased.

7. Customizing Titles and Footnotes
There are a number of options that can be used with the TITLE or FOOTNOTE statements to customize the look of your title.
Some of these options include specifying color with a C= or COLOR= option. For example:
TITLE C=BLUE H=5 "This is a title";
Title appears in (C= or COLOR=) blue with a height (H= or HEIGHT= ) larger than normal. (H=1 is default)
See Appendix A for colors, fonts, and other options.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

8. Customizing Titles and Footnotes
There are a number of options that can be used with the TITLE or FOOTNOTE statements to customize the look of your title.
Some of these options include specifying color with a C= or COLOR= option. For example:
TITLE C=BLUE H=5 "This is a title";
This title appears in the color (C= or COLOR=) blue with a height (H= or HEIGHT= ) larger than normal.
Do Hands on Example p116.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

9. SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

10. Including Comments in Your SAS Code
It is a good programming practice to include explanatory comments in your code. There are two options for putting comments in your code
Method 1 - Begin with an asterisk (*), and end with a semi-colon (;).
*This is a message
It can be several lines long
But it always ends with an ;
*************************************************************
* Boxed messages stand out more, still end in a semicolon *
*************************************************************;
DATA MYDATA; * You can put a comment on a line of code;
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

11. Comments Method 2 – Begin with /* and end with */
/*This is a SAS comment*/
/* Use this comment technique to comment out lines of code
PROC PRINT;
PROC MEANS;
End of comment – the PROCS were ignored*/
The code from /* to */ Is ignored by SAS
These semi-colons are ignored.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

12. Using RUN and QUIT Statements
The RUN statement causes previously entered SAS statements to be executed. It is called a boundary statement. For example:
PROC PRINT;
PROC MEANS;
RUN;
Another boundary statement is the QUIT statement. It is sometimes used in conjunction with a RUN statement to cease an active procedure. For example:
PROC REG;
QUIT;
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

13. 5.2 UNDERSTANDING PROC STATEMENT SYNTAX
Although there are scores of SAS PROCs (procedures), the syntax is consistent across all of them. The general syntax of the SAS PROC statement is:
PROC name options;
Statements/statementoptions;
. . .etc. . .
RUN;
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

14. Four parts of a PROC Statement
PROC name options; statements/statementoptions;
The name of the SAS procedure such as MEANS or PRINT.
OPTIONS appear BEFORE the semicolon. Typical options are DATA=, NOPRINT, and others – typically deal with the data set or output.
STATEMENTS appear as a separate “phrase” (with its on semicolon.) These usually specify options within the procedure. There may be multiple Statements.
Statements may have their own options following a slash (/).
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

15. Example PROC Syntax (Options)
The most commonly used option within the PROC statement is the DATA= option. For example:
PROC PRINT DATA=MYDATA;
RUN;
The DATA= option tells SAS which data set to use in the analysis.
Note that options appear in the PROC statement BEFORE the semicolon.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

16. Example PROC Syntax (Statements)
Procedure statements are often required to indicate information about how an analysis is to be performed. For example:
PROC PRINT DATA=MYDATA;
VAR ID GROUP TIMEl TIME2;
RUN;
STATEMENTS appear AFTER the first PROC semicolon
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

17. Example PROC Syntax (Statement Options)
Statements can themselves have options. For example:
PROC FREQ DATA=MYDATA;
TABLES GROUP*SOCIO/CHISQ;
RUN;
This is a statement option – note that it follows a slach (/) within the Statement
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

18. Summary of typical PROC Syntax
PROC FREQ DATA=MYDATA;
TABLES GROUP*SOCIO/CHISQ;
RUN;
PROC name
PROC option
PROC Statement
PROC Statement Option
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

19. Some typical options that are COMMON to most PROCS include:
Common PROC options
Some typical options that are COMMON to most PROCS include:
DATA= Specify data set to use in the analysis
NOPRINT Do not display certain output
OUT= Send results to an output data set
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

20. Common PROC Statements
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

21. Common PROC Statements
VAR variable(s); Instructs SAS to use only the variables in the list for the analysis.
BY variable(s); Repeats the procedure for each different value of the named variable(s). (The data set must first be sorted by the variables listed in the BY statement.)
ID variable(s); Instructs SAS to use the specified variable as an observation identifier in a listing of the data.
LABEL var='label'; Assigns a descriptive label to a variable.
WHERE (expression); Instructs SAS to select only those observations for which the expression is true.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

22. OPTIONS Specific to a PROC
In PROC MEANS, for example, the MAXDEC option specified how many decimal places to report.
The options specific for PROC will be covered as the PROCS are introduced
PROC MEANS
DATA=“C:\SASDATA\SOMEDATA”
MAXDEC=2;
RUN;
Notice that BOTH the DATA= and the MAXDEC= options are within the first semicolon.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

23. Using the VAR Statement in a SAS Procedure
The VAR Statement is often used to specify a list of variables to use in an analysis
VAR varlist;
An example is as follows:
PROC MEANS;
VAR HEIGHT WEIGHT AGE;
RUN;
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

24. Listing a range of Variables
List a range of variables with consecutive numeric suffixes such as Q1 , Q2, Q3, etc. to Q50 using a single dash between the first and last: Q1-Q50:
VAR Q1-Q50;
List a range of variables without consecutive suffixes with two dashes. Example:
VAR ID - - TIME4;
USE two dashes to indicate all variables between the indicated names
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

25. Using the BY Statement in a SAS Procedure
The BY statement allows you to quickly analyze subsets of your data. Repeat an analysis for each value in BY (data must be in sorted order by BY variable.) Example:
PROC SORT DATA="C:\SASDATA\SOMEDATA" OUT=SORTED;
BY GP;RUN;
PROC MEANS DATA=SORTED MAXDEC=2;
BY GP;
RUN;
Sort
Note OUT= in OPTIONS
BY is used first to SORT, then to request analysis by group.
BY is used first to SORT, then to request analysis by group.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

26. Hands-On Exercise p 121 Open the File DSORTMEANS.SAS
SORT the data set by GP, then use the BY statement in a PROC Statement to do analyses by the indexed values (GP)
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

27. Results Multiple results displayed
GP is the BY variable… thus multiple analyses BY GP
GP is the BY variable… thus multiple analyses BY GP
GP is the BY variable… thus multiple analyses BY GP
EXERCISE – Change the BY value to STATUS instead of GP (Sort first). Rerun the analysis.
PAUSE. Continue once you have completed this exercise
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

28. Now the output contains analyses by the values of STATUS.
Results
Now the output contains analyses by the values of STATUS.

29. 5.3 Using the ID Statement In a SAS Procedure
The ID statement provides you with a way to increase the readability of your output. It instructs SAS to use the specified variable as an observation identifier in a listing of the data (Instead of the OBS column.)
* FIRST VERSION;
PROC PRINT DATA=MYSASLIB.SOMEDATA;RUN;
* SECOND VERSION;
PROC PRINT DATA=MYSASLIB.SOMEDATA;
ID RAT_ID;
RUN;
RAT_ID is the ID variable
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

30. Example of ID Statement
Observe Results, first without ID Statement
Second time with ID Statement
Notice how the Obs statement was replaced with the RAT_ID column
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

31. 5.4 Using the LABEL Statement IN A SAS PROCEDURE
Aversion of the LABEL statement allows you to create labels for variable names within a procedure.
LABEL var='label';
Assigns a descriptive label to a variable. Example:
PROC PRINT LABEL;
ID RAT_ID;
LABEL TRT='Treatment';
RUN;
NOTE: This assignment of a LABEL only works during this PROC, unlike the LABEL statement in a DATA Step that is saved within the data set.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

32. Hands-On Exercise p 124 (D_ID.SAS)
Example of the LABEL Statement in a PROC
This code:
PROC MEANS DATA=WEIGHT;
LABEL WT_GRAMS="Treatment"
MDATE="MEDOBS Date";
RUN;
Produces this output
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

33. 5.5 Using THE WHERE Statement IN A SAS PROCEDURE
The WHERE statement allows you to specify a conditional criterion for which output will be included in an analysis. Example
WHERE TRT="A";
within a PROC statement causes the procedure to only use records in the dataset that match the criteria TRT=“A”.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

34. Hands on EXERCISE p 125
Using the code from the previous Hands-On Example (D_ID.SAS), modify the PROC MEANS statement:
PROC MEANS DATA=SORTED;
VAR TIME1 TIME2;
BY STATUS;
RUN;
EXERCISE - Add the following statement after the BY Statement, and before the RUN statement
WHERE STATUS LT 4;
Run the edited program and observe the results.
PAUSE – Continue once you’ve completed this exercise.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

35. Only the first 3 STATUS value analyses appear in the output.
Results
Only the first 3 STATUS value analyses appear in the output.

36. This code produces this output… for only TRT=“A”
Do Hands On Example p 125
Example of the WHERE statement
PROC PRINT LABEL DATA=WEIGHT;
ID RAT_ID;
LABEL TRT='Treatment ' ;
WHERE TRT="A";
RUN;
This code produces this output… for only TRT=“A”
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

37. 5.6 USING PROC PRINT
Although several previous examples have used a simple version of the PROC PRINT procedure, a number of options for this procedure have not been discussed. Here are common options:
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

38. Common Statements for PROC PRINT
For example, the SUM statement specifies that a sum of the values for the variables listed is to be reported.
SUM COST;
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

39. Do Hands On Example p 127 Using APRINT1.SAS
PROC PRINT DATA="C:\SASDATA\SOMEDATA"
N = 'Number of Subjects is: '
Obs='Subjects';
SUM TIME1 TIME2 TIME3 TIME4;
TITLE 'PROC PRINT Example';
RUN;
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

40. Output from example showing PROC PRINT options and statement results
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

41. 5.7 GOING DEEPER: SPLITTING COLUMN TITLES IN PROC PRINT
Normally, SAS splits titles at blanks when needed to conserve space in a report.
If you want a different look, you can tell SAS where you want the labels to be split using the SPLIT= option. For example:
PROC PRINT DATA=SOMEDATASET;
SPLIT='*‘
LABEL INC_KEY='Subject*ID*============'
AGE='Age in*2014*============'
GENDER='Gender* *============‘;
In this code, SAS splits the labels where it sees an asterisk. Do the Hands On Example p 129 (APRINT3.SAS).
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

42. Results of using the Split Option
Note how the splits for labels occur – according to where the asterisks were in the code.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

43. 5.8 GOING DEEPER: COMMON SYSTEM OPTIONS
Although not a part of a PROC statement, System Options can be used to customize the way output is displayed or how data in a data set is used.
This section introduces some commonly used options. System Options are specified using the OPTIONS statement. The syntax for the OPTIONS statement is
OPTIONS option1 option2 ... ;
For example
OPTIONS ORIENTATION=LANDSCAPE;
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

44. Common System Options (See Table 5.14)
Meaning
FIRSTOBS=n and OBS=n;
Specifies the first observation to be used in a data set (FIRSTOBS=) and the last observation to be used (OBS= ). For example
OPTIONS FIRSTOBS=2 OBS=21;
causes SAS to use data records 2 through 21 in any subsequent analysis. When this option is set, it is usually a good idea to reset the values to
OPTIONS FIRSTOBS=1; OBS=MAX;
at the end of the program so subsequent analyses are not limited by the same options.
YEAR CUTOFF= year
Specifies the cutoff year for two digit dates in a 100 year span starting with the specified date. For example if YEARCUTOFF=1920 then the data would be considered 2019 while 01/15/21 would be seen as 1921.
The default YEARCUTOFF is (For SAS versions 9 through 9.3, the cutoff year was 1920.)
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

45. Common System Options (continued)
Meaning
PROBSIG=n
Specifies the number of decimals used when reporting p-values. For example PROBSIG=3 would cause p-values to be reported to three decimal places.
LINESIZE= n and PAGESIZE= n
Controls number of characters in an output line (LINESIZE) or number of lines on a page (PAGESIZE) for RTF and PDF output.
NONUMBER
Specifies no page numbers will be included in RTF or PDF output.
NODATE
Specifies no date will be included in RTF or PDF output.
ORIENTATION=option
Specified paper orientation. Options are PORTRAIT or LANDSCAPE for RTF or PDF output.
NOCENTER
Left justifies output (default is centered)
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

46. Do Hands On Exercise p 132 (SYSOBS.SAS) OPTIONS FIRSTOBS=11 OBS=20;
Sets system option so only records 11 to 20 are used in any future data sets.
(SYSOBS.SAS)
OPTIONS FIRSTOBS=11 OBS=20;
PROC PRINT LABEL
DATA="C:\SASDATA\SOMEDATA";
RUN;
OPTIONS FIRSTOBS=1 OBS=MAX;
It is important to reset the options to the defaults to avoid an error in future data sets
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

47. 5.9 SUMMARY
This chapter introduced you to the syntax of SAS procedures in preparation for using specific PROCs discussed in the remainder of the book. It also introduced PROC PRINT and illustrated some of the common options used for this procedure.
Continue to Chapter 6: SAS® ADVANCED PROGRAMMING TOPICS PART 1
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward

48. 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:  X
ISBN-13: 
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 Thanks.
SAS ESSENTIALS -- Elliott & Woodward