Tag: sas author’s tip

How to perform an operation on all numeric or all character variables in a SAS data set

In a previous blog, I demonstrated a program and macro that could identify all numeric variables set to a specific value, such as 999. This blog discusses an immensely useful technique that allows you to perform an operation on all numeric or all chara…

Keeping your data set clean: Integrity constraints

When I teach my Data Cleaning course, the last topic I cover in the two-day course is SAS Integrity Constraints.  I find that most of the students, who are usually quite advanced programmers, have never heard of Integrity Constraints (abbreviated ICs).  I decided a short discussion on this topic would […]

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Using regular expressions to verify the pattern of character data

Wait!  Don’t close this window.  I understand that regular expressions can be very complicated (yes, there are many books on the subject), but some basic expressions to test patterns such as zip codes or telephone numbers are not that difficult.  In addition, you can sometimes use Google to search for […]

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Standardizing phone numbers using SAS

How many times have you entered a phone number on a web page, only to be told that you did not type it the “correct” form? I find that annoying. Don’t you? In my latest book, Cody’s Data Cleaning Techniques, 3rd edition, I show how to convert a phone n…

The Little SAS Program’s Big Night Out

The little SAS program’s official name was Extract_Transform_Load_ 0314.sas.  But, that name was much too formal, way too long, and did not roll off of the tongue very easily at all.  So, everybody simply called her:  ETL Pi. ETL Pi was conceived in a 2-hour project strategy meeting in conference […]

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Determining the size of a SAS data set

When developing SAS® data sets, program code and/or applications, efficiency is not always given the attention it deserves, particularly in the early phases of development. Since data sizes and system performance can affect a program and/or an application’s behavior, SAS users may want to access information about a data set’s […]

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How to control the name of Excel sheets when they are all created at once

Ok, so you know how to create multiple sheets in Excel, but can anyone tell me how to control the name of the sheets when they are all created at once? In the ODS destination for Excel, the suboption SHEET_INTERVAL is set to TABLE by default.  So what does that […]

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What’s your SAS interface?

I recently asked a SAS user, “Which interface do you use for SAS?” She replied, “Interface? I just install SAS and use it.” “You’re using the SAS windowing environment,” I explained, but she had no idea what I was talking about. This person is an extremely sophisticated SAS user who […]

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