SAS Module 2

SAS Module 2

Vocabulary

• Structured Data- contains defined rows and columns. Examples: SAS, Oracle, Excel and others

• Unstructured Data-no columns; must be imported. Examples: text, csv, and others

• SAS Table- structured data that has rows and columns

• Observation: row

• Variable: Column

Multiple Select

Which are examples of structured data?

• CSV

• xlsx

• oracle

• SAS

• Text

Column Attributes

• Each column (variable) must have a name type and length

• Name: 1-32 characters, starts with letter or underscore, can contain numbers in addition, not case sensitive

• Numeric Data Type: digits, minus sign (-), decimal point, scientific Notation (E). Dates are numeric data.

• Character Data Type: letters, numbers, characters, special characters.

• Length- Numeric is always 8 bytes (16 digits), character is 1-32,767 bytes

Multiple Choice

What is the maximum number of characters in a variable name?

• 8

• 16

• 24

• 32

Multiple Choice

What is another name for a column in sas?

• heading

• title

• variable

• observation

Proc Contents

• Example: proc contents data = "c://file location/folder/folder/tablename.sas7.bdat"; run;

• allows you to view table attributes

• a listing of the descriptor portion of the table (where table is stored, when created, number of rows and columns, variable list by type and length)

• Also called metadata

• 
  

Multiple Select

What does proc contents show?

• descriptor portion of the table

• meta data

• table attributes

• none of the above

Multiple Select

What is listed in the descriptor portion (attributes, metadata) of a data set?

• table location

• how many people have accessed the table in the last 24 hours

• created; last modified

• number of rows and columns

• variable list

Reading SAS files

• LIBNAME [libref] [engine] [file location]; This is a global statement that does not require a run;

• libref is what you choose to name the library. (8 character max, must start with underscore or character, can only contain letters, numbers, or underscores)

• engine: type of data. Not really required but helpful if you are using specific file types like excel (xlsx)

• file location: file path for the files being used

• Libname statements are active and in effect until you delete the library refernce:

• libname NameOfLibrary clear; <-- this is how you delete reference

Multiple Select

Which are requirements of a library name?

• Must start with a character or underscore.

• Must be 8 characters or less

• Can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores

• Must be the name of a public library in your town

Multiple Choice

How do you terminate a reference to a SAS library?

• run;

• clear;

• quit;

• none of the above

Referring to SAS Libraries

• Instead of proc contents data = "c://file location/folder/folder/tablename.sas7.bdat" write proc contents data = libraryname.tablename;