Lab 2 - Stat 5511 - Fall 2011
Please read the handout all the way through!
1 ) Our textbook offers the complete package of data sets that are listed in the appendix. I
have downloaded and formatted them for your use. Since we're on the Macs, we are unable to
take advantage of the command proc import. Because of this, you will need to input the
variable names by hand instead of having them pull through to the files (still, this is much
nicer than typing in all the data...).
To "import" the files, follow the instructions:
 Open terminal (again use ssh -Y usemame@ub to log in.)
 Move into your 5511 directory. Then make a new folder called “txtfiles”. (You can
name it whatever you like, just stick with that).
(i.e. type in cd 5511 <return> mkdir txtfiles <return>)
 Open an Internet browser and go to
http://www.d.umn.edu/~tang0333/stat5511.html
 Click on the link Data files from the textbook.
 Download files.zip (save to desktop, it’s easier this way)
 Log in to My files (this is in the bottom toolbar on your computer. There is an icon
"Connect to My files directory")
 Drag files.zip into My files
 Double click files.zip to unzip it
 Go back to terminal
 Make sure you are in the 5511 directory, then type
mv ~/windir/files/data* txtfiles (there is a space between * and txtfiles)
These will be your txtfiles. To use them, you will need to have an infile statement as
follows:
data temp;
infile ‘~/5511/txtfiles/data-table-B01.txt’; /* here, B01 is for table B.1 of the textbook*/
input var1 var2 var3 …; /*var1, var2…are column names, so you also can use y,
x1,x2,x3…*/
In the "input" line, if a variable is alphanumeric (i.e. it is a character) and not a number, then
you need to put a dollar sign ( $ ) after you enter the variable. This allows SAS to read the
variable as alphanumeric instead of numeric. If you don't do this, your program will have an
error.
If you don't like this method, you can also import each table individually, or you can always
type the data in by hand. (Personally the way I showed you will make it easier.)
2) To get SAS windows, in terminal, type:
sas –dms
You may want to set options for the editing window at the top of the Program Editor window
Tools/Options/Program Editor
On the General tab you can select (have the square darkened)
Promt to save on window close
by making that square darkened. If the square is already darkened, leave it darkened.
This reminds you to save the commands in a .sas file.
On the Editing tab
Choosing Split lines on a carriage return adds a new line of commands when you press the
Enter key.
Next, make sure Clear text on submit is unchecked if this is not already unchecked. This
keeps command in the editor window after a submit. This makes it easier to make changes in
commands after they are run.
In Tools/ Options/Preferences/Editing, choose Insert for the Cursor option if you don’t
want text overwritten.
Have Automatically store selection unchecked to allow yourself to keep text highlighted.
To copy and paste text, you need to use Edit/Copy and Edit/Paste
In the editor window, type in the following commands:
options ls=80;
data one;
/*create a sas data set called “one” */
infile 'weightandbp.dat';
input weight bp;
/*weight and bp are column names of your 'weightandbp.dat'*/
proc univariate;
var weight;
/*to look at the descriptive statistics about variable “weight” */
proc print data=one;
/*print data set “one” */
proc reg data=one;
/*do regression with data “one”*/
model bp=weight;
proc plot data=one;
/*plot “one”, bp is y value and weight is x value */
plot bp*weight;
run;
The proc univariate command allows one to look at several descriptive statistics about any
given variable. The above is the program from Lab 1 with the proc univariate command
inserted. The univariate procedure will be displayed first (because this is the first procedure
we typed into our SAS file).
3) The run command executes the previous statements. Run statements allow one to create
different titles for different sections of the program. Run statements should also be placed at
the end of each data step.
options ls stands for “Line Size”, and ls=80 sets your output to 80 characters per line. The
default line size (i.e. if you leave options ls=80; out of your program) is 132 characters. SAS
also centers the output, so it is generally a good thing to limit line size.