SAS Workshop
Introduction to SAS
Programming
Day 1 Session 1
Iowa State University
May 9, 2016
Structure of a SAS Program
 SAS programs consist of SAS statements
 General Form: SAS_keyword operand;
e.g. proc anova data=survey14;
 SAS statements are interpreted and executed in their
order of appearance in a SAS program
 Some statements are non-executable in the sense that
they only provide information to SAS on how to set things
up; but no action results when the program is run
However, blocks of statements called steps, that
define one of two basic activities, are executed as
groups.
DATA step:
statements leading to the creation of a SAS
data set
PROC step:
statements needed to tell a SAS procedure to
perform a statistical analysis
A SAS program consists of several logically related
DATA and PROC steps
Example A1
data oranges;
input Variety $ Flavor Texture Looks;
Rating=(Flavor+Texture+Looks)/3;
datalines;
navel 9 8 6
temple 7 7 7
valencia 8 9 9
mandarin 5 7 8
;
proc sort data=oranges;
by descending Total;
run;
proc print data=oranges;
title 'Taste Test Results for Oranges';
run;
proc sgplot data=oranges;
vbar Variety/response=Rating stat=mean fillattrs=(color=bisque);
run;
SAS Data Set
A SAS data set (or table) is a rectangular table of rows and
columns. Below is an external view of a SAS data set.
Rows
(observations)
Columns (variables)
SAS Data Set
All variables must have a name, type, and length. A variable’s type is either
character (string) or numeric. The type plays a role in determining the length.
Character
values are
1 to 32,767
characters
(bytes) long.
Numeric values are 8 bytes
of floating point storage:
Numeric
Currency
Date (days from 01JAN1960)
Time (seconds from midnight)
SAS Data Set
A format is used to control how values are displayed. Formats
do not affect how values are stored.
Format:
Width:
Stored value:
MMDDYY
10
15766
Format:
DOLLAR
Width:
8
Decimal Places:
2
Stored value:
234.60
Formats
 A format is an instruction that SAS uses to convert
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internal data values to the external appearance (i.e., as
the printed values in the SAS output.)
The FORMAT statement can be used to associate standard
SAS formats (or user-written formats) with variables.
You use a FORMAT statement in the DATA step to
permanently associate a format with a variable.
You can use a FORMAT statement in some PROC steps, to
temporarily associate a format with a variable.
The FORMAT procedure enables you to define your own
formats for variables (user-written formats)
Some Standard Formats
 w.d
Example: Internal value 1234.5 Format 8.2 Output b1234.50
 w.
Example: Internal value 1234 Format 6. Output bb1234
 $w.
Example: Internal value Mary Format $5. Output Mary#
 mmddyyw.
Example: Internal value 18537 Format mmddyy8.
Output 10/02/10
• dollarw.d
Example: Internal value 123.45 Format dollar8.2. Output bb$123.45
Note: b and # symbols in above examples denote blanks
Example A2
data garden;
input Date ddmmyy8. Item $10. Price 5.2;
datalines;
07/10/87Sprinkler 875
17/09/88Bench 12000
25/10/89Planter 1365
03/08/86Sweeper 1185
19/09/88Edging
750
11/06/85Shears 2100
29/10/87Trimmer 7645
21/09/87Gloves
350
;
proc print;
*format Date ddmmyy8. Price dollar8.2;
run;
Some Additional Details
 SAS variable names must be 32 characters or less,
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constructed of letters, digits and the underscore character.
Names beginning with the underscore character are
reserved for special system variables.
Data set names follow similar rules as variables.
SAS is not case sensitive, except inside of quoted strings.
However, SAS will remember the case of variable names
when it displays them.
Each statement in SAS must end in a semicolon (;).
Lines beginning with an asterisk (*) are treated as comments.
Multiple comments are enclosed within a /* and a */.
The run; command signals to SAS that the previous step can
be executed.