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Posters
PS005
Fonts and Special Characters in SAS – It’s All Greek to Me
Doug Lassman, PRA International, Lenexa, KS
Description
Copyright Sign
Registered Sign
Degree Sign
Plus-Minus Sign
Superscript Two
Superscript Three
Micro Sign
Superscript One
Fraction One Quarter
Fraction One Half
Fraction Three Quarters
ABSTRACT
Fonts and special characters are increasingly more
important as SAS output is no longer limited to
uniform space type on line printed pages. This
paper discusses the use of fonts and special
characters with SAS output as well as SAS/Graph
output. The methods of accessing special
characters and using them with SAS output will be
covered. Also, the use of fonts and special
characters as well as creating fonts in SAS/Graph
will be explained.
Character
©
®
°
±
²
³
µ
¹
¼
½
¾
Keystroke
Alt+0169
Alt+0174
Alt+0176
Alt+0177
Alt+0178
Alt+0179
Alt+0181
Alt+0185
Alt+0188
Alt+0189
Alt+0190
FONTS AND SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN
SAS/GRAPH
The following program can be run that displays the
SAS/Graph fonts. It first gets the list of the fonts
from the sashelp.fonts catalog and then creates a
pdf file output of the font using PROC GFONT. The
Simplex and Greek fonts are displayed in Appendix
1.
INTRODUCTION
This paper discusses the use of fonts and special
characters in SAS output as well as SAS/Graph
output. These allow you to enhance your output
easily since most output is no longer confined to
uniform space type on line printed pages. First,
accessing special characters will be discussed.
Then the use of fonts and special characters in
SAS/Graph will be covered. A program that displays
the available fonts will be presented, then using
special characters in SAS/Graph will be explained.
Finally, a program that creates a user defined font
will show another way that special characters are
available. These concepts and programs have been
developed in PC SAS in the Windows environment.
The concepts and programs may or may not apply to
other platforms.
proc catalog c=sashelp.fonts;
contents out=fonts;
run; quit;
data _null_;
set fonts;
file 'c:\fontlist.sas';
if type='FONT' then
put '%dispfont(' name ')';
run;
SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN SAS OUTPUT
Special characters such as symbols or Greek letters
are often needed in SAS output. The superscript
characters are particularly helpful with footnotes. In
the Windows environment while using certain fonts,
some of these characters are easily available via a
Windows program or a keystroke sequence. For
Windows fonts such as Arial, Courier New, SAS
Monospace, and Times New Roman, the following
special characters are available using the Character
Map program or the specified keystroke sequence
by holding down the ALT key and entering the 4 digit
number on the keypad and then releasing the ALT
key. Other characters can be found in the Character
Map program displays and can be similarly
accessed.
%macro dispfont(font);
goptions reset=all device=pdf
gsfname=pdfname;
filename pdfname "c:\&font..PDF";
title1 f=simplex h=2.5 "Appendix 1 -"
"Font: &font";
proc gfont name=&font nobuild
romfont=swissl showroman;
run; quit;
%mend;
%include "c:\fontlist.sas";
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data plot;
input x y;
cards;
1 10
2 5
3 7
4 2
5 6
6 8
;
run;
This next program illustrates some difficulties with
special characters. The Greek and math symbols
aren’t available in the simplex font and are not
printing correctly, and a superscript is desired in the
title to reference the footnote. Appendix 2 shows the
problem plot.
data plot;
input x y;
cards;
1 10
2 5
3 7
4 2
5 6
6 8
;
run;
goptions reset=all device=pdf
gsfname=pdfname gunit=pct;
filename pdfname "c:\goodplot.PDF";
symbol1 i=j v=dot h=1;
axis2 label=(f=simplex h=3 a=90
"Concentration (mg)")
order=0 to 10 by 1
value=(f=simplex h=3);
axis1 label=(f=simplex h=3 "Dose ("
f=greek "m" f=simplex "g)")
value=(f=simplex h=3)
minor=none;
goptions reset=all device=pdf
gsfname=pdfname gunit=pct;
filename pdfname "c:\badplot.PDF";
symbol1 i=j v=dot h=1;
axis2 label=(f=simplex h=3 a=90
'Concentration (mg)')
order=0 to 10 by 1
value=(f=simplex h=3);
axis1 label=(f=simplex h=3 'Dose (µg)')
value=(f=simplex h=3)
minor=none;
proc gplot data=plot;
plot y*x / haxis=axis1 vaxis=axis2 ;
title1 f=simplex h=2.5
"Appendix 2 - Plot With Problems";
title2 f=simplex h=2.5
"Mean Concentration1 by Dose (µg)";
footnote1 f=simplex h=2.5
"1Concentration after Steady-State"
" Dosing (7±1 Days)";
run;
quit;
proc gplot data=plot;
plot y*x / haxis=axis1 vaxis=axis2 ;
title1 f=simplex h=2.5
"Appendix 2 - Corrected Plot";
title2 f=simplex h=2.5
"Mean Concentration"
h=2 move=(+0,+1.5) "1"
h=2.5 move=(+0,-1.5) " by Dose ("
f=greek "m" f=simplex "g)";
footnote1 f=simplex " " h=2
move=(+0,+1.5) "1"
h=2.5 move=(+0,-1.5)
"Concentration after Steady-State "
"Dosing (7" f=math "G"
f=simplex "1 Days)";
run; quit;
The problems are fixed in the below program. A
move parameter in the title and footnote create the
superscript 1. Also, the Math and Greek fonts are
used for the plus-minus sign and micro sign,
respectively. The resulting plot is also in Appendix 2.
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goptions reset=all device=pdf
gsfname=pdfname gunit=pct;
filename pdfname "C:\SUBSCRIPT.PDF";
symbol1 i=j v=dot h=1;
axis2 label=(f=simplex h=3 a=90
"HCl Concentration")
order=0 to 10 by 1
value=(f=simplex h=3);
axis1 label=(f=simplex h=3 "H"
f=sub "2" f=simplex
"0 Concentration")
value=(f=simplex h=3)
minor=none;
proc gplot data=plot;
plot y*x / haxis=axis1 vaxis=axis2;
title1 f=simplex h=2.5
"Appendix 3 - Subscript Example";
title2 f=simplex h=2.5
"Water Concentration vs Hydrochloric"
" Acid Concentration";
footnote;
run;
quit;
Finally, this program shows how fonts can be
created. In this case, a subscript two is created. In
the previous example the move parameter is used in
the title and footnote to create a superscript. That is
not supported for use in an axis or a legend, and
some form of annotate is often used. By creating a
font this can be avoided. This plot is displayed in
Appendix 3.
data fontdata;
input char $ x y segment ptype $;
y=y+200;
y=y*-1;
cards;
2 13 51 1 V
2 13 41 1 V
2 22 24 1 V
2 33 13 1 V
2 51
4 1 V
2 88
4 1 V
2 105 13 1 V
2 110 18 1 V
2 116 23 1 V
2 125 41 1 V
2 125 61 1 V
2 99 105 1 V
2 52 152 1 V
2
5 198 1 V
2 135 198 1 V
X 0 -200 1 V
X 128
0 1 V
;
run;
CONCLUSION
SAS output and SAS/Graph output can be easily
enhanced by using the fonts and special characters
discussed in this paper. Further work can include
creating additional fonts, exploring the use of
TrueType fonts in SAS/Graph and SAS support of
Unicode.
goptions reset=global gunit=pct border
ftext=swissb htitle=6 htext=3;
CONTACT INFORMATION
Your comments and questions are valued and
encouraged. Contact the author at:
Doug Lassman
PRA International
16400 College Blvd.
Lenexa, KS 66219
Phone: 913-438-7696
Fax: 913-599-0344
Email: lassmandoug@praintl.com
libname gfont0 'c:\';
proc gfont data=fontdata name=sub
height=1in ctext=black showroman
romht=.5in resol=2;
run; quit;
data plot;
do x=1 to 10;
y=int(ranuni(x)*10+1);
output;
end;
run;
TRADEMARK INFORMATION
SAS and SAS/GRAPH are registered trademarks of
SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries.
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