Chapter 10
Using SAS® Information Map
Studio
Section 10.1
Overview of the
SAS Information
Map Studio
A Problem
In most businesses, there are many information
consumers who need reports from business data, but
relatively few IT professionals available to meet their
requests.
Information
Consumers
Overworked IT
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A Solution?
One way to reduce this backlog is to empower the
end users so that they can create more of their own
reports, leaving IT to the business of managing and
developing mission critical applications.
Allowing end users access to business data gives them
the ability to create reports quickly and make changes
as often as needed.
4
Understanding the Data
Unfortunately, empowering end users is not as easy as
just telling them how to get to the data and turning them
loose with Excel spreadsheets.
Most people outside of the IT department are not trained
to understand and interpret the complex data structures
that store business data.
5
What Are SAS Information Maps?
SAS Information Maps consist of metadata that describe
a data warehouse in business terms. This provides the
ability to take a ubiquitous data warehouse and surface it
to business users in context to the way they work.
6
What Are SAS Information Maps?
Instead of seeing a multitude of tables and columns…
Physical Data View
STREETCODE
COUNTY
MUNICIPALITY
STREETID: DECIMAL(15)
STREETNAME: CHARACTER(30)
STREETCODE: NUMERIC(8)
ZIPCODE: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ZIPCODE: NUMERIC(3)
MUNICIPALITY: CHARACTER(18)
MUNICIPALITY: CHARACTER(18) (FK)
COUNTY: CHARACTER(18)
CUSTOMER
CUSTTYPE
CUSTTYPE: NUMERIC(3)
CUSTOMERNO: NUMERIC(8)
CUSTTYPENAME: CHARACTER(18)
CUSTGROUP: NUMERIC(3)
CUSTGROUPNAME: CHARACTER(40)
SOCIAL_SECURITYNO: CHARACTER(15)
NAME: CHARACTER(30)
ADDRESS: CHARACTER(30)
STREETID: DECIMAL(15) (FK)
STREETNO: NUMERIC(3)
CUSTTYPE: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ORGANIZATION
ACCMAN: NUMERIC(3)
ORGNAME: CHARACTER(40)
ORGLEVEL: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ORGREFID: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ORGLEVEL
ORDER
ORDERID: NUMERIC(8)
ACCMAN: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
CUSTOMERNO: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
ORDERDATE: DATE
DELIVERDATE: DATE
ITEMS
ORDERID: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
ITEMS: NUMERIC(3)
PRODUCTNO: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
AMOUNT: NUMERIC(8)
PRICE: NUMERIC(8)
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PRODUCT
PRODUCTNO: NUMERIC(8)
PRODUCTNAME: CHARACTER(18)
SUPPLIERID: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
PRODUCTNIV: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
PRODUCTREFID: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
PRICELIST
PRODUCTNO: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
STARTDT: DATE
ENDDATE: DATE
UNITPRICE: NUMERIC(8)
ORGLEVEL: NUMERIC(3)
ORGTEXT: CHARACTER(40)
SUPPLIER
SUPPLIERID: NUMERIC(3)
SUPPNAME: CHARACTER(30)
SUPPADDRESS: CHARACTER(30)
SUPPSTREETNO: NUMERIC(3)
SUPPZIPCODE: NUMERIC(3)
PRODLEVEL
PRODLEVEL: NUMERIC(3)
PRODTEXT: CHARACTER(40)
What Are SAS Information Maps?
… the user gets a list of business terms that they can
select. These items are surfaced with relevant labels that
are customized for the business user.
Information Map
STREETCODE
COUNTY
MUNICIPALITY
STREETID: DECIMAL(15)
STREETNAME: CHARACTER(30)
STREETCODE: NUMERIC(8)
ZIPCODE: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ZIPCODE: NUMERIC(3)
MUNICIPALITY: CHARACTER(18)
MUNICIPALITY: CHARACTER(18) (FK)
COUNTY: CHARACTER(18)
CUSTOMER
CUSTTYPE
CUSTTYPE: NUMERIC(3)
CUSTOMERNO: NUMERIC(8)
CUSTTYPENAME: CHARACTER(18)
CUSTGROUP: NUMERIC(3)
CUSTGROUPNAME: CHARACTER(40)
SOCIAL_SECURITYNO: CHARACTER(15)
NAME: CHARACTER(30)
ADDRESS: CHARACTER(30)
STREETID: DECIMAL(15) (FK)
STREETNO: NUMERIC(3)
CUSTTYPE: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ORGANIZATION
ACCMAN: NUMERIC(3)
ORGNAME: CHARACTER(40)
ORGLEVEL: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ORGREFID: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
ORGLEVEL
ORDER
ORDERID: NUMERIC(8)
ACCMAN: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
CUSTOMERNO: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
ORDERDATE: DATE
DELIVERDATE: DATE
ITEMS
ORDERID: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
ITEMS: NUMERIC(3)
PRODUCTNO: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
AMOUNT: NUMERIC(8)
PRICE: NUMERIC(8)
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PRODUCT
PRODUCTNO: NUMERIC(8)
PRODUCTNAME: CHARACTER(18)
SUPPLIERID: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
PRODUCTNIV: NUMERIC(3) (FK)
PRODUCTREFID: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
PRICELIST
PRODUCTNO: NUMERIC(8) (FK)
STARTDT: DATE
ENDDATE: DATE
UNITPRICE: NUMERIC(8)
ORGLEVEL: NUMERIC(3)
ORGTEXT: CHARACTER(40)
SUPPLIER
SUPPLIERID: NUMERIC(3)
SUPPNAME: CHARACTER(30)
SUPPADDRESS: CHARACTER(30)
SUPPSTREETNO: NUMERIC(3)
SUPPZIPCODE: NUMERIC(3)
PRODLEVEL
PRODLEVEL: NUMERIC(3)
PRODTEXT: CHARACTER(40)
...
What Are SAS Information Maps?
An information map contains metadata about
 the physical tables used in the information map
 how the tables relate to each other
 how to surface data items to end users
 business rules.
9
Who Uses Information Maps?
Information maps are used by business users when they
are asking questions of the data.
Because the warehouse is surfaced in terms they
understand, business users can be more self-sufficient
with ad hoc questions and reports.
Reporting applications such as SAS Web Report Studio,
which is targeted at business users, surface information
maps as data sources for queries and reports.
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SAS Information Map Studio
SAS Information Map Studio provides the bridge between
your data warehouse and the end user who builds reports
from the data.
Physical
Data Warehouse
Business
Metadata
Reporting
SAS ETL Studio
SAS Information
Map Studio
SAS Web Report
Studio
Builds
warehouse
metadata
Reads
warehouse
metadata
Builds
Information
Maps
Reads
Information
Maps
SAS Metadata
Server
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Report
Viewing
Ad-hoc
Reporting
Builds and
reads report
metadata
SAS Information Map Studio
SAS Information Map Studio is a Java application used
to create, edit, and manage SAS Information Maps.
The application runs on several Windows operating
systems:
 Windows NT
 Windows 2000
 Windows XP.
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Where Are Information Maps Used?
End users can access information maps through
 SAS Web Report Studio (create reports)
 SAS Information Delivery Portal (view only)
 SAS Solutions (SAS Marketing Automation)
 custom applications developed through
SAS AppDev Studio.
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Who Will Build Information Maps?
SAS Information Map Studio is targeted at data modelers
or data architects who
 have experience in data modeling
 are familiar with SQL, MDX, or both
 know the physical data
 have a strong understanding of the business domain.
Most report writers are consumers of information maps for
building reports. Typically, these users do not create
information maps.
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Information Maps versus Database Views
Information maps are much more powerful than database
views. In addition to surfacing physical database
variables, they capture metadata about allowable usage
and query generation rules.
 Information maps describe what can be done.
 Information maps hide the physical structure of the
data from the business user. Query code is generated
in the background, so the business user does not
need to know SQL.
continued...
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Information Maps versus Database Views


Information maps support the ability to group data
items logically into folders, providing a simpler way of
locating items.
Information maps contain business rules such as
filters and calculated items. These rules are surfaced
whenever the information map is accessed, providing
consistent and accurate results.
continued...
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Information Maps versus Database Views


17
Information maps can be extended by SAS Stored
Processes, integrating the power of SAS
transformations and analytics with business reporting.
Information maps interact with the common OMR
security scheme, allowing for centralized security
management through SAS applications.
Interaction with SAS Application Servers
Information maps can use different types of application
servers:
SAS Metadata
Server
Required to read and write metadata
in a SAS metadata repository.
SAS Workspace Required to execute SAS code and
Server
access data.
SAS OLAP
Server
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Required to generate information
maps from OLAP cubes.
...
Section 10.2
Using the Information
Map Studio
SAS Information Map Studio Interface
The main window of SAS Information Map Studio is
used to view, create, and modify information maps
and contains the following elements:
 Menu Bar
 Toolbar
 Repository Tree
 Presentation Tab
 Properties Tab
 Relationships Tab.
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Menus and
Tools
21
...
Repository
Tree
22
...
Presentation
Tab
23
Properties
Tab
24
...
Relationships
Tab
25
Joining Tables
When joining tables, the default
relationship is an inner join, which
returns only matching rows.
Outer joins can also be used to return non-matching rows.
The modifiers left, full, and right determine which table
contributes the non-matching rows.
Left
26
Full
Right
Information Map Data Items
An information map is made up of data items. Each data
item has metadata to specify its properties, such as
 data item name
 description
 classification
 aggregation
 format
 permissions
 value
generation
method.
27
...
Information Maps – Filters
A filter is an information map item that contains criteria to
enable the information map consumer to subset a result
set.
Having filters stored in an information map can be useful
when the filter is complex and difficult for an end user to
build without advance knowledge of data values.
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Information Maps – New Data Items
Information map data items can refer to a physical data
field or a calculation.
When you create a new data item, the underlying data
sources are not changed. You are creating a field that is
created dynamically every time the information map is
accessed. You are not physically saving the result in the
data. It is only a metadata instruction on how to build the
field.
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Using the SAS Information
Map Studio
This demonstration shows how to build an information
map.
30
Define
Data Libraries
Create
Stored Processes
Register
Source Tables
View and Analyze
Data
Define
Target Tables
Create
Information Maps
Metadata
Create
ETL Jobs
Create Reports
Create
OLAP Cubes
Use the Information
Delivery Portal
Exercise
Create an information map named Employee Listing
from the Organization_Dim table.
31
Define
Data Libraries
Create
Stored Processes
Register
Source Tables
View and Analyze
Data
Define
Target Tables
Create
Information Maps
Metadata
Create
ETL Jobs
Create Reports
Create
OLAP Cubes
Use the Information
Delivery Portal
Exercise
Modify the Employee Listing information map by
adding filters, new data items and Folders.
32
Define
Data Libraries
Create
Stored Processes
Register
Source Tables
View and Analyze
Data
Define
Target Tables
Create
Information Maps
Metadata
Create
ETL Jobs
Create Reports
Create
OLAP Cubes
Use the Information
Delivery Portal
Exercise
Modify the Employee Listing map by joining it with
the Order_Fact table.
33
Define
Data Libraries
Create
Stored Processes
Register
Source Tables
View and Analyze
Data
Define
Target Tables
Create
Information Maps
Metadata
Create
ETL Jobs
Create Reports
Create
OLAP Cubes
Use the Information
Delivery Portal