SAS Programming I: Essentials

Duration: 3 Days

Course Description
This foundation course focuses on the following key areas: reading raw data files and SAS data sets and writing the results to SAS data sets; investigating and summarizing data by generating frequency tables and descriptive statistics; creating SAS variables and recoding data values; subsetting data; combining multiple SAS files; creating listing, summary, HTML, and graph reports. If you do not plan to write SAS programs and prefer a menu-driven, point-and-click approach, you should consider taking the Querying and Reporting Using SAS Enterprise Guide course.

Course Contents Getting Started with SAS
	overview of the SAS System
	introduction to SAS programs
	running SAS programs
	mastering fundamental concepts
	diagnosing and correcting syntax errors
	exploring the SAS environment (self-study)
Getting Familiar with SAS Data Sets
	explaining the concept of a SAS data library
Producing List Reports
	getting started with the PRINT procedure
	sequencing and grouping observations
	identifying observations (self-study)
	using special WHERE statement operators (self-study)
Enhancing Output
	customizing report appearance
	formatting data values
	creating HTML reports
Creating SAS Data Sets
	reading raw data files using column input and formatted input
	examining data errors
	assigning variable attributes
	changing variable attributes (self-study)
	changing variable attributes (self-study)
Programming with the DATA Step
	reading SAS data sets and creating variables
	executing statements conditionally
	dropping and keeping variables (self-study)
	reading date fields from Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (self-study)
Combining SAS Data Sets
	concatenating SAS data sets
	merging SAS data sets
	combining SAS data sets using additional features (self-study)
Producing Summary Reports
	introduction to summary reports
	generating basic summary reports
	using the REPORT procedure
	creating reports using the TABULATE procedure (self-study)
Introduction to Graphics using SAS/GRAPH Software (Self-Study)
	producing bar and pie charts
	enhancing output
	producing plots
Additional Resources Using SAS Enterprise Guide
	creating the files needed for the course
	understanding functional areas in SAS Enterprise Guide
	naming a project
	working with existing code
	resizing windows in SAS Enterprise Guide
	modifying code
	executing SAS code
	viewing SAS Enterprise Guide output
	diagnosing and correcting syntax errors
	creating SAS programs
	accessing data sources with the LIBNAME statement
	renaming a code node in the Process Flow window
	submitting programs
	saving projects
	the Output Delivery System (ODS) and SAS Enterprise Guide
	copying SAS programs within a project
Introduction to Graphics using Enterprise Guide
	producing and modifying a vertical bar chart
	producing and modifying a pie chart
	producing a horizontal bar chart
	producing a two-dimensional plot
Prerequisites Before attending this course, you should have completed the Introduction to Programming Concepts Using SAS Software course or have at least six months of programming experience. Specifically, you should be able to:
	understand file structures and system commands on your operating systems
	write system commands to create and access system files
	understand programming logic

If you do not feel comfortable with the prerequisites or are new to programming and think that the pace of this course might be too demanding, you can take the Introduction to Programming Concepts Using SAS Software course before attending this course. Introduction to Programming Concepts Using SAS Software is designed to introduce you to computer programming and presents a portion of the SAS Programming I: Essentials material at a slower pace.

Software Addressed
This course addresses the following software product(s): Base SAS. This course also addresses SAS/GRAPH software. This course is appropriate for students who are using SAS 8 or SAS 9 software.

Classroom Course Materials
Each student receives a hardcopy of the course notes and can also choose to take home a copy of the course data.