SAS Viya column lineage is only available for flows that are stored in Content. However, Git is only available for flows on NFS. Unfortunately, these are mutually exclusive options. Are more people running into this issue, and are there any ideas for possible workarounds ... View more

I'm looking for team members!   I'd like to experiment with creating a data pipeline for real world evidence generation, with a big emphasis on traceability. One possible approach could be: Load real-world data using APIs Map the data to a CDISC-like structure Apply quality and traceability checks Then either: assess whether a real-world data source is fit for purpose for a hypothetical study protocol (as per FDA guidance), or perform monitoring and trend analysis similar to post-market surveillance About me: I currently work as a Statistical Programmer in the biotech industry. My goals for the hackathon are to try out SAS Viya (I use EG professionally), explore API connectivity from SAS, and refresh my knowledge of CDISC standards.   I'd love to find teammates with expertise in CDISC, cloud technologies, or AI/ML.  Please message me on here if you're interested 🙂  ... View more

My experience with PROC SQL pass-through to Amazon Redshift (and this probably applies to many other databases) is that character variables are often created much larger than they need to be. I'd like to see an option added to PROC SQL that will automatically scan the data returned from the external database to determine the maximum length needed for each character variable and apply that length when building the output SAS dataset.  Granted this will increase processing time which is why it should be optional, but this would be an improvement over having to post-process the dataset to shorten the character variables as we do now.   Perhaps something like this? PROC SQL SHRINK; ... View more

Watch this Ask the Expert session to explore and learn how to make the most of your data and AI investment.     Watch the Webinar   In this webinar, you will learn how to: Understand the core qualities and basic architecture of SAS Viya. Use the suite of SAS Viya applications to manage and explore data, develop models and deploy insights. Develop code using either SAS or Python in SAS Viya. Use SAS Viya Copilot to accelerate development with AI‑assisted code generation, explanations and productivity enhancements. The questions from the Q&A segment held at the end of the webinar are listed below and the slides from the webinar are attached.   1. Per your experience, what are the best practices for validating results generated by SAS Viya Copilot? Copilot should be treated as a partner, not a replacement for human review. Carefully validate any code, visualizations, or recommendations it generates. Review proposed code changes before applying them, test the results, and use follow-up prompts when something doesn't look right. For programming tasks, you can even paste log output into Copilot and ask it to explain issues. Being specific and descriptive in your prompts also improves the quality and accuracy of the responses.   2. Is SAS Viya web-based, or is it similar to SAS Enterprise Guide with projects and programs? SAS Viya is entirely web-based. However, SAS Data and AI Studio includes flows and steps that provide functionality similar to Enterprise Guide projects and process flows. Organizations can also connect SAS Enterprise Guide to a SAS Viya environment if they wish to continue using Enterprise Guide for programming.   3. Is SAS Viya Copilot simply using the "Copilot" name, or is it powered by Microsoft? SAS Viya Copilot is built through a partnership between SAS and Microsoft. It uses Microsoft Azure OpenAI models behind the scenes as part of the solution, although "Copilot" has become a broader industry term used across many products.   4. What changes are there between SAS Viya 3 and SAS Viya 4? There are significant differences between Viya 3.5 and the current SAS Viya platform. Features demonstrated in the webinar, such as SAS Data and AI Studio flows and SAS Viya Copilot, are not available in Viya 3.5. While Viya 3.5 continues to be supported, new development and innovation are focused on the latest SAS Viya releases.   5. Does SAS Viya for Learners include everything available in SAS Viya? SAS Viya for Learners includes many of the same applications demonstrated in the webinar and is available free to academic users. However, some administrator-focused capabilities are restricted, such as managing data connections and advanced data governance functions. Copilot capabilities are being added over time, with availability depending on the specific release version.   6. What version of SAS Viya was demonstrated? The webinar demonstration used SAS Viya 2026.06.   7. Can SAS Viya run on an iPad or iPhone? SAS provides a SAS Visual Analytics iOS app for mobile access to Visual Analytics content.   8. How can SAS Viya connect to SAS datasets stored in SharePoint or other cloud environments? SAS Viya can access a wide variety of cloud-based data sources. Administrators can establish connections to cloud storage platforms and other supported data repositories, allowing users to access and analyze data from those sources within Viya.   9. Can SAS Viya connect to a mainframe? If so, what connector is needed? SAS Viya does not run directly on a mainframe. However, it supports access to a wide variety of databases and data sources, including data that may originate from mainframe environments through supported data access technologies.   10. How does SAS Viya work with code, datasets, and files that reside on a Unix platform? Much like SAS 9, SAS Viya can access data stored on the server through path-based library references. Users can upload files, import data directly, or work with data sources configured by administrators. SAS Viya also supports access to many additional database and cloud-based data sources.   11. Are the metrics in SAS Data Governance automatically generated when you click on columns? Yes. Once a table has been analyzed in SAS Data Governance, metadata, profiling statistics, and related metrics become available automatically. Administrators can schedule analysis of entire libraries or CAS libraries, while users can analyze individual tables as needed.   12. Can SAS Viya Workbench notebooks take advantage of Visual Analytics? Visual Analytics cannot be accessed directly within SAS Viya Workbench notebooks. However, data prepared in Workbench can be loaded into CAS and then used to build Visual Analytics reports and dashboards as part of the overall workflow.   13. How can organizations clearly separate highly regulated environments (for example, GxP) from other business data within the same company? SAS Data Governance supports data management in highly regulated environments by providing capabilities for data discovery, metadata management, data lineage, data quality assessment, sensitive data detection and classification, governance workflows and AI-ready data management. Additionally, SAS Viya solutions, like the SAS Life Science Analytics Framework, provide industry-specific support to help accelerate processes and meet specific regulatory requirements.   Recommended Resources SAS Viya Overview Course SAS Viya Quick Start Tutorials Use & Optimize Your Software SAS Support Community – SAS Viya Please see additional resources in the attached slide deck.   Want more tips? Be sure to subscribe to the Ask the Expert board to receive follow up Q&A, slides and recordings from other SAS Ask the Expert webinars. ... View more

If you’ve worked with SAS macros, you’ve probably inherited one written by someone else, and had no idea how to use it. Or maybe you’re the macro writer, looking for ways to handle unexpected parameters and make your macro easier for others to use. Good macro error handling isn’t about catching every possible failure. It’s about making failures visible, early, and diagnosable, so you or whoever inherits your code isn’t debugging blind six months from now.   In this post, we’ll explore three practical techniques for making your macros more robust:   Normalize user input so differences in casing don’t lead to silent failures. Build in self-documentation so users can discover how to use the macro without digging through the source code. Validate parameters so invalid values produce clear, actionable error messages.   To make these techniques concrete, we’ll work through a real example using the SASHELP.CARS table. You can experiment with these techniques and apply them to your own SAS macros. ... View more