topic Re: %INCLUDE Code on the Internet in SAS Programming

%INCLUDE Code on the Internet

Junyong — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:41:47 GMT

One can %include SAS code (1) without downloading as follows.

/*a little delay*/
filename i url "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junyongkim/sas/master/sganno/usrecm.sas";
%include i;

Or (2) the same code after downloading as follows.

/*no delay*/
filename j temp;

proc http url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junyongkim/sas/master/sganno/usrecm.sas" out=j;
run;

%include  j;

I found that (1), unlike (2), experiences a little but clearly noticeable delay regardless of the Internet connection speed? Why is (1) a bit slower than (2)?

Re: %INCLUDE Code on the Internet

ballardw — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 22:22:42 GMT

You might try restarting SAS and running the code in the opposite order.

Sometimes you get little, or not so little, differences because something is cached in the computer memory. You don't say exactly where you encounter the difference.

I ran the code in the reverse order and the Proc means step showed a notable decrease in "real time" and "user cpu time" in the second step.

Re: %INCLUDE Code on the Internet

ChrisNZ — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 20:38:27 GMT

As mentioned, when comparing performance, always run the steps to compare in various sequences.

Also, it might that the procedure http being more recent, it is better tuned than the older filename url device.