topic Code comparison in EG 7.1 in SAS Enterprise Guide

Code comparison in EG 7.1

Babloo — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 10:21:17 GMT

How to compare two SAS codes in SAS EG 7.1?

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

TomKari — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 11:34:20 GMT

Could you expand on this a bit? It's not clear what you're trying to do.

Tom

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Babloo — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 12:13:26 GMT

I've two similar SAS programs but they seem to have somo differences between them. Since it is long program it will be little difficult to do a manual comparison.

So how this can be achieved in SAS EG like we do a code comparison in text editor like Ultra Edit?

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Kurt_Bremser — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 12:29:00 GMT

Seems like your best option will be to save the programs as .sas files and use an external tool like ultraedit (or diff on UNIX) to do the compare.

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Quentin — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 12:46:27 GMT

From this blog post from Chris H., EG 7.1 includes the ability to diff files, as one part of real version control it introduces (via GIT). So looks to me like you are in luck (I'm not on 7.1 yet, so haven't tested. Guess I'm not in luck. : )

http://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/2014/10/12/eg-71-new-programmer-features/

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

jennifert — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 13:35:03 GMT

There is also information about the ability to compare programs in the SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 help. This ability is part of the new program history feature. You can use your program history to compare two different committed versions of a program, and you can compare a committed version of the program to the code that is currently in the program editor.

In the table of contents, expand "Working with Programs" and then "Understanding program history", or search for "program history".

Thanks,

Jennifer

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Babloo — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 14:16:55 GMT

Thanks for the reply. It is really helpful.

However I couldn't figure out why 'History' on the program toolbar is disable for me.

I've the programs (Client.sas and Client_updated.sas) saved in UNIX server under the folder called /data.

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Kurt_Bremser — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 14:27:40 GMT

The compare function within EG works only if you have already used the internal version control system for the SAS code within the project.

In your situation, I would start with using

diff /data/Client.sas /data/Client_updated.sas

from the commandline on the UNIX server and look at the output. It is a bit cryptic, but it provides all the answers. (info diff)

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

jennifert — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 14:31:29 GMT

Before you can use the program history feature to commit program changes and compare different versions of a program, your programs need to either be embedded in your project or stored in a Git repository. There is information about this in the program history section of the help: I'd recommend the topics entitled "Committing your program changes" and "Understanding embedded programs."

I hope that helps!!

Thanks,

Jennifer

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Quentin — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 14:53:07 GMT

Hi Jennifer,

On that note, is there any chance a future EG version might allow .sas files that are linked to an EG project (rather than embedded) to use the EG project file local GIT repository (if that is the right language)?

I may be an oddity, but as I've been working more with EG these past couple years, I've become a fan of EG projects, but I store all of my .sas code on the server and have only links from the project file to the .sas files.

I don't know enough about the architecture of EG (or GIT) to know if there is hope that a future iteration of this new version control approach could work with linked .sas code (and perhaps other linked files...).

Thanks,

--Q.

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

CaseySmith — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 19:01:27 GMT

To compare two programs in EG 7.1, multi-select (Ctrl+Click) the two programs in the Project Tree or Process Flow, then right-click either of the two programs, and select the Compare context menu item.

Note: This comparison feature requires a one-time installation and specification of a 3rd-party file comparison tool (I like WinMerge) in EG's Tools->Options->File Comparison.

The Program History feature provides additional versioning capabilities. For more information on the Program History feature new to EG 7.1, see this paper:

http://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings14/SAS179-2014.pdf

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

CaseySmith — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 19:39:00 GMT

Regarding Quentin's question... external .sas files (referenced in EG projects via file system or UNC paths) can be stored in external Git repositories. In this case, EG's Program History features (commit, view history, compare, revert, etc.) are available and execute against the external Git repository. (Whereas, embedded programs (in EG project) are tracked in the embedded Git repository (also in EG project).)

However, the Program History feature doesn't really support .sas files referenced from the server (Server's Files location). The reason... even if the file was stored in a Git repository on the server, EG would not typically have shell access to the Git repository to issue Git commands. Nor would we want to try to track changes in the "local" Git repo (embedded in the EG project), because it would only track changes to the file made from within that project. So, if you wish to use the Program History feature with externally referenced .sas files, we recommend referencing them from an external (locally cloned) Git repository (accessible to your file system).

Casey

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Babloo — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 07:40:37 GMT

I did multi-select (Ctrl+Click) the two programs in the Project Tree and I got the warning as follows as soon I select 'Compare'.

'An custom file comparison tool must be configured to complete this action'.

You did mention about the installation of 3rd party file comparison tool to enable this feature. But I'm not sure to have this done.

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Kurt_Bremser — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 07:53:15 GMT

As Casey already suggested, I also recommend WinMerge. If you don't have admin permissions on your PC, have your admin download and install it.

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Babloo — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:53:38 GMT

may I request you to tell me, how admin will connect (or set up the interface between EG and WinMerge) WinMerge in SAS EG after the installation of WinMerge?

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

Kurt_Bremser — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:59:36 GMT

Read Casey's post:

Note: This comparison feature requires a one-time installation and specification of a 3rd-party file comparison tool (I like WinMerge) in EG's Tools->Options->File Comparison.

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

ChrisHemedinger — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 19:12:29 GMT

Here's what I do:

1. Download WinMerge from winmerge.org. The download/install is pretty straightforward. (WinMerge is free, but other people like BeyondCompare, KDiff, or similar tools.)

2. In SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 (or later), select Tools->Options, File Comparison.

Check the "Use custom file comparison tool" option, and select the WinMerge option from the list. You might need to specify the path to the WinMergeU.exe tool.

SAS Enterprise Guide knows how to invoke WinMerge properly to compare the file contents.

3. In your project tree or process flow, select exactly two program nodes by using Ctrl+click, then right-click to see the Compare option.

The WinMerge application shows the content of the two selected programs, compared with differences highlighted.

Chris

Re: Code comparison in EG 7.1

ChrisHemedinger — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 18:25:48 GMT

I've now created a blog article about this topic:

How to compare your SAS programs in SAS Enterprise Guide

Leave comments here or on the blog if you have feedback!

Chris