Newbie to define xml needs help

[Doug]

I have some experience in creating define pdf, but none in creating a define xml document. Can anyone provide some assistance to get me started?

[AncaTilea]

Hi.

If you run the code below, you will get an EXCEL file, however, when you right-click and select to open it with Notepad (or any other convenient text editor) the XML "schema" (?) opens up for editing.

Not sure if this is what you want, but this should give you a starting point on how to get started.

Please note that the extension of the file created is xlsx.

Furthermore, the ODS TAGSETS has several options in place that you can use that will create a more tailored XML.

	%let path = your_path;
	ods tagsets.excelxp path = "&path." file="filename.xlsx";
	proc print data = sashelp.class;run;

    ods tagsets.excelxp close;

I hope this helps.

Good luck,

Anca.

[ballardw]

Tagsets.Excelxp creates xml not Excel forrmat files. By naming the output file with an xls or xlsx extension you are telling Excel to try to open it and since it knows how to open XML files it works generally.

[AncaTilea]

I know that.

Hence the tagsets (< >) name.

This was just my idea on how to get started on creating defined XML.

Maybe my explanation is not as clear as it could be

[Doug]

To provide additional information, the final file contains relevant metadata information on a group of sas datasets with active hyperlinks to those datasets and any relevant documents.

[Cynthia_sas]

Hi:

  Specifically, DEFINE.XML is the CDISC equivalent of the DEFINE.PDF that folks used to submit to the FDA. CDISC XML is not the same as the XML created by TAGSETS.EXCELXP. I am not currently on a computer where I can do a search for you, but if you go out to support.sas.com and search for the Clinical Standards Toolkit, there are ways to create DEFINE.XML using the SAS toolkit.

  Ot, if you have the Data Integration Studio product as part of a Clinical DI product suite, you can create DEFINE.XML using DI Studio.

  In addition to searching support.sas.com, you can also search www.lexjansen.com for papers about creating files that conform to CDISC standards, including DEFINE.XML (among other XML CDISC files).

cynthia

[Doug]

Cynthia:

Does the SAS toolkit provide very much help? The feedback I received from experienced users is that it didn't have very high utility.

[Cynthia_sas]

I'm not sure what you mean by "high utility". The SAS toolkit will NOT teach you CDISC standards. In order to use the toolkit, you have to be familiar with the CDISC standards and your own processes. You have to know how you are handling or meeting the CDISC standards. DEFINE.XML is just 1 piece of a bigger picture. So asking about only DEFINE.XML is asking about just 1 piece of the process.

Here are some papers and presentations that talk about the toolkit and DEFINE.XML:

http://www.lexjansen.com/pharmasug/2008/sas/sa11.pdf

http://support.sas.com/rnd/papers/sasgf12/126547_HW02-SAS.pdf

http://www.nesug.org/Proceedings/nesug11/ph/ph04.pdf

cynthia

[Doug]

Thanks for the links Cynthia. I have much learning to do...

[Doug]

Not directly related to define.xml...

Is there a way to set up a define pdf to remain open when opening a crf (another pdf document)? Is this a SAS issue or a pdf issue?

[Cynthia_sas]

Hi:

  I would guess that it is a PDF issue, or even an internal application issue. How are you creating the DEFINE.PDF file and your CRF (Case Report Files)? Are you using some application software to review and/or create either of these documents? Is it inhouse software? Are you using 3rd party software? You might want to try out Tech Support, however, before I'd go down that road, you might want to check with someone at your company to see whether they have any insights into your internal processes.

cynthia

[Doug]

The pdf is created by reading tables from an Excel workbook and then pushing the data to the pdf using ODS via the print and report procedures.

[Cynthia_sas]

Hi: Every time that ODS creates a file, it does this check: does the file already exist -- if yes, then write over the file; if no, then create the file. If you have the PDF file "open" by some other process, then ODS will not be able to write over the file.

cynthia