Which Open-Source Packages are included in SAS Viya for Learners?
Are you an academic using SAS Viya for Learners (VFL) wondering, “what open-source packages are part of SAS Viya for Learners”? Perhaps you’re a lover of both SAS and Python and R – and want to know if your favorite open-source tools are already configured on VFL. Or you’re new to SAS – and would still like to use some of your go-to analytical tools in a Jupyter Notebook, while leveraging the multitenancy + cloud environment of VFL. Well, then this library article is for you.
We’ll start our journey right after launching SAS Viya for Learners – and I’ll demo on SAS VFL3.5. From SAS Drive, you’ll find the launch Jupyter icon is the bottom-middle of the webpage:
Click that button to launch Jupyter in a new browser. Then examine the “Launcher” options:
Let’s focus on the Python packages first because, well, it’s listed first. Click on the Python 3 icon to launch a Python Notebook:
You’re now one step away from the answer!
Type help("modules") into the command line and then run the cell as follows:
Scroll through the output just a little bit, and you’ll find the list of all Python packages available in VFL:
The list goes on and on – so happy scrolling and I hope that your package is there!
The process is very similar for R. Find the New Launcher button in the upper right-hand corner:
Select the R Notebook is this iteration:
Your R command is now: installed.packages(). Submit the command after typing this in:
And just like that, you have a fun list of R packages to read through:
One outstanding, logical question is this: what if your favorite Python or R package is not included in the pre-installed VFL environment? Can you easily add the package?
Unfortunately, the answer to that is no. To ensure the stability of VFL, as well as a good experience for all users, only SAS administrators can install new open-source packages. And while we can take your recommendations for new content, there is no guarantee that we can fulfill that request. Sorry!
