"Broadcast" Message (-news in batch SAS)? Custom Splash Screen?

[jimbarbour]

Is there any way I can send out a "broadcast" type message in Enterprise Guide to all users who log on?

    - or -

Is there a way I can tell Enterprise Guide to use a custom splash screen?

What I'm trying to do is, say for example, an unplanned re-boot is going to occur that evening and everyone needs to save their work and log off and I want to let everyone know.

In SAS Display Manager ("PC" SAS), one could specify a custom splash screen.

In batch SAS, one can specify a -news parameter that points to a text file, and the log will display whatever message is in the text file as part of the initiation process.

Is there anything I can do like that in Enterprise Guide?

Jim

[SASKiwi]

@jimbarbour  - If you apply the -NEWS option at the "SASApp" level of your SAS server software configuration in the USERMODS config file it should work for all types of SAS jobs - batch, EG, SAS Studio etc. There is no guarantee of course that users will notice what is in the top of their SAS log though 😉

[jimbarbour]

Unfortunately, it's all but impossible for a user to see the initialization log from when Enterprise Guide connects to the server.  

One has to open up the Servers, connect, and then 1) click on Properties, then 2) click on the Software tab, and then 3) click on "View Initialization Log."  Fat chance of that ever happening.

In Batch and Display Manager, there's at least some chance that someone might see it particularly if it were updated on a regular basis and contained information that was actually of interest (next scheduled reboot, active problems, etc.).

But it's definitely a good thought.  I just wish the Splash screen could be customized for EG like it could for Display Manager, but I suspect that it cannot unless there has been a relatively recent change.

Jim

[SASKiwi]

@jimbarbour  - Ah, yes, I'd forgotten that EG "hides" the initial server session log. In my experience EG users don't know how to navigate to it.

Another approach entirely would be to send a broadcast email to all accounts in the SAS users AD / LDAP group. You'd probably be accused of spamming but at least it would be way more visible.

[TomKari]

How about a "Rube Goldberg" solution?

1. Set up a text file on your server that contains your bulletin.

2. Set up a code snippet on your server that looks something like this:

data tmp;
	length InString $32767;
	infile "C:\BullText.txt";
	input;
	InString = _infile_;
run;

proc print data=tmp;
run;

proc datasets nolist;
	delete tmp;
quit;

3. Use the -autoexec system option (SAS, not Enterprise Guide) to run this code when a user starts up SAS.

There will probably need to be some futzing around with ODS to make it work. Sadly, I don't have a remote server environment, so I can't test it.

   Tom

[jimbarbour]

Ohhh.  Nice.  Now, that's what I call "thinking outside the box."

Still not sure that's quite what I'm looking for though.  With Enterprise Guide, the user would have to notice the little results icon on the project workflow and double click on it.  Danged clever thinking though.

Jim

[AlanC]

Jim,

There might be other ways and, to be honest, I am normally on another planet when it comes to SAS.

One thought I had was to write a FileSystemWatcher program (see here: https://www.fluxbytes.com/csharp/how-to-know-if-a-process-exited-or-started-using-events-in-c/) and detect the launch of SEGuide.exe. At that point call a web service and display whatever message it returns. For an experienced coder, I am guessing 8-12 hrs. You would also need the ability to get the applcation running on a  local machine.

SAS also makes some web service calls when EG fires up. That means it is in the wild on the network. Find the end point and launch from there. SAS has to connect to the server so detect the packet and fire something back to the user.

Spit-balling. Hope it helps.