I'll be sharing the sample agendas that the conference team built for different topic areas to help you get started on which SAS Global Forum 2020 proceedings might interest you. Here are some SAS Programming papers, good for those that are getting started with SAS programming.
Programming: Getting Started
The Essentials of SAS Dates and Times: Derek Morgan of PAREXEL International gives you a solid base for working with dates and times in SAS. It introduces you to functions and features that enable you to manipulate your dates and times with surprising flexibility.
Dynamic Programming: Using Files to Change the Behavior of Your Program: Bryan K. Merrell of Merrick Bank provides a pro-active solution to a dilemma dealing with documentation of over a thousand pages of data transforms and usage and could change at any time, which is controlled by a third party. He shows you how to create a file that lists out all field transforms to be able to change those values as they change from the provider.
Best Practices in SAS® Programming to Support Ever-Increasing Data Loads.: John Schmitz from Luminare Data, LLC., presents some well-known and lesser-known SAS methods for efficient data handling. The focal point of the paper is more geared towards what is available and the use cases for each technique, rather than a detailed how-to on a specific solution.
Do More with Less: Programming Efficiently with Keyboard Macros: Breanne Young from Life Time Inc. shows you how to limit your time searching through previous programs for recycled code by repurposing through the utilization of keyboard abbreviations. Keyboard abbreviations are a means of creating keystroke shortcuts or abbreviations that tie directly to a curated library of code. This library can then be distributed using keyboard macro files, enabling an increase in coding efficiency among teams.
How a SAS® Function and the ODS PACKAGE Statement Will Help You Save Money and Space: Ricardo Rosales from Westat Inc. demonstrates how to unzip files into the work library and how to create new zip files using the ODS Package Destination. This will keep your network space in a good shape.
Using SAS® for Generating and Sending Certificates by Email: Alan Ricardo da Silva of Universidade de Brasília, shows a %certificate macro to create a basic structure of a certificate and then send it by email in a pdf format. The only requirement before you can use the macro is that a list (or a file) with the names and emails of the participants is created.
The Curious CAT (Q, S, T, X) Functions: Jinson J. Erinjeri, an independent SAS programmer and Saritha Bathi of Bristol-Myers Squibb presents various CAT functions with relevant examples of their application. The main objective of this paper is to remove the curiosity of the CAT family and encourage the programmers to add these functions as a must in their toolbox.
Step-by-Step SQL Procedure: Charu Shankar of SAS Institute Inc. show how PROC SQL is a powerful query language that can sort, summarize, subset, join, and print results all in one step. She provides elements to master PROC SQL, such as understanding the syntax order in which to submit queries to PROC SQL, joining tables using join conditions like inner join and reflexive join, and much more.
Think Globally, Act Locally: Understanding the Global and Local Macro Symbol Tables: In this paper, authored by Michelle Buchecker, an independent consultant, you learn when a local symbol table gets created, when a macro variable gets placed in the local table, what happens if you have a macro variable by the same name, and why does any of this matter. %LET, CALL SYMPUT, CALL SYMPUTX, and the INTO clause in SQL each have their own rules for addressing how they interact with the local and global tables. Techniques for debugging and displaying symbol tables are also discussed.
Work Smarter, Not Harder: Learning to Live without Your X: Amit Patel and Lewis Mitchell discusses how to replace the following: getting file listings; making and deleting directories and files; changing file permissions; Microsoft Windows compression, by harnessing the power of built-in SAS functions as well as other functionality. They are able to replicate much of what users have lost out on when faced with X-commands being disabled, enabling users to finally move on from their X.
