Using EG with code written in PC SAS

[Doug____]

At startup, I'm calling code which uses the SASHELP.VEXTFL dataset to determine the path where the program sits. How can this be used in EG so I can do program editing and testing there?

[ChrisHemedinger]

SAS Enterprise Guide sets a number of global macro variables that you can reference in your code.

Macro Variable	Description
_CLIENTAPP	Name of the client application
_CLIENTMACHINE	Client machine node name
_CLIENTPROCESSFLOWNAME	Name of the process flow
_CLIENTPROJECTNAME	File name for the project
_CLIENTPROJECTPATH	Full path and file name for the project
_CLIENTTASKFILTER	Filter that is defined for the task. You can use this macro variable in the titles and footnotes of the task so that the filter information is displayed in the title or footnote of your results.
_CLIENTTASKLABEL	Label for the current task. This is the text label that is displayed in the Project pane and the process flow.
_CLIENTUSERID	User ID of the client user
_CLIENTUSERNAME	Full user name, if that information is available
_CLIENTVERSION	Application version, including build number
_SASHOSTNAME	Server node name (IP address, DNS name, or DCOM name)
_SASPROGRAMFILE	Full path and file name of the SAS program that is currently being run. This macro variable is available only for SAS program files that are saved on the same server on which your SAS Enterprise Guide code is being run.
_SASSERVERNAME	Name of the logical server

See the list in the EG doc here.

[Doug____]

I am aware of those variables but I want the code to run the same in PC SAS as it does in EG. Those variables are not available in PC SAS. I want platform independence so programmers can use either without making changes.

[ChrisHemedinger]

When using a client application like EG or SAS Studio, the client is aware of the original location of a SAS program file but the SAS session doesn't necessarily track it (in the external files table you're relying on). In Base SAS on the PC, the app is both the client (display manager) and the server, so it manages the opening/tracking of these files. But with EG and SAS Studio that responsibility is separate.

You can use some %if/%then logic to detect what environment you're running in (PC SAS, EG, Studio, batch) and set things up accordingly. More work for you.

Also some traditional uses of this (read files or store output in a path relative to the SAS program file location) won't make sense here, because your original SAS file might be on a local machine with EG, while the SAS session is running on a different machine where you cannot directly reference the local machine with your code.

[Doug____ · Accepted solution]

I got something to work. First I check if the _SASPROGRAMFILE macro variable exists. If it does then I parse the path as needed. If it does not, I use the SASELP.VEXTFL table to obtain the location of the program file. Because the _SASPROGRAMFILE variable contains single quotes, I use the DEQUOTE function to remove them for later processing. Appears to work on both clients.

[Tom]

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@Doug____ wrote:

At startup, I'm calling code which uses the SASHELP.VEXTFL dataset to determine the path where the program sits. How can this be used in EG so I can do program editing and testing there?

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If you want to know where some defined fileref is point use the PATHNAME() function.

If you want to know where the program SAS is running you can just check the SYSIN option value.

Why would you want to query that view? What exactly are you look for? 

Are you trying to guess what program the user of Display Manager might have last opened?  That might have nothing to do with what statements they submitted.

Are you trying to guess what step in which Enterprise Guide project submitted the current block of code to SAS to run?