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In PROC FSVIEW, I could enter =FOO on the command line, and it would scroll horizontally to that variable.

 

I can't remember if the DMS table viewer does the same thing - I only have access to EG.

 

Can EG be changed so that, if I know the variable I want to view, I can do something like =FOO and the table viewer horizontally scrolls so that that column is the leftmost column?

 

I'd prefer something *fast*, so not a huge point-and-click picklist.

 

Corollary improvements would be:

 

1) Scroll to the first hit on a partial column name, i.e. If I have the columns FOO ... BAR ... ZULU ... BLAH, =B would scroll to BAR, =B again would scroll to BLAH, etc.  =C would display an error since no columns begin with C.

 

2) Options to scroll left or right, analogous to scrolling down and up in the editor.  And an option to wrap the scroll.  So, using the above example, =B scrolls to BAR, =B scrolls to BLAH, =B returns to BAR, (change direction to left), =B scrolls to BLAH.

 

3) (If possible):  An option to sort the columns alphabetically, in memory, without having to recreate that large dataset I just created.  I don't know how the backend code works, but it would be something like retrieving the data in PDV order as (I'm guessing) it does now. but rearranging the columns in the display memory so it looks like they're in alphabetically sorted order.  

 

(Or, perhaps just create a view under the covers and return that?  But I'd like the vertical scrolling thumb to know the number of observations.)

 

3 Comments
SASKiwi
PROC Star

Such a feature already exists. In the view do Ctrl - F to open the Search Dialog. Then change the search type to column headings only and type in the text you want to search on. You can enter just parts of variable names and it will quickly find the next column containing that text.

DaveShea
Lapis Lazuli | Level 10

Hi Scott and SASKiwi,

 

I have an alternative suggestion to SASKiwi's Ctrl-F idea and that is the little used, Ctrl-G key combination to bring up the [Go To Cell] dialog box. Despite the dialog box title, it allows you to quickly navigate to a particular column by choosing the column from a drop-down list. I realise that Scott prefers not to have a big list, but this is just an alternative.

 

Within the [Go To Cell] dialog box, if you click on the [Column:] drop-down control you get a list of all the variables/columns and you can choose the one you want to navigate to from the list.

 

This is very useful when you have a very large number of columns in a dataset, however, I would LOVE there to be a tick-box/radio-button to alter the order in which the columns appear in the drop-down list from the current dataset varnum order to alphabetical order.

 

The only real current downside to the facility is that in later releases of SAS Enterprise Guide the Freeze Panes facility got taken away. I sincerely hope that is re-instated so that key columns can be held in place at the left hand side whilst the user scrolls to columns far, far, away to the right.

 

On the whole, though, I agree with Scott, I think that there is room for a mini-command line in SAS Enterprise Guide Data Grid to allow for navigation. Perhaps re-combining what is now there as a Where clause command line with other commands would be a good step.

 

Cheers,

 

Downunder Dave.

BeverlyBrown
Community Manager
Status changed to: Not Planned