SAS Environment

[Lyson]

Hi Colleagues. I got a question from someone who saw my SAS Proc Mixed code that I used to fit a linear mixed model in SAS Studio (SAS on Demand). They asked me: "In what software environment is the procedure implemented?" I am confused with this environment term. How do I answer that one?

[PaigeMiller]

It is implemented in SAS, assuming you have licensed SAS/STAT. The user interface is irrelevant, it is in all versions of SAS if you have the license to SAS/STAT.

[Lyson]

@PaigeMiller Unfortunately, this is a reviewer's comment and I need to address it directly. What is a SAS environment. and if I am running some codes in SAS Studio (SAS on Demand), what environment is that?

[Patrick]

SAS Studio is the client that connects to the SAS Server. The SAS code gets executed on the SAS Server.

I can only guess but eventually all this reviewer wants to know is the SAS version and the operating system under which SAS executes. If so then below two lines will write this information to your SAS log.

%put SAS Version: &SYSVLONG4;
%put Host Info:   &SYSHOSTINFOLONG;

Such information could be required by a reviewer/auditor for example if they want to make sure that there isn't a known bug for this environment that would impact on your result.

[SASKiwi]

A SAS environment is a computer or computers where SAS is installed. SAS is made up of many products, many of which are optional to install. Base SAS is always required, but SAS/STAT, which provides statistical procedures like MIXED, is optional. SAS on Demand is a SAS environment provided by SAS Institute for learning purposes only. SAS/STAT is included in this.  

[ballardw]

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@Lyson wrote:
@PaigeMiller Unfortunately, this is a reviewer's comment and I need to address it directly. What is a SAS environment. and if I am running some codes in SAS Studio (SAS on Demand), what environment is that?

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I would ask for clarification from the REVIEWER exactly what is meant by "environment" instead of making repeated guesses about what they might want. Not every one uses the same words for the same thing. Sometimes it is jargon for a specific industry, sometimes it is organization specific.

[PaigeMiller]

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@ballardw wrote:

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@Lyson wrote:
@PaigeMiller Unfortunately, this is a reviewer's comment and I need to address it directly. What is a SAS environment. and if I am running some codes in SAS Studio (SAS on Demand), what environment is that?

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I would ask for clarification from the REVIEWER exactly what is meant by "environment" instead of making repeated guesses about what they might want. Not every one uses the same words for the same thing. Sometimes it is jargon for a specific industry, sometimes it is organization specific.

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And sometimes, it is mis-use of the word by the questioner. 

[Lyson · Accepted solution]

@PaigeMiller @SASKiwi @Patrick @ballardw  Thank you guys for your responses and explanation. I am sure the reviewer wants me to mention (SAS Studio / SAS on Demand), but I just put it as SAS wondowing environment (SAS Studio). Please note that the reviewer is unknown and the process does not allow me to ask questions. Thank you all for your input. 

[PaigeMiller]

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@Lyson wrote:

@PaigeMiller @SASKiwi @Patrick @ballardw  Thank you guys for your responses and explanation. I am sure the reviewer wants me to mention (SAS Studio / SAS on Demand), but I just put it as SAS wondowing environment (SAS Studio).

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@Lyson I consider your reply above to be incorrect. You can use PROC MIXED in ANY SAS interface as long as SAS/STAT is licensed. It is not limited to SAS Studio or SAS On-Demand.

[Lyson]

@PaigeMiller I guess the reviewer is asking for the SAS interface because, from all your explanations, it looks like the "SAS Environment" question is vague.

[SASKiwi]

@Lyson  - Actually there is an official SAS product called the SAS Windowing Environment and it isn't SAS Studio or SAS on Demand or even SAS Enterprise Guide.

[Lyson]

@SASKiwi Therefore, to be safe, let me just mention "SAS Studio". Am I correct?

[Sajid01]

The proper answer for environment  in my opinion would imply the operating system of the server/machine on which SAS is installed. So for example if somebody is using SAS Studio from SAS on Demand for Academics, the  answer  would be SAS Studio in Linux Environment. (SAS on Demand for Academics works on Linux.  @Patrick has given the commands in his post). 

[Lyson]

@Sajid01 I get you clearly. I think I have adopted your answer and I suppose it will clearly be acceptable to the person asking. Thank you all for your contributions.

[SASKiwi]

@Lyson  - No. You keep going on about the SAS user interfaces like SAS Studio and SAS on Demand (it uses SAS Studio too). PROC MIXED may or may not be available in SAS Studio. You don't know until you check if SAS/STAT is installed and licensed in the SAS installation SAS Studio is using. To find out if it is available in SAS Studio you can run this program:

proc product_status;
run;

proc setinit;
run;

If SAS/STAT is listed then PROC MIXED is available.

So to summarise, its completely wrong to say if you are using SAS Studio, PROC MIXED will be available.