October 2024

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Drive an electric vehicle (EV) in the US? In this SAS® Visual Analytics infographic, SAS’ Falko Schulz reveals the number of EV charging stations per 100,000 people by state at the postal code level.

Dear Reader:

However much you know about SAS® software, there’s always another level to unlock. This issue of Tech Report is all about expanding your horizons. Some examples:

• Learn to connect to SAS Viya for Learners from a Remote Jupyter Notebook
   
• Get acquainted with SAS Decision Builder on Microsoft Fabric
   
• Discover 3 traits and 5 core building blocks for building digital twins
   
• Explore 5 key elements to create effective model cards

…and much more—resources for developers, upcoming free learning events, etc.

Where has your learning journey with SAS taken you lately? A skill recently mastered. A successful project. Something so new, you haven’t yet put it into play. Hit reply and tell us about it.

Happy reading!

Bev Brown
Editor, Tech Report

Someone forwarded you this edition of Tech Report? Subscribe to receive your own copy each month!

Tech tips with Chris

CSV files and the siren song of PROC IMPORT

At some point in the past 25 years we decided that CSV files were "good enough" to exchange data between systems. This is despite the fact that almost all systems that export CSV files will lose information in the process. We get the field names and values, but we don't get important information about how to treat those values. Is that "ID number" really a number or is it just a unique character string that happens to be all digits? Is that date value of "10/8/2024" a MM/DD/YYYY or is it DD/MM/YYYY? This plight of imprecision spawns many questions on the SAS Support Community.

When it comes to reading CSV files into SAS, you have two main options: PROC IMPORT and DATA step. And SAS Community responders clearly favor DATA step — for good reasons!

PROC IMPORT is super straightforward. You just specify the input file, the output data set name, and the file type (CSV in this case). It's quick and easy, but it must guess the data types based on the CSV content. This can result in lost data (such as removing a leading zero from a ZIP code or interpreting a date incorrectly), and with no error messages how would you even know?

On the other hand, the DATA step gives you full control over how the data is read. You can define the data types and lengths explicitly, handle delimiters properly, and even apply business rules while reading the data. It takes a bit more code, but you get a lot more precision and flexibility. For example, you can ensure that IDs and ZIP codes retain their leading zeros. You can even create new variables based on conditions or calculations, all within a single pass of the data.

So, if you need something quick and easy, go with PROC IMPORT (but be sure to check the result!). But if you need precision and control, the DATA step is the way to go.

Intimidated by code? Remember that SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS Studio have tasks that help you to import all types of data. What's your favorite approach to reading CSV files? Let me know!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Tips & tricks

Explore automated explanations in SAS Visual Analytics
In this 19-minute video tutorial, SAS consultant Andy Ravenna shows you how to create an automated explanation in SAS Visual Analytics. You’ll learn to identify relationships between specific variables and the target, identify high probability groups, and build a predictive model based on your discoveries.

Take a deep dive into SAS 9 Content Assessment: Inventory
As part of a series of SAS Community posts on Content Assessment reports, SAS’s Gerry Nelson reveals four things you can learn from an inventory report and three ways you can use the results.

Get deeper insight into the PUT and INPUT functions in SAS
Think you know all there is to know about these popular functions? In a recent blog post, SAS’s Rick Wicklin details when and how to use them.

Get clarity on run-time variations of the INPUT and PUT functions in SAS
In a subsequent DO Loop post, Rick Wicklin reveals two ways you can specify which informat or format you want to apply.

Find out how to convert a character value to numeric in SAS
New to SAS? Among the first skills you’ll learn is how to read and convert raw character data into meaningful numeric data that can be used for calculations and statistics. SAS’s Anna Yarbrough gets you started.

Learn 3 ways to calculate the overlap of date/time intervals
How do you calculate the length of overlap of two date/time intervals? Say you have two events — each lasting several days — and need to calculate the number of shared days between both events. This popular article by SAS expert Leonid Batkhan shows you how.

Explore the many uses of PROC GPROJECT: Clipping Data
Ever needed to create precise maps homed in on a specific area? SAS's Greg Treiman shows you how to do that with PROC GPROJECT.

Weigh in with your opinion: Is SAS a programming language?
In a recent blog article, SAS’s Chris Hemedinger says no, it has a programming language. What do you say? Check out the comments and add yours.

Set up “view on web” option for your next email campaign 
Ever received a promotional email that didn’t render properly? Or was some content missing? But the “view on web” link option saved the day? SAS’s Brian Rowland shows you how to set up alternative viewing in SAS Customer Intelligence 360.

Learn to connect to SAS Viya for Learners from a Remote Jupyter Notebook
A SAS Support Community post inspired our developer advocate Joe Furbee to publish a how-to article on connecting to SAS Viya using the SWAT package.

Get acquainted with SAS Decision Builder on Microsoft Fabric
SAS’s Adam Pollacchi introduces you to SAS Decision Builder, which sets you up for success in making accurate, timely, data-driven choices in the age of AI.

Discover 3 traits and 5 core building blocks for building digital twins
Pursuing measurable improvements in process efficiency, asset reliability and product quality? SAS’s Paul Venditti details fundamental elements required to create a digital twin.

Explore 5 key elements to create effective model cards
Building trust in technology matters. It’s critical to understand how AI works, what it’s doing and whether it’s performing as expected. In a recent blog post, SAS’s Vrushali Sawant reveals how to use model cards to serve up essential insights.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Use case

How Techcombank uses SAS to thwart fraud
As part of an ongoing digital transformation journey, Techcombank established a proactive data monitoring system powered by a SAS enterprise fraud solution. This system provides new data-driven benefits in fraud detection, prevention, monitoring and resolution processes. Among the goals: ensure customers’ data security and maintain trust.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Industry news

Learn to fight fraud in the age of Generative AI
Use SAS to identify and prevent fraud? Or aspire to? Join three SAS experts and Linda Miller, CEO of Audient Group, for a free learning event at 10:00 a.m. CT on Thurs., Nov. 21. You’ll explore the evolution of GenAI and its growing role in fraud prevention and detection.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​For developers

SAS Bowl XLIV, SAS Visual Analytics
Join us for SAS Bowl Trivia! This month's game will focus on one of SAS's most popular features, SAS Visual Analytics.

• The game will be Wed., Nov. 13, at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• Register for the event and receive an invite to a Microsoft Teams meeting and a calendar event.
• On game day, join the Teams meeting and access the game here.

SAS Hackathon 2024, in the books
Another successful hackathon has officially come to a close. While we wait for the final results, let's take a look at some of the stats from this year's competition.

• 140 teams comprised of 1734 registrants from 71 countries were on the start list.
• Breaking it down regionally, 41% of registrants were from the Americas, 35% from EMEA,  and 24% from APAC.
• We ended up with 676 participants and an average team size of 5, with 17% of teams returning from last year.
• 55% of teams were from our customers and 28% were from partners, while 17% were students.
• 70% of the teams crossed the finish line.

Check out the final video submissions and get inspired!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Upcoming learning events

(Each is one hour and complimentary.)

How can I process scanned document images in SAS® Viya®?
Join Stacey Wang and Simran Bagga of SAS at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tues., Nov. 5. You’ll learn how SAS document vision helps ensure efficient workflows and results in significant time savings compared to manual reviews.

How do I perform customer segmentation With SAS® Intelligent Decisioning?
Join Crystal Baker and Diana Maris of SAS at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tues., Nov. 12. You’ll learn how to collaborate with your team and manage outcomes in your SAS Intelligent Decisioning segmentation trees.

Leveraging R for Statistical Analysis in LSAF
Join Matt Becker and Pritesh Desai of SAS at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tues., Nov. 19. You’ll learn how using R in the Life Sciences Analytics Framework (LSAF) enhances the analytical capabilities of life science researchers.