Hi just a question, Techo. How are you installing EG to user....via LAN MSI, SAS Depot, ZENworks, some other method? And do users have admin rights on their PCs? Thanks. ... View more

We use a similar solution to Peter C. (above). However, with this extra step to convert to standard SAS date integer: report_date = report_date * 86400; then the format IS8601DT. (similar to E8601DT.) is applied to the variable, and the same tagattr is used in PROC REPORT style(column). Q: Has anyone managed to display missing date values in Excel using this method with a space (blank) rather than a dot? When saving a blank Excel date value as XML, Excel converts the cell format to STRING. I tried this from PROC REPORT using: compute before group_variable; if report_date = . then call define(_17_, "style", "style=[tagattr='format:text']"); endcomp; This still wrote out a dot even though MISSING=" " and other missing values in the report were correctly blank. It seems that the tagset is writing out a dot regardless. BTW our tagset is a tweaked version (by Chris Wright) from 2007. Thanks. ... View more

For a couple of PDF reports, I used ODS PDF TEXT= to generate all of the titles via a macro routine. Just run it immediately after a new page. That way I could change them or insert subtitles at any time. ... View more

Just an update. SAS V9.2, AMO V4.22 and the implementation of automated POSIX attribute values on eDirectory user profiles (using the LUM driver) means that AMO users can authenticate to SAS metadata repository just by using the normal PC LAN user ID and password. -B- ... View more

A belated response. Macro loops are your best friend, especially when you want PROCs to do things out of the ordinary. It is worth learning how to set up a macro loop....I use them all the time to generate hundreds of ExcelXP reports using PROC REPORT on different sort key values (e.g. department code). These end up being print-ready worksheets that have titles, frozen headers, Excel formatting, colours, page numbers (page X of Y), run date/time, etc., with all columns scaled to fit the page. The same approach can be used on PROC TABULATE. Put the procedure inside a macro routine, then call the routine with parameters that are set in a macro loop. Then change the sheet name each to suit. You can just use the ODS ExcelXP option statement here. Cheers Bosch ... View more

One trick when working with the ExcelXP tagset is to do get the result you want in Excel first, i.e. protect a range of cells on a sample worksheet, then save the workbook as XML. Once that's done, view the XML text file to see what controls (if any) Excel adds to protect the cells. From here you might be able to modify your ODS ExcelXP SAS statements to insert the controls via TAGATTR or some other way. Editing the tagset itself might be necessary, but this is a substantial undertaking just to get your head around the logic, let alone add new functionality without breaking something else (and always create a new version of the tagset when making changes). Regards Boschy ... View more

Yes indeed, Doc. We're testing a new install package for EG V4.22, and I might chuck in the latest Dec 2010 hotfix as well before it gets rolled out. Desktop support have also thrown us a curve ball recently....no business user is allowed to get PC admin access, even temporarily...hence the new install package. V4.3 seems to have issues with Windows XP, and also slight compatibility issues with V4.2 projects, but I am keen to roll out V4.3 of EG and the SAS EBI clients once the install package is tested, and Base SAS is upgrade to TSM3 on our prod servers, etc (my to-do list has nested to-do lists!!). ... View more

Another update. A SAS consultant onsite doing installs and configs helped to identify the cause of the problem. He identified which bits are installed by the System Requirements Wizard. Then we install each one separately from the relevant SAS Depot folders. On problem Windows XP installs, the Microsoft.NET module (as I recall) failed to install, producing a Windows error message box. We believe this caused the silent install of EG from the Depot to fail and trigger reboots and/or blue screen of death. The work-around is to install these components manually from the Depot, then install EG using the LAN install script as per normal. In other words, bypass the System Requirements Wizard. The manual steps can be tested by running the Requirements Wizard manually. It should find that all required components are installed. Our desktop techs may end up creating a separate install package for the required components and run it first in the main script. -Bosch- ... View more

I'll chip in the comment that 'business intelligence' (whatever that means this week) depends strongly on having your data organised properly. I find that this point is rarely mentioned when discussing BI solutions. BI software is not a magic bullet. It's a presentation layer that delivers data that's already been processed and massaged by custom-written, and usually very complex, programs, in SAS or some other language. So... source system --> data warehouse --> data mart --> logic report view (e.g. information map) --> BI presentation via report, cubes, dashboard I wouldn't call Enterprise Guide a business intelligence tool. Rather, it's part of a suite of SAS software products that together can deliver 'business intelligence', but not without a lot of work done on the data first. ... View more

I've found that the only failsafe way to read Excel data values that might vary is to write specific DATA step logic. For example, any columns in Excel (CSV) that might be a problem are read in as $ character variables. I then check the values as per the intended data type and use INPUT () only when the value has been validated. If you're importing Excel XLS spreadsheet files, that is tricky. But if saving the XLS as CSV first is an option, try that. ... View more

Just an update. We've serious had problems installing EG4.22 on older PCs. In the worst cases, when the System Requirements Wizard starts, the PC dies with Blue Screen of Death. The only fix is to rebuild the PC. What's also a nuisance is the Depot, and granting temporary local admin access to SOE users who never usually have admin access. Because of this, we are not going to roll out Add-In for MS Office until clear causes/solutions are available. -Boschy- ... View more

It's great that SAS constantly evolve their products. But we at my site do wonder what motivates SAS to remove features/functionality that users like, or at least get used to, to be replaced by functionality that is worse than before. The removal of tabs in WRS 4.2 is one example. The changes to Enterprise Guide V4.2 is another example. I know that tabs in a GUI can become useless when too many tabs need to be accessible. But it's best to give customers a choice in newer releases, rather than removing the capability all together. It's the silent majority who ends up suffering! :D Message was edited by: boschy ... View more

I was once hired to evaluate the feasibility of doing this on a large scale. There no easy way to do it. One tricky aspect is the FOCUS JOIN syntax and JOIN options, which to me are counter-intuitive and difficult to convert to an SQL-style query. This is especially true if DB column and table names have been converted to shorter 'legacy' aliases in the masterfile definitions. Shudder. The bottom line is that every step must be tested very carefully. Estimate with generous fudge factors. Good luck...better you then me! -Rod Message was edited by: boschy ... View more

If you are using LDAP to authenticate users and groups via PAM, you'll need to install and run the Name Server Caching Daemon (NSCD). However you probably would not have gotten this far without it....it's pretty much essential for this config. ... View more