01-Getting-Started-Using-SAS-Software推荐.pdfVIP

The Little SAS Book: A Primer, Fifth Edition Chapter 1: Getting Started Using SAS Software An honest tale speeds best being plainly told. William Shakespeare, King Richard III From King Richard III by William Shakespeare. Public domain. 1.1 The SAS Language Many software applications are either menu driven, or command driven (enter a command—see the result). SAS is neither. With SAS, you use statements to write a series of instructions called a SAS program. The program communicates what you want to do and is written using the SAS language. There are some menu-driven front ends to SAS, for example SAS Enterprise Guide, which make SAS appear like a point-and-click program. However, these front ends still use the SAS language to write programs for you. You will have much more flexibility using SAS if you learn to write your own programs using the SAS language. Maybe learning a new language is the last thing you want to do, but be assured that although there are parallels between SAS and languages you know (be they English or JAVA), SAS is much easier to learn. SAS Programs A SAS program is a sequence of statements executed in order. A statement gives information or instructions to SAS and must be appropriately placed in the program. An everyday analogy to a SAS program is a trip to the bank. You enter your bank, stand in line, and when you finally reach the tellers window, you say what you want to do. The statements you give can be written down in the form of a program: I would like to make a withdrawal. My account number is 0937. I would like $200. Give me five 20s and two 50s. Note that you first say what you want to do, then give all the information the teller needs to carry out your request. The order of the subsequent statements may not be important, but you must start with the general statement of what you want to do. You would