Advanced SAS Programming Tutorial for Beginners - Naidu's Lecture

Introduction

Speaker: Naidu from Great Online Training
Topic: Advanced SAS Programming Tutorial for Beginners
Focus: SAS Macros, SAS SQL, Graphs
Participants Introduction:
- Sandhya from UK
- Mary from the USA, Richmond, Virginia
- Sangeeta from the USA, South Carolina
- Aditi Rati from India

Divided into two parts:
- Basis Programming
- Advanced Programming
Base Topics: proc report, proc frequency, proc means, proc print, proc contents,
Advanced Topics: SQL, graphs, macros

Use: Automating repetitive tasks, making work faster by not needing to rewrite the same code
Example: Sorting multiple datasets using proc sort with and without macros
Concept: Automate repetitive tasks to save time and effort
Syntax:
- Macro code is separated from SAS code
- Rules: start with a character/underscore, no embedded blanks, upper or lowercase accepted
- Triggers: % for calling a macro, & for calling macro variables

Macro Variables:
- Amphisand sign (&): Call macro variables
- Percentage sign (%): Call macro itself
SAS Macro Compiler: Macro compiler and data set compiler run the macros and provide output

Syntax:

%macro macro_name;
sas_code
%mend macro_name;
%macro_name;

Example:

%macro print;
proc print data=sashelp.class;
run;
%mend print;
%print;

Defining Macro Variables:
```
%let var = value;
%put &var;
```
- SAS stores them globally/local
Important: Avoid embedded blanks or special characters except underscore
Length: Values up to 64KB; names up to 32 characters

Defining:

%local var;  %global var;
%macro test(var);
data new;
set old;
run;
%mend test;

License Requirement: Must have a license for macros to run them
Tools and Compilers: Set of commands, syntaxes, and compilers enabling macros

Automate code repetition
Creating more complex macros with parameters:
- Positional Parameters: Defined using specific positions in the macro call
- Keyword Parameters: Used to define specific names and values within the macro

Include: %include to read and execute SAS statements from an external file
Example:
```
%include 'path_to_file.sas';
```

Syntax:

proc sql;
create table my_table as
select * from existing_table;
quit;

Capabilities: Select, insert, update, delete
Example: Sorting, subsetting data
Joining Tables: Inner joins, outer joins, natural joins
Using Views: To save memory, efficient data handling
SQL Functions: Aggregate functions (sum, avg), string functions (concat), etc.