Time: Thursday, January 25, 2007 -- 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Place: Department of Technology Services (DTS) Training Center
(formally known-as Health and Human Services Data Center Training Center)
9323 Tech Center Drive, Suite 100,
Sacramento, CA 95826
916-739-7502
At the Tiber Light Rail Station or off Mayhew between Watt and Bradshaw (See map)
Theme: Red Meat for SAS Code Dogs
Note: We've got three great presentations planned for you, covering a wide range of SAS tools & techniques that offer something for all SAS coders, users regardless of your current level of expertise.
The presentation line-up is as follows:
- "The Basics of the PRX Functions" - David L. Cassell, Design Pathways, Corvallis, OR
We are constantly needing ways to search for patterns in text, and change particular pieces of text. With the advent of SAS 9, the power of Perl's regular expressions is now available in the DATA step. The PRX functions and call routines let you to use the pattern matching features of Perl 5.6.1 to do these tasks, and more. This paper will explain what regular expressions are, and how to write basic Perl regular expressions. It will also show how to code the more useful PRX functions, and how to use these functions to search for text and replace text - "SAS's Various Varying Variables, or 1000+ Ways to Manipulate SAS Variables" - Paul Choate, CA State Developmental Services
To use the SAS data step and base SAS procedures it is crucial to have a solid foundation in the what, when, why, where, and how's of SAS variables. This paper surveys SAS variable attributes and variable handling, from well known to lesser known topics, with an emphasis on practical application. Although the data step is the main focus, related procedures such as SQL and DATASETS are discussed, as well as data set options available to all Base SAS procedures. - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective SAS-ers" - David L. Cassell, Design Pathways, Corvallis, OR
SAS programmers develop habits over time. Some of those habits lead toward efficient, effective coding. Other habits lead toward annoying headaches and a constant feeling that SAS can't do anything without a lot of struggle. In this paper, we will look at seven general habits which lead toward effective SAS coding, as well as toward efficient SAS programs. We will discuss: ways in which understanding your problem can help improve your code; how to find and use the right tool; how to improve efficiency by looking for ways to reduce the number of steps; how to structure data sets so that SAS programs can use your data more effectively; how to avoid the more expensive operations in programs; and how to learn more about the aforementioned subjects.
For PDF/Powerpoint copies of the presentations (they will NOT be available in hard copy at the meeting), and for additional meeting details as they become available, please see the SVSUG website at: http://www.svsug.org/.
Again, we've a fun & busy meeting scheduled, hope to see you all there!
