Customizing the SAS Environment

Customizing Your Current Session

As you become familiar with SAS, you will probably develop preferences for how you want SAS configured. Many options are available to you to make SAS conform to your preferred working style. Some of the things that you can change are the following:

window color and font attributes
library and file shortcuts
output appearance
file-handling capabilities
the use of system variables

You can customize your current SAS session in the following ways:

at the startup of a SAS session or program
through SAS system options
with drop-down menu options

Customizing SAS Sessions and Programs at Startup

Setting Invocation-Only Options Automatically

You can specify some system options only when you invoke SAS. These system options affect the following:

the way SAS interacts with your operating system
the hardware that you are using
the way in which your session or program is configured

Note: There are other system options that you can specify at any time. For more information, see Customizing with SAS System Options. [cautionend]

Usually, any invocation-only options are set by default when SAS is installed at your site. However, you can specify invocation-only options on the command line each time you invoke SAS.

To avoid having to specify options that you use every time you run SAS, set the options in a configuration file. Each time you invoke SAS, SAS looks for that file and uses the customized settings it contains. Be sure to examine the default configuration file before creating your own.

Note: If you specify options both in the configuration file and in the SAS command, then the options are concatenated. If you specify an option in the SAS command that also appears in the configuration file, then the setting from the SAS command overrides the setting in the configuration file. [cautionend]

To display the current settings for all options that are listed in the configuration file and on your command line as you invoke the system, use the VERBOSE system option in the SAS command.

Executing SAS Statements Automatically

Just as you can set SAS system options automatically when you invoke SAS, you can also execute statements automatically when you invoke SAS by creating a special autoexec file. Each time you invoke SAS, it looks for this special file and executes any of the statements it contains.

You can save time by using this file to execute statements that you use routinely. For example, you might add the following statements:

OPTIONS statements that include system options that you use regularly
FILENAME and LIBNAME statements to define the file shortcuts and libraries that you use regularly

Operating Environment Information: In order to execute SAS statements automatically in the CMS operating environment, you must have a file shortcut defined as SASEXEC. [cautionend]

Customizing with SAS System Options

Using the OPTIONS Statement and the Options Window

SAS system options determine global SAS settings. For example, the global options can affect the following:

how your SAS output appears
how files are handled by SAS
how observations from SAS data sets are processed
how system variables are used

The previous section discusses some invocation-only options that must be set at startup. However, there are many system options that can be set at any time. These system options can be set in an OPTIONS statement as well as in the SAS Options window.

It is important to note that system option settings remain in effect until you change them again, or until your current session ends.

There are several ways to view your system option settings. The two most common methods are the following:

the SAS Options window (type OPTIONS at a command line)
the OPTIONS procedure

To obtain a complete list of system option settings using the OPTIONS procedure, submit the following statements:

proc options;
run;

The SAS Options window groups options by function. The left side of the window includes a tree that lists the available option groups. You can expand option groups to see subgroups.

Operating Environment Information: Mainframe users can expand groups and subgroups by using the mouse or by typing an S or an X before the group or subgroup name. When you select a subgroup, the individual options of that subgroup appear on the right side of the window. [cautionend]

SAS Options Window

[SAS Options Window]

To open the SAS Options window, do one of the following tasks:

Issue the OPTIONS command.
Select Tools Options System.

The options in each group or subgroup are listed alphabetically, followed by options that are specific to your operating environment (which are also listed alphabetically).

Finding Options in the SAS Options Window

You can find options in a number of ways.

Expand the option groups and subgroups on the left side of the window until the appropriate option appears on the right side of the window.
Select an option group or subgroup, then select Find Option from the pop-up menu. In the Find Option window, enter the name of the option that you want to locate, and then select OK.

Setting Options in the SAS Options Window

In the SAS Options window, find the option that you want to set.
Select the option from the right side of the SAS Options window.
Select Modify Value or Set to Default from the pop-up menu. Mainframe users can type an S or an X before the option name to access the pop-up menu.
- If you choose Modify Value, then a dialog box appears that enables you to edit the option value.
- If you choose Set to Default, then the option value is reset to the default SAS System value.
Select OK to save your changes. Select Reset to return all edited options to their previous values.

Note: If all the items on the pop-up menu are grayed out (that is, unavailable), then the options are invocation-only options and can be set only when a SAS session is started. [cautionend]

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