ODS Graphics

Many SAS/ETS procedures produce graphical output using the SAS Output Delivery System (ODS). The ODS Graphics system provides several advantages:

  • Plots and graphs are output objects in the Output Delivery System (ODS) and can be manipulated with ODS commands.

  • There is no need to write SAS/GRAPH statements or use special plotting macros.

  • There are multiple formats to choose from: html, gif, and rtf.

  • Templates control the appearance of plots.

  • Styles control the color scheme.

  • You can edit or create templates and styles for all graphs.

To enable graphical output from SAS/ETS procedures, you must use the following statement in your SAS program.

   ods graphics on;

The graphical output produced by many SAS/ETS procedures can be controlled using the PLOTS= option on the PROC statement.

For more information about the features of the ODS Graphics system, including the many ways that you can control or customize the plots produced by SAS procedures, refer to Chapter 21, Statistical Graphics Using ODS (SAS/STAT User's Guide). For more information about the SAS Output Delivery system, refer to the SAS Output Delivery System: User's Guide.