Using Graphics Devices

Viewing and Modifying Device Entries

As described in What Is a SAS/GRAPH Device?, device entries contain parameters that control much of the default behavior and default output attributes of a device. However, even though a device entry exists for every device, the information in it is not always used. See Device Categories And Modifying Default Output Attributes for more information.

Viewing the Contents of a Device Entry

SAS/GRAPH provides device entries for your operating environment in the SASHELP.DEVICES catalog. If your site has created custom device entries, they might also be stored in SASHELP.DEVICES, although custom devices are typically stored in the catalog GDEVICE0.DEVICES. For more information about custom device entries, see Device Catalogs or ask your on-site SAS support personnel.

Use any of the following methods to view the contents of a device entry:

Use the SAS Explorer window to display the contents of the DEVICES catalog in the SASHELP library. Double-click a device entry to display the contents of the device entry in the Output window.
Run the GDEVICE procedure in program mode. For example, the following statements list in the Output window the contents of the PSCOLOR device entry:
```
proc gdevice catalog=sashelp.devices nofs browse;
   list pscolor;
run;
quit;
```
Run the GDEVICE procedure in windowing mode. The following statements open the GDEVICE directory window that lists the available devices:
```
proc gdevice catalog=sashelp.devices;
run;
```
From the GDEVICE Directory window, select the device name to open the GDEVICE Detail window. From there you can move to the other GDEVICE windows for the entry, either by selecting windows from the Tools menu or entering commands on the command line. For details, see Using the GDEVICE Windows.

Modifying Device Entry Parameters

Use the GDEVICE procedure to modify the properties of an existing device entry. See The GDEVICE Procedure.

The modifications made to a device entry are in effect for all SAS sessions.

The new values that you specify for device parameters must be within the device's capabilities. For example, devices are limited in the size of the output they can display. Some output devices cannot display color. If you try to increase the size of the display past the device's capability or if you specify colors for a device that cannot display them, you will get unpredictable results. You cannot force a device to act as a device with different capabilities by choosing a different device driver

Note: The device driver that is associated with a device entry is shown in the Module field in the device entry. It is recommended that you do not change the device driver associated with a device entry. Please contact SAS Technical Support before changing the device driver associated with a device entry. [cautionend]

Note: If you run SAS/GRAPH software in a multi-user environment, you should not change the device entries in the SASHELP.DEVICES catalog unless you are the system administrator or other on-site SAS support personnel. [cautionend]

If you need to change a device entry in SASHELP.DEVICES, copy it into a personal catalog named DEVICES, and then modify the copy. To use the new device, assign the libref GDEVICE0 to the library that contains the modified copy. See Creating or Modifying Device Entries for details.

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