Global Statements

A global statement is a statement that you can specify anywhere in a SAS program. A global statement sets values and attributes for all the output created after that global statement is specified in the program. The specifications in a global statement are not confined to the output generated by any one procedure. However, they do apply to all the output generated thereafter in the program, unless they are overridden by a procedure option or another global statement. The RESET= option in the GOPTIONS statement also overrides global statements by resetting them.

Below is a list of all the SAS/GRAPH statements along with their brief descriptions. See SAS/GRAPH Statements for a more detailed description of each of these statements.

AXIS

modifies the appearance, position, and range of values of axes in charts and plots.

processes data and orders output according to the values of a classification (BY) variable. The BY statement in SAS/GRAPH is essentially the same as the BY statement in Base SAS, but the effect on the output is different when it is used with SAS/GRAPH procedures. When used with SAS/GRAPH procedures, the BY statement subsets the data and creates a graph for each unique value of the BY-variable.

Note: The BY statement is an exception here because it is not a global statement. It must be specified within a DATA or PROC step.

GOPTIONS

see line 2 in Figure: Typical SAS Program

specifies graphics options that control the appearance of graphics elements by specifying characteristics such as default colors, fill patterns, fonts, or text height. Graphics options can also temporarily change device settings.

LEGEND

modifies the appearance and position of legends generated by procedures that produce charts, plots, and maps.

PATTERN

defines the characteristics of patterns used in graphs created by the GAREABAR, GBARLINE, GCHART, GCONTOUR, GMAP, and GPLOT procedures.

SYMBOL

see line 4 in Figure: Typical SAS Program

defines the characteristics of symbols that display the data plotted by a PLOT statement used by PROC GBARLINE, PROC GCONTOUR, and PROC GPLOT as well the interpolation method for plot data. The SYMBOL statement also controls the appearance of lines in contour plots.

TITLE, NOTE, and FOOTNOTE see line 3 in Figure: Typical SAS Program

add text to maps, plots, charts, and text slides. They control the content, appearance, and placement of text on your graph. The FOOTNOTE statement is used to display lines of text at the bottom of the page. The TITLE statement is used to specify up to ten title lines to be printed on the title area of the output. The NOTE statement is used to add text to the procedure output area of your graph.

Note: The NOTE statement is a local statement. It can be specified only within a PROC step, and it affects the output of that PROC step only.