Along with table and page attributes, ODS styles contain
a collection of graphical attributes such as color, marker shape,
line pattern, fonts, and so on. Many carefully designed styles are
shipped with SAS that enhance the visual impact of the graphics.
In addition to creating
visually appealing graphics, many key elements of effective graphics
are built into the various elements of the styles, such as the following:
-
provide maximum contrast between
backgrounds and data
-
provide for ease of discrimination
among different groups
-
provide equal emphasis for data
with equal importance
The ODS styles are
used to produce professional looking graphics without the need for
further modification. However, you have several options for modifying
the appearance of your graphs if you choose to do so.
You can customize your graphical output at three levels.
The following table
shows the three levels of customization.
Levels of Customization
|
|
|
|
|
|
Specify a style with
the STYLE= option on the ODS destination statement to change the appearance
of the entire graph. Requires no further modification.
The active style affects
all SAS output and remains in effect until the ODS style or destination
is changed.
|
|
|
|
Specify an appearance
option in the procedure to change various aspects of your graph. Appearance
options override the corresponding defaults from the current style.
Note: Not all appearance attributes
can be specified in this way.
Appearance options affect
only the procedure in which they are specified.
|
|
|
|
Specify or change style
attributes in order to modify a style element. This requires the use
of PROC TEMPLATE style statements.
The active style affects
all SAS output and remains in effect until the ODS style or destination
is changed.
|
|