ODS Statements

The ODS Graphics procedures use ODS destination statements to control where the output goes and how it looks. Although ODS statements are not required in every program, they are necessary if you want to generate graphs for destinations other than the default HTML destination. Some other destinations include LISTING, RTF, and PDF.

You can use the STYLE= option in the ODS destination statement to change the style that is applied to your output. As shown in A Typical Program, the ODS destination statement is used at the beginning and end of the program to modify the default style. The beginning statement specifies a different style. The end statement sets the HTML style back to its default of HTMLBlue. The ODS destination statement can also be used to open a different destination.

Depending on the options available for the destination, you can specify other features such as the name of the output file or the directory where images are stored.

An ODS destination must be open to create output from the procedures. If you want to use a destination other than the default, you should always open the destination before calling the procedure. Opening a non-default destination results in output being sent both to HTML by default as well as to the additional specified destination. Conserve system resources by using the ODS destination statement at the end of the SAS program to close a destination that was opened in that program.