Building a Table of Text

Using a Single Layout

One of the most common applications of the GRIDDED layout is to build a table of text or statistics using nested ENTRY statements.

layout gridded / columns=2 order=rowmajor
                 border=true columngutter=5px;
  /* row 1 */
  entry halign=left "N";
  entry halign=left "5203";
  /* row 2 */
  entry halign=left "Mean";
  entry halign=left "119.96";
  /* row 3 */
  entry halign=left "Std Dev";
  entry halign=left "19.98";
endlayout;

Tables like this can be organized many different ways. For more information about these techniques, see Adding and Changing Text in a Graph for details about ENTRY statements, and see Adding Insets to a Graph for details about defining the tables.

Using Nested Layouts

When GRIDDED layouts are used to create tables of text, the tables often appear within another layout. For example, the table might be used within the plot wall of an OVERLAY layout, or within a SIDEBAR block of a LATTICE layout. When the table is used within a LAYOUT OVERLAY, it is often necessary to position the table so that it avoids collision with the plot. In the following example, the AUTOALIGN=(position-list) option of the GRIDDED layout is used to dynamically position the table in the TOPRIGHT or TOPLEFT position. TOPRIGHT is tried first, but TOPLEFT is used if the TOPRIGHT position would cause the histogram to collide with the table.

proc template;
define statgraph inset2;
  begingraph;
    entrytitle "Auto-positioning the Inset Within the Plot Wall";
    layout overlay;
      histogram mrw;
      layout gridded / columns=1 border=true
                       columngutter=5px 
                       autoalign=(topright topleft);
        entry  halign=left "N"       halign=right "5203";  
        entry  halign=left "Mean"    halign=right "119.96";
        entry  halign=left "Std Dev" halign=right "19.98";
      endlayout;
    endlayout;
  endgraph;
end;
run;

proc sgrender data=sashelp.heart template=inset2;
run;

Auto-Positioning an Inset Within the Plot Wall

In this example, the values for the statistics in the table are hardcoded. Obviously, you would prefer that the statistics values be calculated in the template. Adding Insets to a Graph shows how these values can be computed in the template or passed to the template using dynamic or macro variables.