Using the SAS Remote Browser

The remote browsing system enables users who access SAS through a 3270 emulator (or a real 3270) to view SAS documentation from a Web browser on the user's PC. Previously, all documentation was displayed by the itemstore help in the SAS Help Browser window in the 3270 display. By displaying this documentation in your Web browser, you have better browsing capability and more complete documentation content.

Remote browsing is invoked when SAS displays HTML output, usually from ODS, the help system, or from the WBROWSE command. SAS attempts to detect your computer's network address and send remote browser requests to it. If you have not installed the remote browser server on your computer, SAS displays a dialog box that contains the address that is necessary to download the installer. The help server provides the remote browser installer, so you do not have to end your SAS session to install the remote browser server. Copy the address in the dialog box to your browser, download the installer, and run it. The installer places the remote browser server in the Startup Items folder, so that it will start each time that you start your computer.

After the remote help browser server is running on your computer, you can run the help by using the defaults for the HELPADDR, HELPBROWSER, HELPHOST, and HELPPORT system options. If the HELPHOST option is not coded, SAS attempts to connect to the remote browser at the network address to which your computer's 3270 emulator (or your 3270 terminal) points. If the address is not the correct address for the remote browser, you will have to set the appropriate value for the HELPHOST option.

• The HELPADDR system option specifies the location of the remote help Webdoc application. HELPADDR system option defaults to the help Webdoc that is appropriate for your current SAS session if you do not specify a value for it. See HELPADDR= System Option: z/OS for more information.

• The HELPBROWSER system option specifies whether you want to use the new remote help (REMOTE, the default) or the traditional itemstore-based help (SAS) that uses the SAS Help browser. See HELPBROWSER= System Option: z/OS for more information.

• The HELPHOST system option specifies the network name of your computer, which runs the remote help browser server. If the HELPHOST option value is not specified, it defaults to the network address of the computer that is running your 3270 display emulator. This computer is usually the same computer that is running the remote browser server. See HELPHOST System Option: z/OS for more information.

• The HELPPORT system option specifies the port number that the remote help browser server is listening on. The default port is 3755, the port that is registered for the Remote Browser Server. See HELPPORT System Option: z/OS for more information.

You can set these options at SAS invocation, in your configuration file, or during your SAS session in the OPTIONS statement or in the SAS System Options window.

Example 1: Setting Up the Remote Help at SAS Invocation

The following code shows you how to set up the remote help at SAS invocation:

sas o('helphost=mycomputer')

Example 2: Setting Up the Remote Help during a SAS Session

The following code shows you how to set up the remote help during your SAS session:

options helphost=mycomputer;

The SAS 9.2 remote browser does not read itemstore help files. The SAS %ISHCONV macro enables you to convert your itemstore help files into HTML files that you can use with the remote browser.

Note:   If your location uses itemstore help files with SAS, then your SAS system programmer is the person who usually converts the itemstores to HTML files. Contact your system programmer if you cannot access the HTML help files.  

Creating a Common Directory

In order for SAS users at your location to access your HTML help files with the remote browser, you need to create a common directory in UFS. The common directory contains the HTML files that are created by the %ISHCONV macro. It can also contain subdirectories that contain more HTML files. The %ISHCONV macro uses the htmdir parameter to specify the common directory if you do not create it before running the macro. However, you have to specify a directory pathname for the htmdir parameter, so it is best to create the directory before you convert the itemstore files.

The common directory should allow all SAS users at your location to access the files, so you should place it in a directory path that is accessible to them. As always, it is a good idea to determine the best location for the directory before you create it and put your files in it. Such planning can prevent you from having to move the directory and its files at a later date.

Converting Your Files to HTML

The SAS macro, %ISHCONV, converts your itemstore files into HTML files. %ISHCONV uses the ishelp and ishref parameters to specify the data set name of the catalog that contains the itemstore help and the member of the itemstore help. It uses the exphlp and htmdir parameters to specify the filename of a work file for conversion processing and the pathname for the HTML files.

Note:   The converted HTML files have a file extension of .htm.  

For more information on using %ISHCONV to convert your itemstores to HTML, see %ISHCONV Macro: z/OS.

Adding HELPLOC Path Values

The INSERT system option enables you to add new path values to the HELPLOC option. Path values that are added with the INSERT option are read before paths that are already assigned to the HELPLOC option in your configuration file. You can insert multiple paths for the HELPLOC option.

The following commands insert a new path value for the HELPLOC option before other paths that are specified in your configuration file. The following example inserts a path in a directory that contains files in ASCII:

-insert (helploc='/u/userid/ishconv_dir_ascii')

The following example inserts a path in a directory that contains files in EBCDIC:

-insert (helploc='/u/userid/ishconv_dir_ed-1047;ebcdic')

After you use the INSERT command to assign additional path values, you can issue the following command:

proc options option=helploc; run;

To display the new value for HELPLOC that combines the two paths:

HELPLOC=( '/u/userid/ishconv_dir_ascii' 
        '/u/userid/ishconv_dir_ed-1047;ebcdic' 
        '/usr/local/SASdoc' )

The path value '/usr/local/SASdoc' is the value that was set for HELPLOC in your configuration file.

Accessing Your HTML Help Files

After your itemstore help files are converted to HTML, you can access the HTML help files by the same methods that you used to access the itemstore help:

• Select Help from the SAS menu bar.

• Enter the HELP command from the SAS command line.

The SAS HELP command:

help helploc://user.hlp/index.htm

accesses the index.htm file in the UFS directory that has the fully-qualified name:

/u/userid/ishconv_dir_ascii/user.hlp/index.htm

Note:   You are not limited to using the HELP command to access only the index.htm file of your help. You can issue the HELP command to access remote help for Windows, SAS language elements, and so on, the same as you have with previous SAS Help systems.  

If a help file with the same relative path and file name exists in multiple HELPLOC path values, SAS displays the file from the first path that is encountered. This feature enables you to amend an existing file that is available to SAS.

If you get an error message that the help is not available, use the HELPLOC system option to specify the location of the help files. You can include the HELPLOC option in your configuration file, or you can issue it at SAS invocation. Contact your system programmer for the location of the help files that you need to use with the HELPLOC option.

See Also

• %ISHCONV Macro: z/OS

• Macros under z/OS

• HELPBROWSER= System Option: z/OS

• HELPLOC= System Option: z/OS

• INSERT= System Option: z/OS

• SAS Macro Language: Reference

You can write your own HTML help files to use with SAS. Use the same tools or file editors to write these HTML files that you would use to write any other HTML files. After you have written these files, place them in a location where SAS can access them. If your HTML help files are encoded in EBCDIC, you need to include the ;ebcdic attribute in the declaration for the HELPLOC system option. For information about working with ASCII-encoded files in the z/OS USS environment, see IBM's z/OS UNIX System Services User's Guide.

For information about using the HELPLOC system option, see HELPLOC= System Option: z/OS.

Note:   SAS provides the ITEMS procedure to enable you to produce itemstore files, but we encourage you to create and use HTML help files. Any itemstore file that you create is used with SAS itemstore files that have not been updated for this release of SAS.  

The SAS Output Delivery System can be used to generate graphical reports of your SAS data. Remote browsing enables you to view your output directly from the SAS session, either in real time as the output is generated, or on demand from the Results window.

Remote browsing displays ODS output that is generated to z/OS native data sets (sequential, PDS, or PDSE) or a UFS directory. HTML, PDF, RTF, and XLS file types are displayed with the remote browsing system. If your browser does not have the appropriate plug-in for non-HTML data types, it will display a download dialog rather than the actual data. This dialog will allow you to download the report to your PC and view it using a local program, such as Excel for an XLS file.

The automatic display of ODS output is turned off by default. You can turn on the automatic display of ODS output by issuing the AUTONAVIGATE command in the Results window.

For more information about viewing ODS output with a browser, see Viewing ODS Output on an External Browser.

Copyright © 2007 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.