This book is one of three documents about SAS/IML Studio. In this book you learn how to use the SAS/IML Studio GUI to conduct exploratory data analysis and standard statistical analyses.

A second book, SAS/IML Studio for SAS/STAT Users, is intended for SAS/STAT programmers. In it, you learn how to use SAS/IML Studio in conjunction with SAS/STAT software in order to explore data and visualize statistical models. In particular, you learn to call procedures in other SAS products such as SAS/STAT or Base SAS software by using the SUBMIT statement.

The third source of documentation is the SAS/IML Studio online Help. You can display the online Help by selecting Help →Help Topics from the main menu. The online Help includes documentation for all IMLPlus classes and associated methods.

SAS/IML Studio is part of SAS/IML software. The language used to write programs in SAS/IML Studio is called IMLPlus. This language contains SAS/IML functions and statements implemented in the IML procedure and documented in the SAS/IML User's Guide. The IML procedure runs entirely on a SAS workspace server, whereas IMLPlus switches dynamically between a SAS server (for computations) and the PC client (for graphics). In short, the IMLPlus language consists of SAS/IML functions and subroutines “plus” additional syntax to support the creation and manipulation of statistical graphics. The SAS/IML Studio program windows uses color coding to display keywords in the IMLPlus language.

Most SAS/IML programs run without modification in the IMLPlus environment. The SAS/IML Studio online Help includes a list of differences between the SAS/IML language and IMLPlus.

For your convenience in referencing related SAS software, the SAS/IML User's Guide, the SAS/STAT User's Guide, and the Base SAS Procedures Guide are available from the SAS/IML Studio Help menu.