Introduction to SAS/IML Studio

Comparison with SAS/INSIGHT Software

SAS/IML Studio and SAS/INSIGHT® Software have the same goal: to be a tool for data exploration and analysis. Both have dynamically linked statistical graphics. Both come with pre-written statistical analyses for analyzing distributions, regression models, and multivariate relationships.

Figure 1.2 shows a typical SAS/INSIGHT analysis. Figure 1.3 shows the same analysis performed in SAS/IML Studio. You can see that the analyses are qualitatively similar.

Figure 1.2: A SAS/INSIGHT Analysis

A SAS/INSIGHT Analysis


Figure 1.3: A Comparable SAS/IML Studio Analysis

A Comparable SAS/IML Studio Analysis


However, there are three major differences between the two products. The first is that SAS/IML Studio runs on a PC in the Microsoft Windows operating environment. It is client software that can connect to SAS servers. The SAS server might be running on a different computer than SAS/IML Studio. In contrast, SAS/INSIGHT software runs on the same computer on which the SAS software is installed.

A second major difference is that SAS/IML Studio is programmable, and therefore extensible. SAS/INSIGHT software contains standard statistical analyses that are commonly used in data analysis, but you cannot create new analyses. In contrast, you can write programs in SAS/IML Studio that call any licensed SAS procedure, and you can include the results of that procedure in graphics, tables, and data sets. Because of this, SAS/IML Studio is sometimes referred to as the "programmable successor to SAS/INSIGHT software."

A third major difference is that the SAS/IML Studio statistical graphics are programmable. You can add legends, curves, and other features to the graphics in order to better analyze and visualize your data.

SAS/IML Studio contains many features that are not available in SAS/INSIGHT software. General features that are unique to SAS/IML Studio include the following:

  • SAS/IML Studio can connect to multiple SAS servers simultaneously.

  • SAS/IML Studio can run multiple programs simultaneously in different threads; each program has its own WORK library.

  • SAS/IML Studio sessions can be driven by a program and rerun.

SAS/IML Studio provides the following features of data views (tables and plots) which are not included in SAS/INSIGHT software:

  • modern dialog boxes with a native Windows look and feel

  • a line plot in which the lines can be defined by specifying a single X variable and a single Y variable, and one or more grouping variables

  • a polygon plot that can be used to build interactive regions such as maps

  • programmatic methods to draw legends, curves, or other decorations on any plot

  • programmatic methods to attach a menu to any plot. After the menu is selected, a user-specified program is run.

  • arbitrary unions and intersections of observations selected in different views

SAS/IML Studio also provides the following analyses and options that are not included in SAS/INSIGHT software:

  • a programming language that can call any licensed SAS analytical procedure and any SAS/IML function or subroutine.

  • outlier detection in contaminated Gaussian data

  • robust regression models and detection of outliers and high-leverage observations

  • the generalized linear model with a multinomial response

  • graphical results for the analysis of logistic models with one continuous effect and a small number of levels for classification effects

  • parametric and nonparametric methods of discriminant analysis

  • common factor analysis for interval variables

  • correspondence analysis for nominal variables

Features of SAS/INSIGHT software that are not included in SAS/IML Studio are presented in Appendix B: SAS/INSIGHT Features Not Available in SAS/IML Studio.