What Is the Output Delivery System?

The Output Delivery System (ODS) enables you to customize the content of your output, choose how your output is formatted, and customize the appearance of your output. Examples of output formats are EPUB, PDF, RTF, and POWERPOINT.
Important features of ODS include the following:
  • ODS destinations produce the following types of output:
    • traditional monospace output
    • an output data set
    • an ODS document that contains a hierarchical file of the output objects
    • a ZIP file
    • output such as PostScript and PDF that is formatted for a high-resolution printer
    • output that is formatted in a markup language such as HTML, HTML 5, and XML
    • RTF output that is formatted for use with Microsoft Word
    • EPUB output that is formatted to be read by a wide variety of e-book readers
    • one or more PowerPoint slides
  • ODS provides table templates that define the structure of the output from SAS procedures and from the DATA step. You can customize the output by modifying these table templates or by creating your own.
  • ODS provides style templates that you can use to customize features of your output, such as fonts, colors, and line styles.
  • ODS enables you to choose an individual output object to be formatted in a different way. For example, PROC UNIVARIATE produces multiple output objects. You can easily create HTML output, one or more output data sets, PDF output, or printer output from one or all of these output objects.
  • ODS stores a link to each output object in the Results window of the SAS windowing environment.
  • SAS output formatting is centralized in ODS. When ODS destinations are added, they are automatically made available to the DATA step and all procedures that support ODS.
  • ODS enables you to produce output for numerous business applications from a single source. This feature saves you time and system resources because you can produce multiple types of output with a single run of your procedure or data query. For example, you can create output formatted for Microsoft PowerPoint, iOS iBooks, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft Word.
  • ODS enables you to create highly customized output with the Report Writing Interface (RWI) and the DATA step.
  • ODS enables you to create text content such as paragraphs and lists.
  • ODS enables you to use cascading style sheets (CSS) to customize the appearance of your output.