New Output Defaults in SAS 9.3

Overview

In SAS 9.3, output in the SAS windowing environment is created by default in HTML. In addition, ODS Graphics is enabled by default. The following sections explain the advantages of these new defaults and how to change the defaults to match those of previous releases:
LISTING output is the default in previous releases and when you run SAS in batch mode in SAS 9.3. HTML output in the SAS windowing environment is the default in SAS 9.3 for Microsoft Windows and UNIX, but not for other operating systems. Your actual defaults might be different because of your registry or configuration file settings.

HTML Output in the SAS Windowing Environment

In SAS 9.3, the default destination in the SAS windowing environment is HTML, and ODS Graphics is enabled by default. These new defaults have several advantages. Graphs are integrated with tables, and all output is displayed in the same HTML file using a new style. This new style, HTMLBlue, is an all-color style that is designed to integrate tables and modern statistical graphics.
You can view and modify the default settings by selecting Toolsthen selectOptionsthen selectPreferences from the menu at the top of the main SAS window. Then open the Results tab. You can remember this sequence using the mnemonic TOPR (pronounced “topper”). The following display shows the SAS Results tab with the new default settings specified:
SAS Results Tab with the New Default Settings
The default settings in the Results tab are as follows:
  • The Create listing check box is not selected, so LISTING output is not created.
  • The Create HTML check box is selected, so HTML output is created.
  • The Use WORK folder check box is selected, so both HTML and graph image files are saved in the WORK folder (and not your current directory).
  • The default style, HTMLBlue, is selected from the Style drop-down list.
  • The Use ODS Graphics check box is selected, so ODS Graphics is enabled.
  • Internal browser is selected from the View results using: drop-down list, so results are viewed in an internal SAS browser.
In many cases, graphs are an integral part of a data analysis. However, when you run large computational programs (such as when you use procedures with many BY groups) you might not want to create graphs. In those cases, you should disable ODS Graphics, which will improve the performance of your program. You can disable and re-enable ODS Graphics in your SAS programs with the ODS GRAPHICS OFF and ODS GRAPHICS ON statements. You can also change the ODS Graphics default in the Results tab.

LISTING Output in the SAS Windowing Environment

Before SAS 9.3, SAS output in the SAS windowing environment was created by default in the LISTING destination. In the LISTING destination, tables are displayed in monospace, and graphs are not integrated with tables.
You can create LISTING output by selecting Toolsthen selectOptionsthen selectPreferences from the menu at the top of the main SAS window. Then open the Results tab. Select the Create listing check box, and do not select the Create HTML check box.
Before SAS 9.3, ODS Graphics was disabled by default. You can enable or disable ODS Graphics by default by using the check box, and you can use the ODS GRAPHICS ON and ODS GRAPHICS OFF statements to enable and disable ODS Graphics in your SAS programs. The following display shows the SAS Results tab with the old default settings specified:
SAS Results Tab with the Old Default Settings
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