There are often symbols such as Greek letters or mathematical symbols needed outside of typical text to enhance the meaning of SAS® output. The UNICODE inline style function available beginning in SAS® 9.2 provides a direct way to insert these characters.

The sample code on the Full Code tab illustrates the insertion of a Greek letter, an arrow, and a check mark symbol using PROC REPORT routed to ODS HTML. These symbols can be assigned in a variable value or with a format.

Wikipedia is a good resource for a list of Unicode values.

---

These sample files and code examples are provided by SAS Institute Inc. "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Recipients acknowledge and agree that SAS Institute shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of their use of this material. In addition, SAS Institute will provide no support for the materials contained herein.

The inline style function UNICODE enables you to display any Unicode character in the ODS HTML, RTF, and PRINTER (PCL/PDF/PS) destinations. The sample code below displays the Greek letter alpha, an arrow, and a check mark.

---

ods escapechar="^";
ods html file='symbol.html' style=sasweb;

/* Example 1: Variable value */

data a;
   text='display special symbols';
   alpha='^{unicode 0251}';
   arrow='^{unicode 27A9}'; 
   check = '^{unicode 2713}';
run;

title 'Insert special symbols as variable values';
proc report data=a nowd;
run;


/* Example 2: Format */

data b;
   text='display special symbols';
   symbol=1; output;
   symbol=2; output;
   symbol=3; output;
run;

proc format;
   value sym 
   1 = '^{unicode 0251}'
   2 = '^{unicode 27A9}'
   3 = '^{unicode 2713}'
   ;
run;

title 'Insert special symbols with a format';
proc report data=b nowd;
   format symbol sym.;
run;

ods html close;

---

These sample files and code examples are provided by SAS Institute Inc. "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Recipients acknowledge and agree that SAS Institute shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of their use of this material. In addition, SAS Institute will provide no support for the materials contained herein.

Click here to view the HTML output.

There are often symbols such as Greek letters or mathematical symbols needed outside of typical text to enhance the meaning of SAS® output. The UNICODE inline style function available beginning in SAS® 9.2 provides a direct way to insert these characters.

Type:

Sample

Date Modified:	2013-04-30 14:59:08
Date Created:	2013-04-04 11:19:54

Operating System and Release Information

Product Family	Product	Host	SAS Release
			Starting	Ending
SAS System	Base SAS	Solaris for x64	9.2 TS1M0
		OpenVMS on HP Integrity	9.2 TS1M0
		Linux for x64	9.2 TS1M0
		Linux	9.2 TS1M0
		HP-UX IPF	9.2 TS1M0
		64-bit Enabled Solaris	9.2 TS1M0
		64-bit Enabled HP-UX	9.2 TS1M0
		64-bit Enabled AIX	9.2 TS1M0
		Windows Vista for x64	9.2 TS1M0
		Windows Vista	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows XP Professional	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft® Windows® for x64	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 64-bit Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter 64-bit Edition	9.2 TS1M0
		Microsoft® Windows® for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems	9.2 TS1M0
		z/OS	9.2 TS1M0