When you use SAS Enterprise Miner, you might encounter symptoms such as these:

• You click a property, but nothing happens, or there is only a sound.
• You try to open results, but nothing is displayed.
• The user interface fails to respond: it seems to lock, hang, or freeze.

When these symptoms occur, you need to exit SAS Enterprise Miner and then restart it in order to regain control.

Solution

The symptoms occur when a modal window opens off-screen, and needs to be moved back into view.  The most common solution is to use the Alt +Space+M sequence or to use the Microsoft Windows logo key sequence, as described later in this note. 

Background

Usually, when symptoms like these occur, the issue is related to how Microsoft Windows remembers application-window locations, as explained in the examples below. When you close an application, Microsoft Windows remembers where the application window is located. If you re-open the application window, then the window opens where you last had it open.

Example 1:

1. Open one of your Microsoft Word documents.
2. Drag the application window to the right so that most of it is outside the view of your monitor.
3. Close Microsoft Word (the application window).
4. Open the document again. Notice that the application window is displayed over on the right, where you closed it.

Example 2:

You have two monitors, or you have one monitor that is very wide.

1. Open an application, such as a Word document, and drag the window either to the second monitor or to the extreme side of the wide monitor. (Or, someone else who has access to the machine performs those steps.)
2. Close the window.
3. Later, access the same computer remotely, maybe using your laptop, but with only one monitor (or with a narrow monitor).
4. Open the document. When you do, you cannot see it on your laptop because Microsoft Windows remembers to open the window in the other monitor, which does not exist on your laptop. The symptom is that something is locked, or something is occurring behind the scenes.

Example 3:

One of your coworkers has two monitors. He uses Java Web Start to run SAS Enterprise Miner. He selects the Variables property for one of the nodes, and drags the Variables window to his second monitor. After making his selections, the coworker closes the window. Later, you use Java Web Start to run SAS Enterprise Miner, but you have only one monitor. You select the Variables property for one of the nodes. SAS Enterprise Miner seems to fail to respond. However, the software did respond. It opened the Variables window off-screen in what was a second monitor when the previous user closed the window there.

Solutions:

Here are some ways that you can move the window back into view.

• Right-click the Windows taskbar and select Cascade windows so that all open windows are displayed. Drag the windows to the desired location.
• Press Alt +Space+M and then press and hold (possibly for several seconds) an arrow key to move the window back into view.  Whether to use the left-arrow key (←), right-arrow key (→), up-arrow key (↑), or down-arrow key (↓) depends on where the off-screen window is located.  If you do not know, then use the trial-and-error method.
• Press and hold the Windows logo key (lower left corner of your keyboard), and press an arrow key multiple times. It is crucial that you use this key sequence immediately upon experiencing the symptoms.
• Return to a two-monitor environment. Open the application window and drag the window back to the first monitor. Close the window.
• Position your mouse pointer over the taskbar that is located near the bottom of your display. The taskbar surfaces when your mouse pointer is down near the bottom of the display. An icon is displayed for each application (for example, Microsoft Word), as shown below.

  

  Position your mouse pointer over the icon for the specific application of interest. Additional small window icons are displayed, including a small icon for the window that you expect to see, but that is hidden.

  

  Position your mouse pointer over the icon for the window of interest, and right-click. When you right-click, a pop-up menu is displayed. Select Move from the menu, as shown below.

  

  Press and hold your left-arrow or right-arrow key, and the window moves back into view. If you close the window while it is in view, the next time you open the window, it opens in view.

Similarly, when you view the results of a SAS Enterprise Miner node or you open one of the property windows, Microsoft Windows opens the application window as described above. As described earlier, use either the right-arrow or left-arrow keys to move the Results window back into view.

Operating System and Release Information