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Base SAS

ODS PDF

ODS PDF is the most popular of the ODS PRINTER family of destinations, which also includes ODS PCL and ODS PS (PostScript).

SAS Output Delivery System: User's Guide
This is the online documentation for SAS 9.3.

A Different Point of View with ODS PDF in SAS 9.3 (.pdf) (April 2012)
Enhancements for SAS 9.3 include how to change orientation mid-file, how to drill down from your PDF file, how a stronger use of vector-based graphics will save memory and time, and much more.

Getting the Right Report (Again): Your Compatibility Guide for ODS PDF 9.2 (.pdf) (April 2010)
ODS PDF in SAS 9.2 looks different from earlier versions. This paper shows how things work and why things changed, so you'll have the tools you need to create that perfect report in SAS 9.2.

ODS PDF Tip Sheet (.pdf)
This quick reference guide was popular at SAS Global Forum 2008. We put the most frequently used information on one sheet of paper. Print on both sides of legal-sized (8.5 x 14 inches) paper.

How to Add a Little Spice to Your PDF Output (.pdf)
Example code and output in this SAS Global Forum 2008 paper show details of some new SAS 9.2 features.

Let the ODS PRINTER Statement Take Your Output into the Twenty-First Century (.pdf)
This paper from SUGI 31 highlights new features and options that are available in SAS 9.2 for the ODS PRINTER statement.

Enhancements to ODS PDF for SAS 9.2
Example code demonstrates some new features for SAS 9.2.

SAS Notes and Concepts for ODS
These are compiled by Technical Support and developers. See the section for the ODS PRINTER family.

What's New for SAS 9.1?
Brief information on new SAS 9.1 and SAS 9.0 features.

Archive: SAS 8.2 ODS PRINTER Family

Pageof macros (.sas)
produce "page xx of yy" page numbering in ODS PS output. See an example. The process is limited to PostScript, but you can convert a PS file to PDF by using either Adobe Acrobat Distiller (commercial product, not the free reader) or ps2pdf (freeware).

Also available are some alternate (.sas) pageof macros. These were generously contributed by Tom Abernathy of Pfizer, Inc. His macros work for any output file type -- plain text, PostScript, PDF (as long as it's uncompressed), PCL, even RTF. Note that if graphics are present, the lines in PDF files can become too long for the SAS to process.

FDA-compliance macros (.sas)
produce FDA-compliant links: Maintain the view, and use the "file launch" method to invoke external files. There will be an option to make the SAS 9.1 output FDA-compliant, but in the meantime, you can get the same effect by using these macros. To use them you have to specify PDFMARK rather than PDF and then distill the output with Adobe Acrobat Distiller or ps2pdf (or any similar program, if such exist). Note that the file-launch action does not support named destinations in external files (URLs or PDF files), so the macros do not transform when a named destination is present. For true FDA compliance you must avoid URLs that use destination names on external files. See the example code.

PDFMARK fixup macros (.sas)
fix two common complaints about the SAS 8.2 PDFMARK code. First, these macros always fix up the view so that the file will open on the first page instead of the last page. Second, they allow you to change the color or width of the borders around link text. See the example code.

A Re-introduction to ODS (.pdf)
This isn't printer-specific, it's more of an overview of ODS with the benefit of the perspective that time and the current broad array of destinations affords us.

Presentation-Quality Output for ODS PRINTER (.pdf)
A paper for NESUG with tricks for ODS PRINTER using PROC REPORT in v8.1, and also gives a preview of some of the new v8.2 features to support more sophisticated formatting requirements.

This paper was written in SAS 8.2, using the features of ODS PRINTER and PROC REPORT that are discussed in the paper. The source for the paper is available, along with the source for the formatting macros used to produce it.

But Our Office Isn't Paperless--Can I Get All Those Nifty Styles, Too?; or Using ODS to Create High-Quality Hardcopy in SAS v8 (.pdf).
This paper about using styles with ODS PRINTER code was presented at PNWSUG and SWSUG in 1999.

Your Turn

The developers, testers and documentation folk that bring you ODS are very excited about the potential of these new capabilities of the SAS System. You can send electronic mail to ods@sas.com with your comments.