Technical Papers and Presentations

• Branding SAS Web Applications for Your Enterprise
  This paper discusses the new tools and processes added in SAS 9.2 for creating and maintaining custom themes. Examples from the SAS Enterprise BI Web applications (SAS Web Report Studio and the SAS Information Delivery Portal) will be shown to illustrate some of the possibilities available with the release of SAS 9.2. Read the paper (PDF)

• CSSSTYLE: Stylish Output with ODS and SAS 9.2
  This paper provides an introduction into the use of the new CSSSTYLE option in SAS 9.2. This option allows you to use cascading style sheet (CSS) style specifications for RTF and PDF files, in addition to HTML files. This paper includes a brief introduction to CSS syntax and some of the features, such as @media CSS sections, that are particularly useful when creating ODS output. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• Change Data Capture and the Benefits to the Modern Enterprise Data Warehouse
  This paper investigates how the data warehouse has evolved from being a departmental reporting solution to a central repository of information that is key to active decision making for front-line users. Read the paper (PDF)

• Dear Miss SAS Answers: A Guide to Efficient PROC SQL Coding
  This paper answers commonly asked questions and helps you harness the potential of Structured Query Language. Read the paper (PDF)

• Dynamic Prompts Make Data Cascading Easy: Introducing New Features in SAS 9.2 Prompt Framework
  The prompt framework is available across all desktop and Web clients in the platform for SAS Business Analytics. A new feature in SAS 9.2, dynamic cascading prompts, enables users to create custom prompts that easily extract necessary information based on previously entered prompted values. This paper will highlight dynamic prompts and give an overview of new or enhanced features such as cascading prompts, relative date and time prompts, and range prompts. Read the paper (PDF)

• Experimenting Outside the Box: Using SAS/QC for Modern Applications of Experimental Design
  This paper demonstrates specialized features of SAS/QC software that enable you to apply the principles of experimental design beyond traditional applications. Read the paper (PDF)

• Have It Your Way: Rearrange and Replay Your Output with ODS DOCUMENT
  This paper illustrates how to capture your output and save it in an Output Delivery System (ODS) Document store. Then you can create custom folders and a custom folder hierarchy using ODS DOCUMENT and PROC DOCUMENT in order to rearrange and replay your output. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs(ZIP)

• Improving SAS I/O Throughput by Avoiding the Operating System File Cache
  This paper discusses when the use of SGIO and DIO is appropriate and how to specify and tune the two capabilities. In addition, the paper will present examples of potential system I/O throughput improvement, which can be very significant. Read the paper (PDF)

• In-Database Procedures with Teradata: How They Work and What They Buy You
  In this paper, we review selected enhancements that are being made to SAS procedure statements in Base SAS, SAS/STAT, and SAS Enterprise Miner, and how these procedures affect the distribution of work between SAS and Teradata. A summary of the performance characteristics of these enhanced procedures is also discussed. Read the paper (PDF)

• Mainstreaming Web Data with SAS Web Analytics 5.3
  Valuable customer insight is gained and marketing abilities are enhanced when Web site data is combined with data from other customer contact points, such as call centers, stores, and offline marketing campaigns. Learn how new SAS Web Analytics software leverages SAS 9.2 to maximize Web data. Read the paper (PDF)

• Maximizing the Performance of Your SAS Solution: Case Studies in Web Application Server Tuning for n-tier SAS Applications
  This paper follows a basic flow, which starts with an examination of the methods that are required to make the current single Java Web Application Server more responsive and more robust. It focuses on topics that are relevant for administrators, architects, and implementers of SAS solutions. Read the paper (PDF)

• More Tips and Tricks for Creating Multi-Sheet Microsoft Excel Workbooks the Easy Way with SAS
  Transferring SAS data and analytical results between SAS and Microsoft Excel can be difficult, especially when SAS is not installed on a Windows platform. This paper explains how to use the XML support in Base SAS®9 software to create multi-sheet Microsoft Excel workbooks (for Excel versions 2002 and later).Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• PROC GEOCODE: Creating Map Locations from Your Data
  This paper examines using PROC GEOCODE to convert your address information into map locations. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• Publish SAS Formats in Your Teradata Server
  The SAS In-Database Processing initiative, through the SAS and Teradata partnership, has introduced the SAS Formats Library for Teradata. Now SAS formats can be published inside the database, allowing Teradata to do all the work. This paper covers the entire deployment process for SAS formats and custom formats. Read the paper (PDF)

• SAS and Teradata: Accelerating the Power to Know
  This paper covers the model deployment process from start to finish and include performance profiles from a multi-node Teradata server. It also provides a preview of how this technology will be integrated into SAS Model Manager 2.2. Read the paper (PDF)

• SAS IT Intelligence for VMware Infrastructure: Resource Optimization and Cost Recovery
  This paper provides key insights that will allow IT organizations to effectively manage and optimize valuable virtual resources and to track and recover cost across both physical and virtual environments. Read the paper (PDF)

• SAS Stored Processes: Going Beyond the Current Capabilities of the Stored Process Wizard
  This paper discusses the current capabilities and limitations of using the Stored Process Wizard for user input, as well as the improvements and enhancements introduced with SAS Enterprise Guide 4.2. A practical example is included which addresses the topics of cascading menu prompts and dynamically populated menus. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• SAS Tile Charts: Thousands of Business Tips with One Click
  This paper outlines the capabilities and business uses of the SAS tile chart. The SAS tile chart looks like the landscape of Kansas when viewed from a window seat on your favorite airline, but its effective use of the color, size, and data tips in a hierarchical grid communicates important business intelligence information. Read the paper (PDF)

• The Platform for SAS Business Analytics as a Centrally Managed Service
  This paper examines some of the advantages and benefits of deploying the platform for SAS Business Analytics in a centrally managed environment. Read the paper (PDF)

• The Power to Show: Ad Hoc Reporting, Custom Invoices, and Form Letters
  This paper demonstrates new features that allow you to build custom data-centric reports in an easy-to-use object-oriented manner that is fully integrated with the ODS System. This technology is perfectly suited for creating custom invoices, inserting narrative descriptions in a table or document, creating form letters and non-rectangular reports, inserting custom subtotals, and it will address a variety of custom reporting needs. Read the paper (PDF)

• The SAS Scalable Performance Data Server - Controlling the Beast!
  This paper discusses how to effectively tune your SAS Scalable Performance Data Server parameters and to configure your I/O subsystem for optimum performance. Read the paper (PDF)

• Test-Driving the Improvements to the INFOMAPS Procedure and LIBNAME Engine
  This paper is written for the customers with the role of utilizing the power of information maps in Base SAS. It will test drive the new features of the procedure and the engine. Common changes to both INFOMAPS products include support on all SAS BI platforms and the use of trusted peer connections. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• Tips and Tricks IV: More SAS/GRAPH Map Secrets
  This paper examines secrets that allow you to exploit the power of SAS/GRAPH maps to get the maps you really want. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• Tiptoe through the Templates
  This paper provides an overview of all the different template types and how they're used with the Output Delivery System. From style and table templates, that first appeared with SAS 7 to the newest graph templates that appeared with SAS 9.2, this paper provides an overview and several concrete examples for each template type. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• Top Ten SAS DBMS Performance Boosters for 2009
  Gleaned from internal development efforts and SAS technical support, this paper tracks the top ten performance options, code snips, and processes to increase your access speed to your data. Focus will be around both DATA step and solution performance enhancements against a variety of database management systems (DBMSs). Read the paper (PDF)

• Using SAS 9.2 Metadata Security Reporting and Auditing Features
  This paper explains the new SAS 9.2 security auditing capabilities built into the SAS Metadata Server and examines how this information might be used. In addition to auditing, security reporting macros are provided. We examine how to use these macros to extract the security settings for metadata objects into data sets that can be used to produce reports. Read the paper (PDF)

• Virtualization: What does it mean for SAS?
  This paper discusses how hardware, presentation, and application virtualization impact running SAS software. It gives some examples of software products used to implement the virtualization solutions, but covers the virtualization topics in a general, product-neutral manner. The focus of the paper is primarily from a Microsoft Windows operating-systems perspective, but the concepts can be applied to other operating systems. Read the paper (PDF)

• z/OS SAS Deployment: This Isn't Your Father's Install Anymore!
  Starting with SAS 9.2, the overall deployment process is now uniform across all host architectures. The purpose of this document is to give you a basic understanding of the new deployment process with an emphasis on deployment to z/OS. Read the paper (PDF)

• Adapting Your Programs to the SAS®9 Paradigm
  Topics in this paper include: basic program conversion to a SAS stored process, conversion of SAS/GRAPH programs, use of macro variables in program conversion, streaming versus transient output from stored processes, and permanent result packages. (Note, a slightly different version of this presentation was given at SAS Global Forum and that version's slides may be in your user group proceedings.) Download the presentation (ZIP) | Download the handout (PDF)
  
  

• Avoid Growing Pains: New Cube Update Features You Should Know About
  You may have heard about the new cube update feature coming in SAS 9.2 but may not be sure of just what it entails. Learn exactly what cube update is and how to get started with it. Read the paper (PDF)

• Backup and Disaster Recovery: When Disaster Strikes, What Will You Do? What Will You Do?
  The purpose of this paper is to assure you that your existing SAS 8 applications will work well in SAS 9 (either SAS 9.1.3 or SAS 9.2) with minimal changes to the application. This paper is a collection of information from the SAS Migration Community Web pages, support documents from the SAS Technical Support Division, and previously published SUGI/SAS Global Forum papers. Read the paper (PDF)

• Best Practices in SAS®9 Security Configurations
  This paper presents several bestpractice configurations for systems that are based on Windows and systems that are based on other operating systems. These configurations maximize the use of single sign-on technology and minimize the necessity to store and pass system credentials. Read the paper (PDF)

• Better Hashing in SAS 9.2
  The DATA step hash object is one of the most versatile new features of Base SAS programming. For SAS 9.2, we introduce the ability to store duplicate keys in a hash object and have added a find frequency counter. In this paper, we leverage the duplicate key capability to implement true SQL-like joins as well as partial-key look-ups. Read the paper (PDF)

• Best Practices for SAS Business Intelligence Administrators: Using the Configuration Troubleshooter to Keep SAS Solutions and SAS BI Applications
  This paper discusses how to use the Configuration Troubleshooter for maintenance and troubleshooting. Using case studies collected from SAS Technical Support, we will step through the process of problem discovery, investigation, and resolution using this tool. Read the paper (PDF)

• Butterflies, Heat Maps, and More: Explore the New Power of SAS/GRAPH
  In SAS 9.2, SAS/GRAPH introduces the statistical graphics (SG) procedures. The SG procedures provide an easy way to produce commonly used analytical graphs. This presentation will demonstrate how to use these new tools to create butterfly plots, heat maps, risk maps, stacked plots, and other unique charts. View presentation handout (PDF)

• Controlling OLAP Applications End to End
  In SAS 9.2, there are several new features that help administrators to secure and control the use of OLAP Cubes in a reporting environment. This paper highlights the new and existing features. Read the paper (PDF)

• Creating Complex Reports
  Are you confused about whether you need a detail report or a summary report? Do you wonder whether you're using the right reporting procedure for your report? Have you ever spent a lot of time going down the road with one procedure only to discover that you need to switch to a different procedure to get what you want or closer to what you want? Read the paper (PDF) | Dowload programs (ZIP)

• Deployment for SAS 9.2 and Beyond
  The paper will summarize advancements such as electronic software download, customized orders, silent installations, streamlined dialog boxes, deployment capture/replay, and SAS Software Depot management. Read the paper (PDF)

• Enhancements to SAS/GRAPH Software in SAS 9.2
  This paper covers the key functionalities that have been added to SAS/GRAPH 9.2. Read the paper (PDF)

• Find Out What You're Missing: Programming with SAS Enterprise Guide
  In this paper, you can read about the productivity gains that you can enjoy when you add SAS Enterprise Guide to your SAS programming toolbox. You will see how to perform old tasks in a new way as well as how to accomplish some tasks that would have been very difficult—if not impossible—without the benefit of an integrated tool like SAS Enterprise Guide. Read the paper (PDF)

• How to Add a Little Spice to Your PDF Output
  Topics in this paper include how to apply new styles, the new SAS/GRAPH interaction, how to scale background images, how to use new fonts and Unicode characters, and much more, including a brief discussion of ODS layout. Read the paper (PDF)

• How SAS®9 Allows the Delivery of the Power of Predictive Analytics and Forecasting to the Masses
  The integrated analytics that SAS offers is the engine that provides the extra power that competitors cannot match in other market spaces such as data integration and business intelligence. Read the paper (PDF) | View the presentation (PDF)

• Improving Your SAS Investment from the Ground Up: SAS 9.2 Enhancements That Help You Leverage Your Operating Environment
  SAS 9.2 has introduced many enhancements that allow you to better leverage your specific operating environment, whether it be Windows, UNIX, OpenVMS, or z/OS. This presentation will focus on these new features, including the areas of I/O optimization, CPU exploitation, memory usage, output display, and new operating environments. Read the paper (PDF)

• Introduction to the Graph Template Language
  In SAS 9.2, the SAS/GRAPH Graph Template Language (GTL) goes production. This system is used by many SAS analytical procedures to create the automatic graphical output within the Output Delivery System (ODS). This presentation helps you understand the basics of GTL, and how you can leverage its features to customize your graphs. Read the paper (PDF)

• Issues with Supply Chain and RFID in the Retail Industry
  Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) provides a major advantage to supply chain management. Implementing supply chain collaboration along with RFID can enable retailers to achieve the best level of business performance. Read the paper (PDF)

• Managing large Data with SAS SPD Server
  This paper provides the concepts behind demonstrations of how you can enhance query performance when you use the SAS SPD Server to manage large data tables. Read the paper (PDF)

• Metadata Promotion in SAS 9.2
  Promotion of metadata content is typically used to support movement across Development, Test, and Production environments. In SAS 9.2, we have implemented a batch interface for the partial promotion framework that will allow you to create a schedulable and repeatable process for moving a set of metadata content across your environments. Read the paper (PDF)

• Migrating Your SAS Applications to SAS 9.1.3 and Beyond
  Migrate your mission-critial SAS 8 applications to SAS®9 so that they can work with the full-featured Business Intelligence, Data Integration, and a multitude of analytical solutions that are part of the SAS 9.1.3 Intelligence Platform. Read the paper (PDF)

• Modernize Your Business Reports Using ODS and SAS/GRAPH: A Case Study from SAS 8.2 to SAS 9.2
  This paper provides an example of business reports using Base SAS and SAS/GRAPH procedures and ODS in the three releases, highlighting improved quality of the reports and increasing ease of use. Read the paper (PDF)

• New SAS Performance Optimizations to Enhance Your SAS Client and Solution Access to the Database
  This paper presents the major SQL optimizations that have been added to PROC SQL to enhance its performance for SAS 9.2. These optimizations are the result of analyzing SQL queries generated by SAS clients and solutions, and finding new and innovative ways to squeeze out more performance. Read the paper (PDF)

• Retention Analytics for Human Capital Management
  Employee retention is an increasingly serious issue in many business sectors. Understanding which factors cause employees to leave and which actions retain them is an important Business Intelligence application. This paper demonstrates analytic methods to address this problem. Read the paper (PDF)

• SAS 9.2 Enhanced Logging Facilities
  SAS administrators and Enterprise IT administrators now have the power and flexibility to classify messages according to a well-defined namespace and dynamically enable diagnostic logging levels. SAS programmers can also exploit the enhanced logging features through the use of SAS 4GL language statements. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the presentation (ZIP)

• Small Improvements Causing Substantial Savings - Forecasting Intermittent Demand Data Using SAS Forecast Server
  This paper exposes the inadequacy of continuous time series methods when compared to IDM for forecasting future average demand per period for intermittent time series. This paper demonstrates a technique and system of large-scale automatic forecasting of intermittent demand series. This paper explains how SAS Forecast Server is used as this system. Read the paper (PDF)

• Tips and Tricks for Creating Multi-Sheet Microsoft Excel Workbooks the Easy Way with SAS
  This paper discusses using the XML support in Base SAS 9.1 software to create multi-sheet Microsoft Excel workbooks (versions 2002 and later). You will learn step-by-step techniques for quickly and easily creating attractive multi-sheet Excel workbooks that contain your SAS output. The information presented is new for 2008. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• Tune into the Voice of Your Customer with Voice Mining
  Understanding customer needs, is a critical step in developing a successful product. But how do you give your customers a seat at the development table? By actually hearing and understanding what they're already telling you, and by letting your customers' voices reverberate through your strategies for channels, sales, service, pricing, and product! Start now by mining your customer feedback in a consistent, repeatable, automated way. Take action: increase satisfaction, build loyalty, reduce churn, and make your products safer. Read the paper (PDF)

• Two-Stage Variable Clustering for Large Data Sets
  In data mining, principal component analysis is a popular dimension reduction technique. It also provides a good remedy for the multicollinearity problem, but its interpretation of input space is not as good. To overcome the interpretation problem, principal components (cluster components) are obtained through variable clustering, which was implemented with PROC VARCLUS. Read the paper (PDF)

• Using Copulas to Model Dependency Structures in Econometrics
  This paper introduces advanced copula modeling capabilities in the MODEL procedure. We also show how insight into the correlation structure of the copulas can be obtained by using animations produced by SAS. Read the paper (PDF)

• Using SAS BI Web Services and PROC SOAP in a Service-Oriented Architecture
  The primary objective of a service-oriented architecture is to increase the agility of a business. Some features of a service-oriented architecture can be supported through technology; other features are supported through policies. SAS 9.2 introduces the second generation of Web services software from SAS, and it represents a major step forward in the enterprise service-oriented maturity model where many categories of the ESOMM have been improved. Read the paper (PDF)

• What’s New in SAS/ACCESS
  The group of SAS/ACCESS products contains many enhancements, features and new products. It is beyond the scope of this paper to detail all of the modifications made in the SAS/ACCESS engines for SAS 9.2; however, documentation resources and highlights should help you discover how you can take advantage of the SAS 9.2 SAS/ACCESS enhancements. Read the paper (PDF)

• What’s New in SAS OLAP Cube Studio 4.2
  This paper will highlight and demonstrate the new functionality and the benefits that the user will have with SAS OLAP Cube Studio 4.2. Read the paper (PDF)

• What’s New in SAS Web Report Studio 4.2
  The latest revision of SAS Web Report Studio, the zero download query, analysis and reporting tool included with the SAS Enterprise BI Server, is full of enhancements based on feedback from customers like you. You will love the new desktop like experience on the Web. Read the paper (PDF)

• What’s New in the 4.2 releases of SAS Enterprise Guide and the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office
  This paper introduces some of the highlights, including a revamped user interface (UI) in SAS Enterprise Guide, the ability to open SAS Reports from the SAS Add-In, a new PROC REPORT-based wizard, and much more. Read the paper (PDF)

• Zero-Inflated Poisson and Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial Models Using the COUNTREG Procedure
  This paper studies the performance of different count models on a simulated example. The results demonstrate that among the count models we consider, in many cases a Poisson model tends to be overly restrictive. Read the paper (PDF)

• Adapting Your Programs to the SAS®9 Paradigm
  Topics in this paper include: basic program conversion to a SAS stored process, conversion of SAS/GRAPH programs, use of macro variables in program conversion, streaming versus transient output from stored processes, and permanent result packages. (Note, a slightly different version of this presentation was given at SAS Global Forum and that version's slides may be in your user group proceedings.) Download the presentation and the example SAS programs (ZIP)
  
  
• Understanding Why Your Macros Don't Work
  This brain-teasing seminar discusses the behind the scenes workings of the macro facility and explain why macro variables you thought would resolve don't, why you need an extra period or four after a macro variable reference, why you care about the difference between %LET and CALL SYMPUT, and what all those extra ampersands are for. Read the Slides (PDF) | Download the presentation and the example SAS programs (ZIP)

• Adventures in Arrays: A Beginning Tutorial
  This paper presents examples to explain what arrays are and how to use them. In addition to simple examples demonstrating arrays used to perform calculations, restructure data and look up values, the paper includes examples using multidimensional arrays for efficient table lookups. Read the paper (PDF)
  
  
• Best Practices for Configuring your IO Subsystem for SAS^®9 Applications
  This paper presents best practices for configuring the IO subsystem for your SAS 9 applications, ensuring adequate capacity, bandwidth, and performance to keep your SAS 9 users moving. Read the paper (PDF)
  
  
• Beyond the Basics: Advanced PROC REPORT Tips and Tricks
  This paper is a compilation of tips and tricks for producing PROC REPORT output. The three sections cover topics that: can be used with listing output and with the Output Delivery System (ODS), can only be used with an ODS destination; highlight new features and changes for PROC REPORT in SAS 9.2. Read the paper (PDF)
  
  
• Case Study in Synchronizing Identities in the SAS^®9 Metadata Server with an Enterprise Security Provider
  This case study highlights the advantage of importing user and group information from an enterprise security provider, such as the Microsoft Active Directory. SAS provides macros that can be integrated with scheduling and other tools to synchronize SAS metadata repository identities with the enterprise Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) environment. Read the paper (PDF)
  
  
• Creating Multi-Sheet Excel Workbooks the Easy Way with SAS
  This paper discusses using the new XML support in Base SAS 9.1 software to create multi-sheet Microsoft Excel workbooks (versions 2002 and later). You will learn step-by-step techniques for quickly and easily creating attractive multi-sheet Excel workbooks that contain your SAS output. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example SAS programs (ZIP)
  
  
• Exporting SAS/GRAPH Output for Inclusion in Web Pages and Other Software Applications
  This paper covers the basic process for creating image files directly through a SAS/GRAPH program in SAS 9.1.3. Image types addressed in this paper include EMF, CGM, EPS, GIF, PNG, ActiveX, and PostScript. This paper also illustrates how those image files can be inserted into other software applications and Web pages. Read the paper (PDF)
  
  
• Making Business Decisions Using SAS Mapping Technologies
  This paper gives an overview of SAS Mapping Technologies and SAS 9.2 enhancements and then presents two examples that use SAS Mapping Technologies to make business decisions. Read the paper (PDF)
  
  
• SAS/AF: Running SCL Outside the Frame
  SCL is a powerful programming language that has been part of SAS for many years. This paper serves as an introduction and covers stored processes and the steps necessary to run your SCL programs as a stored process. Read the paper (PDF)
  
  
• ODS and Office Integration
  With so many ODS destinations available, it is increasingly important to know how the different file-formats integrate with external applications. Find out how easily you can create output in a multitude of file types, from the infinitely customizable XML to SpreasheetML, RTF, PDF, and LaTeX; even comma-separated values (CSV) get some attention in this paper. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example code (TGZ)
  
  
• ODS Markup, Tagsets, and Styles! Taming ODS Styles and Tagsets
  Find out how ODS styles can be used in new ways when they are combined with tagsets. Watch as a simple example grows into new ideas on how to use styles and tagsets. See how easy it is to create a new destination and style that do just what you need. Read the paper (PDF) | Download the example code (TGZ)
  
  
• ODS from Scratch
  Using ODS, you can generate reports in formats such as HTML, XML, PDF, PostScript, RTF, and Microsoft Excel. This paper shows you how to generate reports with ODS, from scratch. You'll learn how to generate multiple output formats, simultaneously; how to change the look of your report using styles; how to add text passages; and other helpful information. Read the paper (PDF) | Get the tip sheet (PDF)
  
  
• PROC TEMPLATE Tables from Scratch
  In this paper, you learn how to create and modify table templates, including how to add, remove, and move columns as well as headers and footers. You also learn how to apply styles, formats, and other visual effects, all from scratch. Read the paper (PDF) | Get the tip sheet (PDF)
  
  

Papers and Presentations Given in 2006

Papers and Presentations Given in 2005

Papers and Presentations Given in 2004

For older papers, see the following

• Papers from SUGI 28
• Papers from SUGI 27