Applications Development Methodology

Steps to Developing SAS/EIS Applications

Although the process that you use to develop an enterprise information system (EIS) application may involve concrete methodologies and may take on a full development life cycle, the following steps are designed to help you use the tools provided in SAS software. In SAS/EIS software, you can choose either to use Report Gallery templates or to create applications using ready-made objects.

Use the following steps as a guideline when you create SAS/EIS applications:

Planning your EIS.
Preparing and storing your data.
Building and testing your EIS application.
Extending your EIS application.
Deploying and distributing your EIS application.

Planning Your EIS

As you begin to plan an EIS, consider the following:

Do you want to use a report template or work with a ready-made object?
What kind of data is required?
Will you need a common SAS library?
Which application database do you want to use?
What SAS software products will end users have to license?
Do the users want textual reports, graphical reports, or both?
What kinds of summaries do the users need?
How much detail do the users need?
Will the users want to do "on-the-fly" customizations?

Using the Report Gallery and Ready-Made Objects

The SAS/EIS Report Gallery contains templates for a variety of sample reports. You can choose the type of report you want, drop data onto the template for that report, and then create a new report using your data. Once the report appears, you can customize it and save it as a new report within a SAS/EIS application database.

For more information on using the Report Gallery, refer to the SAS/EIS online Help or to the Getting Started with SAS/EIS online tutorial.

If you decide that ready-made objects can fulfill your requirements for information integration, summary, and display, then you should decide which SAS/EIS object meets your needs. For a list of the objects and their features, see Objects and Their Associated Features.

Analyzing Required Data

Analyze the data that is required in the application. For data-driven applications, you must first register your data in a repository. Refer to and to A Note on Repository Managers and Repositories for more information on registering your data. You will need to know which columns are classification columns and which are analysis columns. Also, you will need to know what type of statistical information is necessary for each analysis column.

Creating SAS Libraries and Catalogs

If you plan to create an EIS with a group of other developers, then you should create a common SAS library that all developers have access to before starting development for the project. Additionally, you should create any SAS catalogs that you know you will need.

Setting up a common SAS library (and the appropriate catalogs) for the project will make it easier for your application development team to locate, share, and store the SAS files for your new EIS. For more information, refer to Managing Your SAS/EIS Files.

Creating Application Databases

Decide where to store your application. When you create a SAS/EIS application, the information that you provide is stored in an application database. For more information about creating an application database, refer to the SAS/EIS online Help or to the Getting Started with SAS/EIS Software online tutorial.

Licensing SAS Software Products

When you create an EIS, you can use the functionality of different SAS software products. Or, you can develop objects (such as a graph or a forecast) that require other SAS software products in order to operate.

In either of these cases, you must ensure that your end users license all of the SAS software products that they need for your EIS to run.

Preparing and Storing Your Data

You identify your data to SAS/EIS objects by registering the data in a repository in the SAS/EIS metabase facility. When you register data in a repository, default attributes are assigned to each table and column. You must assign attributes in order to qualify your data for use in developing some applications with SAS/EIS objects. The kinds of extended attributes that you assign to your data determine the kinds of objects that recognize extended attributes when you develop applications. For more information about the metabase facility, see About the Metabase Facility.

For a list of SAS/EIS objects that require metabase registrations, refer to Objects That Require Metabase Registrations. For more information about presummarizing data, see Presummarizing Your Data.

Building and Testing Your EIS Application

When you build an EIS, you

identify the application type that you are creating
select your data
customize the application
test the application
save the application.

For more information about creating and testing EIS applications, refer to the SAS/EIS online Help or to the Getting Started with SAS/EIS online tutorial.

Extending Your EIS Application

SAS/EIS software enables you to extend, enhance, and customize SAS/EIS objects to meet your specific information delivery requirements. You can use the SAS Component Language (SCL) to subclass viewers and the data model and to override methods.

For details, refer to Subclassing Viewers and Overriding Methods.

Deploying and Distributing Your EIS Application

There are different ways for users to access the EIS that you develop. For details, see Deploying SAS/EIS Applications.

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