Glossary

aggregate function

a function that summarizes data and produces a statistic such as a sum, an average, a minimum, or a maximum.

aggregation

the act or process of grouping data, using an operation that produces a statistic such as a sum, average, minimum, or maximum. The term aggregation can also refer to the grouped data that results from such an operation. See also aggregate function.

alphanumeric character

any of the following types of characters: alphabetic letters, numerals, and special characters or blanks. Most computer systems store strictly numeric data differently from alphanumeric or textual data.

bar chart

a chart that consists of a grid and some vertical or horizontal columns (bars). Each column represents quantitative data.

bar-line chart

a bar chart with an overlaid line graph. See also bar chart and line graph.

category

a classification of data items. Category data items are used to group measure data items, using an applied aggregate function. For example, a category data item that contains the names of countries could be used to group a measure data item that contains population values.

child

within a dimension hierarchy, a descendant in level n-1 of a member that is at level n. For example, if a Geography dimension includes the levels Country and City, then Bangkok would be a child of Thailand, and Hamburg would be a child of Germany.

crosstabulation table

a two-dimensional table that shows frequency distributions or other aggregate statistics for the intersections of two or more categories. In a crosstabulation table, categories are displayed on both the columns and rows, and each cell value represents the data result from the intersection of the categories on the specific row and column.

cube

a set of data that is organized and structured in a hierarchical, multidimensional arrangement. A cube includes measures, and it can have numerous dimensions and levels of data.

data item

an item in a data source that is either a logical view of a data field or a calculation. The author of a report decides which data items to use in a particular section of a report. There are three types of data items: hierarchies, categories, and measures.

data source

a collection of data items and filters that provides a user-friendly view of data. Users of query and reporting applications such as SAS Web Report Studio can easily build business reports by using data sources as the building blocks for their reports. 

detail data

(1) for multidimensional data sources, nonaggregated data. (2) for relational data sources, every record in a selected data source. Duplicate records can be either excluded or included. See also multidimensional data source and relational data source.

dimension

a group of closely related hierarchies. Hierarchies within a dimension typically represent different groupings of information that pertains to a single concept. For example, a Time dimension might consist of two hierarchies: (1) Year, Month, Date, and (2) Year, Week, Day. See also hierarchy.

equivalent interval

one group in a range of data that has been divided into equal groups.

expression

a combination of data elements, literals, functions, and mathematical operators. An expression can be used to derive a value or to specify a condition that determines whether or how data is processed.

filter

criteria that restrict either the data that is returned from a query to a data source or the data that is displayed in a table, graph, or map.

format

an instruction that SAS uses to write data values. Formats are used to control the written appearance of data values, or, in some cases, to group data values together for analysis.

geographic information system

a software application for organizing and analyzing data that can be referenced spatially - that is, data that can be associated with physical locations. Many types of data, such as data from marketing surveys and epidemiological studies, have a spatial aspect. Short form: GIS.

GIS

See geographic information system.

group break

a way to divide report sections by distinct category or hierarchy level values when you are using a relational or multidimensional data source.

hierarchy

an arrangement of members of a dimension into levels that are based on parent-child relationships. Members of a hierarchy are arranged from more general to more specific. For example, in a Time dimension, a hierarchy might consist of the members Year, Quarter, Month, and Day. In a Geography dimension, a hierarchy might consist of the members Country, State or Province, and City. More than one hierarchy can be defined for a dimension. Each hierarchy provides a navigational path that enables users to drill down to increasing levels of detail. See also member and level.

histogram

a bar chart that displays the observed frequencies of data that have been binned (divided into contiguous, equally spaced intervals). The heights of the bars indicate the relative frequency of observations in each bin.

information map

See data source.

level

in a multidimensional database (or cube), an element of a dimension hierarchy. Levels describe the dimension from the highest (most summarized) level to the lowest (most detailed) level. For example, possible levels for a Geography dimension are Country, Region, State or Province, and City.

line graph

a graph that shows the relationship of one variable to another, often as movements or trends in the data over a period of time. Line graphs summarize source data and typically are used to chart response values against discrete categorical values.

list table

a two-dimensional representation of data, in which the data values are arranged in rows and columns.

locale

a setting that reflects the language, local conventions, and culture for a geographic region. Local conventions can include specific formatting rules for dates, times, and numbers, and a currency symbol for the country or region. Some examples of locale values are French_Canada, Portuguese_Brazil, and Chinese_Singapore.

mean

the arithmetic average, which is calculated by adding the values of a sample variable and dividing this sum by the number of observations.

measure

a classification of data items. The values of measure data items are aggregated (unless otherwise specified) and can be used in computations or analytical expressions. For example, a measure data item could contain age values that are grouped by gender and then averaged.

member

in a multidimensional database (or cube), a name that represents a particular data element within a dimension. For example, September 1996 might be a member of the Time dimension. A member can be either unique or non-unique. For example, 1997 and 1998 represent unique members in the Year level of a Time dimension. January represents non-unique members in the Month level, because there can be more than one January in the Time dimension if the Time dimension contains data for more than one year.

multidimensional data source

a collection of data items and filters that describes and provides a view of a cube. See also cube, data item, and data source.

natural break

a boundary in a range of data as determined by a histogram of data distribution. See also histogram.

operator

in a SAS expression, any of several symbols that request a comparison, a logical operation, or an arithmetic calculation.

parent

within a dimension hierarchy, the ancestor in level n of a member in level n-1. For example, if a Geography dimension includes the levels Country and City, then Thailand would be the parent of Bangkok, and Germany would be the parent of Hamburg. The parent value is usually a consolidation of all of its children's values.

pie chart

a circular chart that is divided into slices by radial lines. Each slice represents the relative contribution of each part to the whole.

progressive bar chart

a type of bar chart that shows how the initial value of a measure data item increases or decreases during a series of operations or transactions. See also bar chart.

prompted filter

a type of filter that enables a report viewer to select the criteria that will be used to restrict the data that appears in a report.

publication channel

an information repository that has been established using the SAS Publishing Framework and that can be used to publish information to users and applications.

quantile

any of the points or values that divide data into groups that contain equal numbers of observations, or any of those groups.

query

a set of instructions that requests particular information from one or more data sources.

ranking

the process of ordering observations according to values of particular measure data items. The observations that are ordered depend on the object that contains the data. For list tables, observations correspond to rows. For crosstabulation tables, if the measures are on the columns, then the ordered observations can be on the individual rows or on the row that contains the outermost category data item. For graphs, observations generally correspond to data points along a particular axis. See also category, crosstabulation table, data item, list table, and measure.

region identifier

a data item that associates values in a table with regions on a geographical map.

relational data source

a collection of data items and filters that describes and provides a view of two-dimensional physical data, in which the data values are arranged in rows and columns. See also data item and data source.

SAS report

a report that has been stored in the SAS Report Model format. A SAS report might be available for viewing in the portal if your organization has installed SAS Web Report Studio.

scatter plot

a two-dimensional plot that shows the joint variation of two data items.

standard deviation

a statistical measure of the variability of a group of data values. This measure, which is the most widely used measure of the dispersion of a frequency distribution, is equal to the square root of the variance.

stored process

a SAS program that is stored on a server and that can be executed as requested by client applications such as SAS Web Report Studio. The embedded SAS code can contain instructions for rendering report elements as part of a larger report or for rendering a complete report that includes queries, prompted filters, titles, images, and statistical analyses.

tile chart

a graph that represents the relative values of data by using rectangular areas. The color of each area represents the value of one measure in the query. The size of each area represents the value of the another measure in the query. The academic term for a tile chart is 'treemap.'

Time dimension

a dimension that divides time into levels such as Year, Quarter, Month, and Day.

timestamp

a data type or value that represents both a date and a time.

tooltip

descriptive text that appears when a cursor is placed over certain elements of a graphical user interface, such as the tool icons in a toolbar.