Customizing the SAS Windowing Environment

Modifying X Resources Through the Preferences Dialog Box

The Preferences dialog box enables you to control the settings of certain X resources. Changes made through the Preferences dialog box (with the exception of those resources on the General tab) become effective immediately, and the settings are saved in the SasuserPrefs file in your Sasuser directory.

Note: The settings that you specify in the Preferences dialog box will override any command line settings for the current session. [cautionend]

Open the Preferences Dialog Box

You can invoke the Preferences dialog box by issuing the DLGPREF command or by selecting Tools Options Preferences.

Preferences Dialog Box

[Preferences Dialog Box]

Description of the Options in the Preferences Dialog Box

Modifying the General Settings

To modify the General settings, select the General tab in the Preferences dialog box, and then select from the items in the window:

Start Session manager

specifies whether you want the SAS Session Manager to be started automatically when you start your SAS session. If you want to use your host editor in your SAS session, the SAS Session Manager must be running. The SAS Session Manager enables you to interrupt or terminate your SAS session and minimize and restore all of the windows in a SAS session. See The SAS Session Manager (motifxsassm) in UNIX and Configuring SAS for Host Editor Support in UNIX Environments for more information. Clicking the Start Session manager box sets the SAS.startSessionManager resource.

Startup Logo

specifies whether you want SAS to display an XPM file while your SAS session is being initialized and, if so, which file.

If you select Use Default Logo, SAS uses the default file for your site. If you select No Logo, then no file is displayed. If you select Use Custom Logo, then you can either enter the XPM filename directly in the text field or click Select to open the File Selection dialog box. Selecting this box sets the SAS.startupLogo resource.

Use application workspace

confines all windows displayed by an application to a single application work space. Selecting this box sets the SAS.noAWS resource. You must exit and reopen the windows for changes to this resource to take effect.

AWS Resize Policy

controls the policy for resizing AWS windows as interior windows are added and removed. (See Workspace and Gravity in a SAS Session and Window Types.)

Grow: The AWS window attempts to grow any time an interior window is grown or moved (to make all of its interior windows visible), but it will not shrink to remove unused areas.
Fixed: The AWS window attempts to size itself to the size of the first interior window and will not attempt any further size changes.

Selecting this box sets the SAS.awsResizePolicy resource.

Modifying the DMS Settings

To modify the DMS settings, select the DMS tab in the Preferences dialog box.

Use menu access keys

activates menu mnemonics. When mnemonics are turned on, you can select menu items by typing the single, underlined letter in the item. Selecting this box sets the SAS.usePmenuMnemonics resource.

Confirm exit

displays the Exit dialog box when you exit your SAS session. Selecting this box sets the SAS.confirmSASExit resource.

Save Settings on Exit

tells SAS to issue the WSAVE ALL command when you exit your SAS session. This command saves the global settings, such as window color and window position, that are in effect for all windows that are currently open. These settings are saved in your Sasuser.Profile catalog. Selecting this box sets the SAS.wsaveAllExit resource.

Note: For the WSAVE command to work, your window manager must support explicit window placement. See the documentation for your window manager to determine how to configure your window manager. For example, if you are running Exceed, open the Screen Definition Settings dialog box and deselect Cascade Windows. [cautionend]

Backup Documents

enables you to specify whether you want SAS to automatically save (at the interval specified by the SAS.autoSaveInterval resource) the documents that you currently have open. Selecting this box sets the SAS.autoSaveOn resource.

Image type for Email attachments

specifies the default file type for the temporary file that SAS creates when sending the contents of a non-text window via e-mail. Examples of non-text windows include a graph generated by SAS/GRAPH or an image from your PROC REPORT output. For more information, see Sending the Contents of a Non-Text Window.

Modifying the Editing Settings

To modify the Editing settings, select the Editing tab in the Preferences dialog box.

Default paste buffer

defines an alias for the default SAS buffer. The following list describes the paste buffer alias names and the X buffer with which each name is associated.

XPRIMARY: X primary selection (PRIMARY)
XSCNDARY: X secondary selection (SECONDARY)
XCLIPBRD: X clipboard (CLIPBOARD)
XTERM: exchange protocol used by the xterm client
XCUTn: X cut buffer where n is between 0 and 7, inclusive

Selecting this box sets the SAS.defaultPasteBuffer resource. See Controlling Drop-Down Menus in UNIX Environments for more information about cut-and-paste butters.

Automatically store selection

generates a STORE command every time you mark a region of text with the mouse. Selecting this box sets the SAS.markPasteBuffer resource.

Cursor

controls the editing mode in SAS text editor windows. Selecting the Insert and Overtype boxes sets the SAS.insertModeOn resource to True and False, respectively.

Modifying the Results Settings

The items on the Results tab affect only output that is produced through the Output Delivery System (ODS). To modify these settings, select the Results tab in the Preferences dialog box.

For a complete description of ODS, see the SAS Output Delivery System: User's Guide.

Create Listing: opens the ODS Listing destination, which produces monospace output. Selecting this box is equivalent to entering the ODS LISTING SELECT ALL statement.
Create HTML: opens the ODS HTML destination, which produces output that is formatted in HyperText Markup Language (HTML). Selecting this box is equivalent to entering the ODS HTML SELECT ALL statement.
Folder: specifies a destination for HTML files. Specifying a directory in this field is equivalent to specifying a directory with the PATH option in the ODS HTML statement.
Use WORK Folder: tells the ODS to send all HTML files to your WORK directory. Selecting this box is equivalent to specifying the pathname of your WORK directory with the PATH option in the ODS HTML statement.
Style: specifies the style definition to use for HTML output. The style definition controls such aspects as color, font name, and font size. Specifying a style in this field is equivalent to specifying a style with the STYLE option in the ODS HTML statement. You can specify any style that is defined in the \ODS\PREFERENCES\STYLES key in the SAS registry. You can open the SAS registry by issuing the REGEDIT command or by selecting Solutions Accessories Registry Editor.
View results as they are generated: tells SAS to automatically display results files when they are generated. If you select this box, make sure that Password protect HTML file browsing is deselected.
Password protect HTML file browsing: tells SAS to prompt you for your password before sending HTML files to your browser. If you select this box, make sure that View results as they are generated is deselected. Selecting this box sets the SAS.htmlUsePassword resource.

Modifying the SAS ToolBox Settings

The items on the ToolBox tab of the Preferences dialog box affect both the toolbox and the command window. To modify these settings, select the ToolBox tab in the Preferences dialog box.

Display tools window: determines whether to display the default toolbox. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.defaultToolBox resource.
Display command window: determines whether to display the command window. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.defaultCommandWindow resource.
Auto Complete Commands: specifies whether SAS automatically fills in the remaining letters of a command as you type a command in the command window that begins with the same letter as a command that you have entered previously. If both this box and Save Commands are selected, then SAS can automatically fill in commands that were entered in previous sessions. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.autoComplete resource.
Save Commands: specifies whether SAS saves the commands that you enter in the command window and how many commands are saved. You can specify a number from 0 to 50. If you specify 0, no commands will be saved. If you specify 1 or more, that number of commands is saved in the file commands.hist in your Sasuser directory. If this box is selected, then SAS will be able to automatically fill in (see Auto Complete Commands) commands that were entered in previous sessions. Selecting this field sets the SAS.commandsSaved resource.
Combine windows: combines the toolbox and command window into one window. The toolbox and command window are combined by default. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.useCommandToolBoxCombo resource.
Use arrow decorations: adds arrows to both ends of the combined toolbox/command window. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.useShowHideDecorations resource.
Always on top: keeps the toolbox or the combined toolbox/command window on top of the window stack. This check box is selected by default, which might cause problems with window managers and other applications that want to be on top of the window stack. If you have such a situation, turn off this feature. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.toolBoxAlwaysOnTop resource.
Toolbox Persistent: specifies whether the toolbox that is associated with the Program Editor window stays open when you close the Program Editor. By default, the Program Editor toolbox stays open whenever you close the Program Editor window. If you deselect this box, then the toolbox will close if you close the Program Editor. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.isToolBoxPersistent resource.

The items in the Tools area affect the individual tools in the toolbox.

Use large tools: controls whether tool icons are displayed as 24x24 or 48x48 pixels. The default is 24x24. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.useLargeToolBox resource.
Use tip text: specifies whether the ToolTip text is displayed when you position your cursor over a tool in the toolbox. Some window managers might place the toolbox tip behind the toolbox. If the toolbox tip is placed behind the toolbox in your environment, deselect this box. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.useToolBoxTips resource.
delay: controls the delay in milliseconds before popping up the toolbox tip. Selecting this check box sets the SAS.toolBoxTipDelay resource. You can enter a value directly into the field or use the arrows to the right of the field to change the value.

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