Getting Started with SAS in UNIX Environments

SAS Windowing Environment in UNIX Environments

Introduction to the SAS Windowing Environment

You interact with SAS through windows using the keyboard, mouse, menus, and icons. The windowing environment includes, but is not limited to, the Explorer, Program Editor, Output, Log, and Results windows. The following display shows the Explorer, Output, Log, and Program Editor windows. The ToolBox window is also displayed.

Windows in the SAS Windowing Environment

[Windows in the SAS Windowing Environment]

Your SAS session might default to the windowing environment interface. If you want to use the windowing environment, you can start your SAS session as a foreground process, or as a background process by adding an ampersand (&) to your SAS command line. See Running SAS in a Foreground or Background Process for an example of these SAS commands.

For more information about using the windowing environment, see Working in the SAS Windowing Environment.

Note: If you are not using an X display, then you can invoke SAS in interactive line mode by using the NODMS system option. For more information, see Interactive Line Mode in UNIX Environments. [cautionend]

What Is the Explorer Window?

Explorer is a windowing environment for managing basic SAS software tasks such as viewing and managing data sets, libraries, members, applications, and output. The SAS Explorer is a central access point from which you can do the following:

manipulate SAS data through a graphical interface
access the Program Editor, Output, and Log windows (as well as other windows)
view the results of SAS procedure output in the Results window
import files into SAS

What Are the Program Editor, Output, and Log Windows?

The Program Editor, Output, and Log windows enable you to edit and execute SAS programs and display output. For more information about these windows, see the online SAS Help and Documentation.

Invoking SAS in the Windowing Environment

You can use the following commands to specify which windows open when a SAS session starts.

You can open the Program Editor, Output, and Log windows by specifying the DMS system option:
```
sas -dms
```
You can open the Program Editor, Output, Log, and Results windows, as well as the Explorer window, by specifying the DMSEXP system option:
```
sas -dmsexp
```
You can open only the Explorer window by specifying the EXPLORER system option:
```
sas -explorer
```

The default specification for invoking SAS is sas -dms -dmsexp . This command displays the Program Editor, Output, Log, and Results windows as well as the Explorer window. If you invoke SAS without the -dmsexp option, the Explorer window does not display.

SAS also opens a toolbox from which you can open additional SAS windows. For more information about the toolbox, see Working in the SAS Windowing Environment.

Exiting SAS in the Windowing Environment

To end your SAS session, enter the BYE or ENDSAS command in the command window, or select File Exit from the drop-down menu of the SAS session that you want to end.

Top of Page