Customizing the SAS Windowing Environment

Modifying X Resource Settings by Using 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.DAT file in your SASUSER directory.

Opening the Preferences Dialog Box

You can open the Preferences dialog box in one of the following ways:

Issuing the DLGPREF command in the command window.
Selecting Tools Options Preferences.

Select the tabs at the top of the dialog box to move between the various settings.

Description of Options in the Preferences Dialog Box

Modifying the General Settings

To modify the General settings, select the General tab in the Preferences dialog box. The following display shows the default General settings.

General Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

[General Tab in Preference Dialog Box]

The following is an explanation of the settings:

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. This check 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 click Select to open the Startup Logo dialog box. These check boxes set the SAS.startupLogo resource.

Use application workspace

confines all windows displayed by an application to a single application workspace. This check 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 the AWS windows as interior windows are added and removed. (For more information, see Description of SAS in the X Environment 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.

This area sets the SAS.awsResizePolicy resource.

After you have changed the settings, click OK to implement your choices or click Cancel to cancel your choices. Click Defaults to return to the default settings. Click Help for help about the Preferences dialog box.

Modifying the DMS Settings

To modify the DMS settings, select the DMS tab in the Preferences dialog box. The following display shows the default settings.

The DMS Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

[The DMS Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box]

The following is an explanation of the settings:

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. This check box sets the SAS.usePmenuMnemonics resource.

Confirm exit

displays the Exit dialog box when you exit your SAS session. This check 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. This check box sets the SAS.wsaveAllExit resource.

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. This check box sets the SAS.autoSaveOn resource.

Help & Documentation Browser - Browser Path

A browser path in this field is no longer required and is not used. For information about viewing the online SAS Help and Documentation, see Viewing Output and Help in the SAS Remote Browser.

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.

Note: The VMS e-mail facility does not support attachments. You can send attachments only when you are using SMTP. [cautionend]

Modifying the Editing Settings

To modify the Editing settings, select the Editing tab in the Preferences dialog box. The following display shows the default editing settings.

The Editing Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

[Editing Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box]

The following is an explanation of the settings:

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

This field sets the SAS.defaultPasteBuffer resource. For more information about paste buffers, see Customizing Cut-and-Paste Operations under OpenVMS.

Automatically store selection

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

Cursor

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

Modifying the Results Settings

The items on the Results tab control the format of the results that you produce. To modify these settings, select the Results tab in the Preferences dialog box.

The Results Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

[Results Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box]

The following is an explanation of the settings:

Create Listing: specifies that your output is in text format. You can select both Listing and HTML format.
Create HTML: specifies that your output is in HTML format. You can select both Listing and HTML format.
Folder: specifies the folder in which to store your HTML results. Click Select to choose a folder. Select Use WORK Folder to designate your SASWORK folder as the repository for your HTML results.
Style: specifies the HTML style to use when generating output in HTML format.
View results as they are generated: specifies that HTML output is automatically displayed when it is generated. This value cannot be selected if you have selected Password protect HTML file browsing .
Password protect HTML file browsing: requires a password when sending HTML files to a browser. This value cannot be selected if you have selected View results as they are generated .

Modifying the SAS ToolBox Settings

The items on the ToolBox tab affect both the toolbox and the command window. To modify these settings, select the ToolBox tab in the Preferences dialog box. The following display shows the default SAS ToolBox settings.

The ToolBox Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

[ToolBox Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box]

The following is an explanation of the settings:

Display tools window

determines whether to display the default toolbox. This check box sets the SAS.defaultToolBox resource.

Display command window

determines whether to display the command window. This check box sets the SAS.defaultCommandWindow resource.

Auto Complete Commands

specifies that commands will be automatically completed as you type the first letters of the command. This check box sets the SAS.autoComplete resource.

Save Commands

specifies the number of commands to be saved. You can change the number by clicking on the up or down arrow next to the number of commands. The default is 25. 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. This check box sets the SAS.useCommandToolBoxCombo resource.

Use arrow decorations

adds left and right arrows to either end of the combined toolbox and command window. This check box sets the SAS.useShowHideDecorations resource.

Always on top

keeps the toolbox or the combined toolbox and command window on top of the window stack. This check box is selected by default, which could cause problems with window managers that are not Motif window managers or other applications that want to be on top of the window stack. If you have such a situation, turn off this feature. 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 window. By default, the Program Editor toolbox stays open whenever you close the Program Editor window. If you deselect this check box, then the toolbox will close if you close the Program Editor window. This check box sets the SAS.isToolBoxPersistent resource.

Tools

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. This check box sets the SAS.useLargeToolBox resource.
Use tip text: specifies whether ToolTip text is displayed when you position your cursor over a tool in the toolbox. Some window managers might place the ToolTip behind the toolbox. If this happens in your environment, deselect this check box. This check box sets the SAS.useToolBoxTips resource.
delay: controls the delay in milliseconds before popping up the ToolTip. This field 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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