The TIMEPLOT Procedure

Results: TIMEPLOT Procedure

The input data set usually contains a date variable to use as either a class or an ID variable. Although PROC TIMEPLOT does not require an input data set sorted by date, the output is usually more meaningful if the observations are in chronological order. In addition, if you use a CLASS statement, then the output is more meaningful if the input data set groups observations according to combinations of class variable values. (For more information see CLASS Statement.)

Procedure Output

Page Layout

For each plot request, PROC TIMEPLOT prints a listing and a plot. PROC TIMEPLOT determines the arrangement of the page as follows:

If you use POS=, then the procedure
- determines the size of the plot from the POS= value
- determines the space for the listing from the width of the columns of printed values, equally spaced and with a maximum of five positions between columns
- centers the output on the page.
If you omit POS=, then the procedure
- determines the width of the plot from the value of the AXIS= option
- expands the listing to fill the rest of the page.

If there is not enough space to print the listing and the plot for a particular plot request, then PROC TIMEPLOT produces no output and writes the following error message to the SAS log:

ERROR:  Too many variables/symbol values 
        to print.

The error does not affect other plot requests.

Contents of the Listing

The listing in the output contains different information depending on whether you use a CLASS statement. If you do not use a CLASS statement (see Plotting a Single Variable), then PROC TIMEPLOT prints (and plots) each observation on a separate line. If you do use a CLASS statement, then the form of the output varies depending on whether you specify a symbol variable (see Using a Symbol Variable).

ODS Table Names

The TIMEPLOT procedure assigns a name to each table that it creates. You can use these names to reference the table when using the Output Delivery System (ODS) to select tables and create output data sets. For more information, see ODS Output Object Table Names in SAS Output Delivery System: User's Guide.

ODS Tables Produced by the TIMEPLOT Procedure
Table Name	Description	The TIMEPLOT procedure generates the table:
Plot	A single plot	if you do not specify the OVERLAY option
OverlaidPlot	Two or more plots on a single set of axes	if you specify the OVERLAY option

Missing Values

Four types of variables can appear in the listing from PROC TIMEPLOT: plot variables, ID variables, class variables, and symbol variables (as part of some column headings). Plot variables and symbol variables can also appear in the plot.

Observations with missing values of a class variable form a class of observations.

In the listing, missing values appear as a period (.), a blank, or a special missing value (the letters A through Z and the underscore (_) character).

In the plot, PROC TIMEPLOT handles different variables in different ways:

An observation or class of observations with a missing value of the plot variable does not appear in the plot.
If you use a symbol variable (see the discussion of plot requests), then PROC TIMEPLOT uses a period (.) as the symbol variable on the plot for all observations that have a missing value for the symbol variable.

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