HTML Output Formatter

Creating Custom Property Lists in Batch Mode

You can create custom property lists in batch mode using any version of SAS software on which the HTML Formatting Tools are available. For a list of available releases and platforms, see the requirements page.

To create custom property lists for the Output Formatter, use the properties macro (%outprop). When you submit this macro, you must include the runmode argument. If you use the runmode=i argument, the HTML Output Formatter Properties window is displayed. You can use the FRAME interface to create property lists interactively. If you want to create custom property lists without using the FRAME interface, you must run the properties macro in batch mode.

Invoking the Properties Macro

To run the properties macro in batch mode, you must submit the macro call, the required arguments, and all of the properties whose settings you want to change. SAS software creates a new property list and saves it to the name and location that you specify. The new list includes the values for the properties that you customized as well as the values that you did not change. You can use the %showprop macro to view the property settings in the new file.

The following shows the syntax for the properties macro:

   %outprop(runmode=b,
            proploc=property-list-name,
            propsave=new-property-list-name,
            other arguments...);

runmode=b

indicates that you are running in batch mode and that you do not want to use the window interface to create custom property lists.

proploc=property-list-name

specifies the name and location of the property list that you want to use as the basis for the file you are creating. If you want to use the default property list provided with the formatter, use proploc=SASHELP.HTMLGEN.OUTPROP.SLIST. If you want to use a custom list that you have already created, supply the complete, four-level name.

propsave=new-property-list-name

specifies the name and location where you want the file saved. You can omit this argument if you are modifying the property list specified in the proploc argument.

You cannot write over the default property list. Therefore, if the library specified by the proploc argument or the propsave argument is SASHELP, SAS software generates an error message and writes it to the LOG window.

other arguments...

specifies each property whose value you want to change. You can include any argument that controls the formatting characteristic of the output. Invalid arguments are listed below. The arguments for the Output Formatter are described in the syntax documentation.

The following is a list of the arguments that cannot be included with the properties macro:

     capture
     htmlfile
     htmlfref
     openmode
     window
     brtitle
     saspower
     encode

Example

If you are responsible for generating a set of reports on a regular basis, you may want to create a custom property list to format your reports consistently. Since no one else uses your property list, you decide to save it to your SASUSER directory.

The following is a list of the properties you want to set.

You always want the background to be white.
You want to use an image for the separator.
You want the header font color to be a shade of green.
You want the note text to be smaller than the other text.
You want all other properties to use the default values defined in the default property list.

To create a custom property list that meets these requirements, submit the following macro call to SAS software.

   %outprop(runmode=b,
            proploc=SASHELP.HTMLGEN.OUTPROP.SLIST,
            propsave=SASUSER.HTMLGEN.OUTPROP.SLIST,
            bgtype=color,
            bg=white,
            septype=image,
            seploc=/home/images/mysep.gif,
            hcolor=#339999,
            nsize=-1);

Because you saved this file to SASUSER.HTMLGEN and named it OUTPROP, the Output Formatter uses this property list by default. If you name your property list something other than SASUSER.HTMLGEN.OUTPROP.SLIST, you must use proploc to specify your property list.