Virginia Tech SAS^® FAQ

Questions Frequently Asked about SAS at Virginia Tech

General Questions

• What is SAS?
• What are the characteristics and limitations of SAS names?
• What is the SAS FILENAME statement and how is it used?
• What is the SAS LIBNAME statement and how is it used?

Installation Questions

• How do I install the latest SAS version for MS Windows?
• How do I install SAS Version 8 for MS Windows?
• How do I update the SAS license for SAS running under MS Windows?
• I am having difficulty loading SAS 6.12 on a new computer running Windows 95/98. Every time I try to boot or start SAS, it crashes the machine. What should I do?

Questions about reading data:

• I have general questions about reading data with SAS: What formats can be read by the SAS System?
• How can I read data stored in an external data file, e.g., data which is not included as part of my SAS program?
• How can I use a character other than a blank to separate data values on an input record? For example, how do I read in a comma separated text file created by a spreadsheet program?
• How can I read a character data value which contains embedded blanks, e.g. "New York City"
• How can I read in blank numeric data values as zeros instead of as missing values?
• How can I read input data containing semicolons?

Formatting data values and program output:

• How Can I Use SAS to Print Mailing Labels?
• How can I recode data values?

Using Spread Sheet Data Formats

• How should I save Excel or other spreadsheet files so that I can use them with mainframe SAS?
• What procedure should I use within SAS to read data contained in an Excel spreadsheet (xls format)?
• How can I use PROC ACCESS to read data contained in an Excel spreadsheet (xls format)?
• What procedure should I use to convert a SAS data set into Excel spreadsheet format (xls)?
• How can I use PROC DBLOAD to convert a SAS data set into Excel spreadsheet format (xls)?

Questions about the SAS Macro Language:

• How do you use SAS macro variables?
• How do you use the SAS macro language?