Fifty-Five Functions to Supercharge your SAS Code

The SAS System includes an extensive collection of DATA step functions that can provide great utility and convenience for the programmer. Many of these functions are relatively new and unknown. In this half-day course, we’ll look at some SAS functions that should be in every programmer’s toolbox. Each function will be presented with concrete examples so you’ll be able to take what you’ve learned and put it to use right away. We will cover functions from a broad range of categories such as string manipulation, logic and program control, dates and times, metadata, and much more. This course is suitable for beginning SAS programmers, but even seasoned veterans will probably find something new!

Intended Audience: All levels of SAS programmers

Advanced DATA Step Programming: Tips & Techniques

To solve complex coding problems with the SAS® DATA step, one must go beyond a basic understanding of the individual statements. You need to understand how the various statements interact with each other and how their options can be leveraged to build DATA step code that provides innovative solutions to the toughest of problems. Based on Art Carpenter’s book, Carpenter’s Guide to Innovative SAS® Techniques, this class is a must for the DATA step programmer who wants to take his or her programs to the ‘next’ level.

Topics include:

• Working across multiple observations using look-ahead and look-back techniques
• Employing the DOW loop
• Taking advantage of double SET statements
• Working with hash objects
• Performing table lookups
• Using arrays to transpose data from columns to rows and back again
• Evaluating complex expressions
• Applying data set options
• Adopting new DATA step functions (and old functions with new options)
• And more!

This course is designed to be taken by a student who has a basic understanding of the DATA step and its primary statements. The material will focus on advanced topics that will give the student a deeper understanding of the operation of the DATA step. Through examples, students will be exposed to innovative techniques for solving difficult programming problems.

Intended Audience: Intermediate SAS programmers and beyond

About the Instructor

Josh Horstman is an independent statistical programmer based in Indianapolis with over 25 years’ experience using SAS in the life sciences industry. He specializes in analyzing clinical trial data, and his clients have included major pharmaceutical corporations, biotech companies, and research organizations.

A SAS Certified Advanced Programmer, Josh loves coding and is a frequent presenter and trainer at SAS Global Forum and various regional and local SAS user groups. Josh holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science, and a master's degree in statistics from Colorado State University.