Software & Data - SAS

• SAS is a powerful statistical computing package. It has extensive data handling capabilities in addition to a wide array of statistical routines. SAS is based on the SAS language. To use SAS, users write programs in this language and then execute them from within SAS. SAS is available on the Central IT Unix servers, through the school of Business Citrix servers, and from the W. P. Carey School of Business network. In addition, faculty members can purchase individual SAS licenses for stand alone installation from the Computer Store in the Computing Commons. For information on having SAS installed, contact wpcarey.support@asu.edu . SAS is developed and sold by SAS Institute. 
• On-Line Documentation:
  • Versions of SAS run from the W. P. Carey School of Business network contain the SAS Online Docs pre-installed. To access it, click on "Help", followed by "Books and Training", and then "SAS OnlineDoc"
  • Sample SAS programs for Compustat are available under the directory: /afs/asu.edu/bus/compustat/help.   Go to Business I.T.'s Compustat website for more information about the Compustat datasets in SAS format.
  • See also some basic ASU public docs's SAS write-ups

  Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How do I run SAS? SAS is deployed in the W. P. Carey School of Business from the school's network. Faculty members can have a network version of SAS installed on their office computers by contacting wpcarey.support@asu.edu

  2. SAS wont recognize my SAS datasets. What is wrong? The SAS files created on the ASU Unix mainframe systems is not compatible with the Windows version of SAS and vice versa. To copy SAS datasets across these platforms, it is necessary to first import the datasets into SAS transport file format. Then the transport file is copied to the new system and the SAS dataset is extracted from the transport file. For more details on using SAS transport files including example code, visit this link.

  3. I have data in a text file that contains a large number of variables. Is there any alternative to writing a lengthy INPUT statement? SAS can read Excel 4 worksheets (but not Excel workbooks). It is often easier to simply import a text file into Excel, save the data as an Excel 4 worksheet, and then go into SAS and use the Import Data option under the File menu.

  4. When I start SAS, its just displays a small grey dialog box saying there was a "-MSG Error". What is wrong? The network version of SAS cannot find the server component on the W. P. Carey School of Business network. Start Windows Explorer and look for the S: drive. If it is not listed, try rebooting your system. If the problem persists, the W. P. Carey School of Business network may be experiencing problems. If the S: drive appears and the error still occurs after rebooting, your SAS installation has become corrupted. Contact wpcresearch.support@asu.edu to have it reinstalled.

  5. Can I run SAS at home? The network version of SAS is run from the W. P. Carey School of Business network in order to function. However, faculty members may purchase a stand alone SAS license from the Computer Store on the first floor of the Computing Commons that can be installed on home systems. In addition, SAS can be accessed from within Citrix.

  6. When I try to access SAS Help, it takes a very long time to open or doesnt work at all. What should I do?

  If you encounter an error while trying to open SAS help on a stand alone installation, the problem may be related to a recent Microsoft hotfix. In order to correct the problem, SAS fix 82BB12 must be applied. For more information, contact wpcresearch.support@asu.edu .

  7. When I try to access SAS in Citrix, the top of the web browser changes but nothing happens. What is wrong?

  The Citrix server has reach its maximum load and has refused the connect. You should wait a little while and try connecting again.