what\'s hot, what\'s not: skills for sas® professionals (35 minutes)

$: What\'s Hot, What\'s Not: Skills For SAS® Professionals (35 Minutes)$
What's Not – Skills for SAS®

Professionals

A presentation by

Kirk Paul Lafler and Charles Edwin Shipp

,

Copyright 2007 - 2012 by Kirk Paul Lafler and Charles Edwin Shipp

Copyright © 2007-2012 by

Kirk Paul Lafler and Charles Edwin Shipp

All rights reserved.

SAS is the registered trademark of SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC,

USA.

All other company and product names mentioned are used for

identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their

respective owners.

2


Quick Survey

3

Copyright 2007 - 2012 by Kirk Paul Lafler and Charles Edwin Shipp 4

Presentation Objectives

The SAS Professional

What’s Hot?

What’s Not So Hot?

Hot Topics

Improving Skills /

Expertise


Tables Used in Examples

Movies

Actors


The Free Dictionary by Farlex,

defines a skill as “the proficiency,

facility, or dexterity that is acquired

or developed through training or

experience.”


The services and skills you plan to

offer should be geared to adding

value in an already highly

competitive marketplace.

Lafler and Shipp


• Identify the skills you currently possess DATA/PROC step programming

Macro programming

Database design

ODS and specialized output

Web development

Technical writing

Statistical analysis

and so on . . .

Taking Inventory of Your Skills


• Identify the skills you currently possess DATA/PROC step programming

Macro programming

Database design

ODS and specialized output

Web development

Technical writing

Statistical analysis

and so on . . .

• Rank each skill Expert

Proficient

Some working knowledge

None



• Identify level of competence Cutting edge

Competitive

Out-of-date



• Identify level of competence Cutting edge

Competitive

Out-of-date

• Categorize skills by functional discipline Programming

Design

Analysis

Analytics

Data Cleaning

Teaching

Documentation

Marketing

and so on . . .



• Enterprise Guide – GUI point-and-click front-end application

• Hash Object – “Fast” table lookups, merges, and joins

• ODS – RTF, PDF, HTML, XML, and Excel Destinations and Tagsets

• PROC SQL – Queries, Tables, Views, Case Logic, Joins, Subqueries

• PROC REPORT – Detail and Summary Reporting

• Macro Language – Reusable Code and Tools

• Access SAS Environment – Dictionary Tables and SASHELP Views

• SAS/XML – Share Structured Data

• Business Intelligence (BI)

• http://support.sas.com –Technical Support, Online Documentation

• sasCommunity.org – Social Networking, Blogs, Tech Support

• SAS-L – List Serve of archived Technical Support Help

• LexJansen.com – Repository of “Published” SAS Papers

• SAS Certification – SAS Certified Professional Exams

• JMP software – Statistical and Data Visualization

What’s


sasCommunity.org Main Page


• Primary user interface

• GUI look-and-feel interface

• Organized into parts

Hyperlink Keywords

Log-in and Account Links

Special-purpose Tabs

Body – Welcome, Blogger’s Corner and Forums

Special-purpose Hyperlink Icons

sasCommunity.org Features


The Main Page – Dissected

Hyp

erl

ink

Ke

ywo

rds

Account Log-in Special-purpose Tabs

Body Portion

Special-purpose Icons


“Quick” Popular Links – Features

• Quick access to major categories

• Each category serves as a hyperlink

• Major categories include: Blogs on sasCommunity.org Planet

Collaborate with SAS

Events

Geographies

Opportunity Registry

Presentations

Provider’s Registry

SAS Books

User Groups

Topics


Popular Links


Bloggers Corner – Features

• Blogs created and defined by SAS users

• Found on sasCommunity.org Planet

• 31 blogs exist

• Articles (topics) are arranged alphabetically

• A partial listing of topics include: SAS Global Forum JMP Blog

DATA steps Macro Code

The SAS Dummy PROC SQL

Statistical Analysis Consulting Study SAS Blog

Avocet Solutions ProcRun;


SAS Global Forum


Bloggers Corner


Upcoming Events – Features

• Information on upcoming SAS-related events

• Click on the Events keyword hyperlink

• Found in the Events category

• SAS Software related events include: User Group meeting

Training classes

Webcasts

• Currently, 5 subcategories exist: Audio Conferences User Group Meetings

Conferences Webcasts

Training Classes


Events Page


Groups – Staying Connected


Sasopedia – Features

• Virtual area where users can provide factual information and tips on SAS Software

• Addresses Frequently Asked Questions

• Click on the Sasopedia keyword hyperlink

• Information is organized by: Procedure

Product/Solution

Statement

Topic


Using the Sasopedia


• A Hash object is a data structure

• Contains an array of items that map “keys” to their

associated values

• Implemented as a DATA step construct

• Not available in PROCs

• At the end of the process the hash object is removed

Hash Objects


• The contents of a table are read into memory once

• SAS can then repeatedly access it, as necessary

• Memory-based operations are typically faster than disk- based operations

• Users experience faster search, table lookup and merge (or join) operations

How Hash Objects Work

MOVIES Table ACTORS Table

TITLE TITLE ACTOR_LEADING ACTOR_SUPPORTING

Brave Heart Brave Heart Mel Gibson Sophie Marceau

. . . Christmas Vacation Chevy Chase Beverly D’Angelo

Christmas Vacation Coming to America Eddie Murphy Arsenio Hall

Coming to America . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .


• The hash object is used by calling methods

• 26 known methods exist

• Basic syntax:

Name of the hash table (user-assigned)

Dot

Desired method by name

Specification to pass to the method

• Examples:

HashKey.DefineKey( );

HashKey.Find( );

Hash Object Syntax


Method Description

ADD Adds data associated with key to hash object.

33

Hash Object Methods We’ll Discuss

DEFINEDONE Specifies that all key and data definitions are complete.

DEFINEKEY Defines key variables to the hash object.

FIND Determines whether the key is stored in the hash object.

OUTPUT Creates one or more data sets containing the data in the hash object.

DEFINEDATA Defines data to be stored in hash object.


data hash_match_merge;

if 0 then set actors; /* load variable properties into hash tables */

if _n_ = 1 then do;

declare Hash Titles (dataset:’actors’); /* declare the name Titles for hash */

Titles.DefineKey (‘Title’); /* identify variables to use as keys */

Titles.DefineData (‘Actor_Leading’,

‘Actor_Supporting’); /* identify columns of data */

Titles.DefineDone (); /* complete hash table definition */

end;

set movies;

if titles.find(key:title) = 0 /* lookup TITLE in MOVIES table with hash Titles */

then output;

run;

Merge with a Hash Object




if _n_ = 1 then do;






end;

set movies;


then output;

run;


1




if _n_ = 1 then do;






end;

set movies;


then output;

run;


2




if _n_ = 1 then do;






end;

set movies;


then output;

run;


3




if _n_ = 1 then do;






end;

set movies;


then output;

run;


4


Merge Results with a Hash Object

Movies Actors

Hash_match_merge


• SAS/ASSIST®

• SAS/FSP®

• SAS/AF®

• Screen Component Language®

• DATA _NULL_ ‒> Monospace “Custom” Reporting

What’s Not so Hot


• SAS-led courses (lecture / hands-on workshops)

• Non-SAS Institute Instructor-led courses

• Self-paced computer-based training (CBT)

• Technical Support at http://support.sas.com

• Online SAS documentation in PDF and HTML format

• User-written books from SAS Press, Books by Users (BBU)

• “White” papers: sasCommunity.org

support.sas.com

LexJansen.com

• User Group presentations and Hands-on workshops

• Webinars and other content on sasCommunity.org

• Collaborate with others (using LinkedIn and User Groups)

Improving Skills / Expertise


Three Key Areas of Certification Testing:

• SAS Programming

• Predictive Modeling

• Data Warehousing

Certified Professional Exams


Two Credentials:

• SAS Certified Base Programmer Credential

SAS Base Programming Exam for SAS 9

• SAS Certified Advanced Programmer Credential

SAS Base Programming Exam for SAS 9

SAS Advanced Programming Exam for SAS 9

SAS Programming Credentials


One Credential:

• SAS Predictive Modeling Using SAS Enterprise Miner 5.2

Predictive Modeling Using SAS Enterprise Miner 5.2 Exam

Predictive Modeling Credential


Two Credentials:

• SAS Certified Warehouse Development Specialist Credential

SAS Advanced Programming Exam for SAS 9

SAS Warehouse Technology Exam

SAS Warehouse Development Specialist Concepts Exam

• SAS Certified Warehouse Architect Credential

SAS Warehouse Technology Exam

SAS Warehouse Architect Concepts Exam

Data Warehousing Credentials


The World of the SAS

Professional

What’s Not So Hot?

Improving Skills /

Expertise

Conclusion


PROC SQL Beyond the Basics

Using SAS

Kirk Paul Lafler

sas

A Book for

All SAS

Users

Coming Winter 2004! Available at www.sas.com!


Coming Winter 2004! Coming in September 2012!

Learn how to Build,

Store and Access

Custom Functions

Using the FCMP

Procedure

press

Developing

Custom SAS®

Functions with the

FCMP Procedure

Odyssey Press

Kirk Paul Lafler


Coming Winter 2004! Coming in October 2012!

Odyssey Press

Kirk Paul Lafler

An Introduction

to Hash

Programming

Techniques Using

SAS® Software


Coming Winter 2004! Coming in March 2013!

A Book of

Best Practice

Coding

Techniques and

Examples

SAS® Best

Practices: Blueprint for Developing

Maintainable Code Using

SAS Software

press Odyssey

Press Kirk Paul Lafler


Questions?

Kirk Paul Lafler [email protected]

Thank You for Attending!

Charles Edwin Shipp [email protected]

what\'s hot, what\'s not: skills for sas® professionals (35 minutes)

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