INTRODUCTION
PROC SQL is the implementation of the SQL syntax in SAS. It first appeared in SAS 6.0, and since then has been very popular for SAS users. SAS ships with a few sample data sets in its HELP library, and SASHELP.CLASS is one of them. This dataset contains 5 variables including name, weight, height, sex and age for 19 simulated teenagers, and in this paper I primarily use it for the demonstration purpose. Here I summarize the 10 interesting tricks and tips using PROC SQL. At the beginning, I first make a copy of SASHELP.CLASS at the WORK library and transform the row number of the data set to a new variable obs.
data class;
set sashelp.class;
/* Give an index for each child*/
obs = _n_;
run;
1. Calculate the median of a variable
With the aggregating HAVING clause and some self-join techniques, PROC SQL can easily calculate the median for a variable.
proc sql;
select avg(weight) as Median
from (select e.weight
from class e, class d
group by e.weight
having sum(case when e.weight = d.weight then 1 else 0 end)
>= abs(sum(sign(e.weight - d.weight))));
quit;
2. Draw a horizontal histogram
A histogram visualizes the distribution pattern of a variable. PROC SQL can draw a horizontal histogram by showing the frequency bars with a few asterisks for each level of the variable age.
proc sql;
select age, repeat('*',count(*)*4) as Frequency
from class
group by age
order by age;
quit;
3. Return the running total for a variable
A running total is the summation of a sequence of numbers which is updated each time with the increase of the observations. In the example below, I calculate the running total and save them as a new variable Running_total by the SUM function and a conditional statement, which logically is similar to an example in SAS/IML[1].
proc sql;
select name, weight,
(select sum(a.weight) from class as
a where a.obs <= b.obs) as Running_total
from class as b;
quit;
4. Report the total number for a variable
PROC SQL is a flexible way to find the total number for any variable by its set operator UNION and the SUM function. In the example, the total number of the variable weight is reported at the bottom of the output table.
proc sql;
select name, weight
from class
union all
select 'Total', sum(weight)
from class;
quit;
5. Retrieve the metadata for a data set
SAS stores the metadata at its DICTIONARY data sets. PROC SQL can visit the directory, retrieve the column detail, and return the information to the users.
proc sql;
select name, type, varnum
from sashelp.vcolumn
where libname = 'WORK' and memname = 'CLASS';
quit;
6. Rank a variable
Besides the designated ranking procedure PROC RANK in SAS, PROC SQL can also do some simple ranking as well.
proc sql;
select name, a.weight, (select count(distinct b.weight)
from class b
/* Rank by the ascending order for the weight variable*/
where b.weight <= a.weight) as rank
from class a;
quit;
7. Simple random sampling
PROC SQL is widely used in simple random sampling. For example, I randomly choose 8 observations by the OUTOBS option at the PROC statement. The randomization process is realized by the RANUNI function at the ORDER BY statement with a seed 1234.
proc sql outobs = 8;
select *
from class
order by ranuni(1234);
quit;
8. Replicate a data set without data
In PROC SQL, it is a fairly straightforward one-line statement to create a new empty data set while keeps all the structure of the original data set.
proc sql;
create table class2 like class;
quit;
9. Transpose data
Usually DATA step ARRAY and PROC TRANSPOSE allow SAS users to restructure the data set, while PROC SQL sometimes is an alternative solution. For instance, if we need a wide-to-long operation to list the names of the children by their gender in the CLASS date set, then PROC SQL can fulfill the functionality through the combinations of some queries and subqueries.
proc sql;
select max(case when sex='F'
then name else ' ' end) as Female,
max(case when sex='M'
then name else ' ' end) as Male
from (select e.sex,
e.name,
(select count(*) from class d
where e.sex=d.sex and e.obs < d.obs) as level
from class e)
group by level;
quit;
10. Count the missing values
Another advantage of PROC SQL is that its NMISS function works for both numeric and character variables [2], which makes PROC SQL an ideal tool for missing value detection.
proc sql;
select count(*) 'Total', nmiss(weight)
'Number of missing values for weight'
from class;
quit;
CONCLUSION
The combination of SAS’s powerful functions and the SQL procedure will benefit SAS users in data management and descriptive statistics.
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