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BASUG QUARTERLY MEETING

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WHAT:       BASUG QUARTERLY MEETING

 

THEME:      Big Stuff; Large Datasets and Systems

 

WHEN:       Tuesday, November 30, 2004

            Quarterly Meeting: 8:00AM - 12:00PM 

 

WHERE:      Holiday Inn Newton (Directions are included below.)

            399 Grove Street

            Newton, MA  02462

            (617-969-5300)

 

INDIVIDUAL, ON-LINE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.  NO EMAIL. 

Please do not reply to this message.

 

To register for the meeting, visit

      http://www.basug.org/register.php3

 

CONTACT for the quarterly meeting:

Victor Pontes:    victor.pontes@channing.harvard.edu

 

 

An email will be sent to confirm all online registrations. 

 

Please Note the following:

 

      This meeting is appropriate for all levels of SAS.

 

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AGENDA:

 

8:00 – 8:30 Sign in and Coffee Break

8:30 - 8:45 Meeting Announcements and Introductions

8:45 – 12:00 Speakers

 

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Creating and Exploiting SAS® Indexes

Michael A Raithel, WESTAT

 

If there were a SAS performance tool that could drastically reduce your program’s I/O’s and response time, and lower its CPU time, would you use it?  Well, this type of performance tool exists; it is called “SAS Indexes.”  SAS Indexes can dramatically improve the performance of programs that access small subsets of observations from large SAS data sets.  However, many SAS programmers never bother to learn about them or to use them.  This is your opportunity to add this performance tool to your SAS programming repertoire.

 

This paper discusses how to create simple and composite SAS indexes, how to determine which variables make good index key variables, when creating and using indexes is appropriate, what centiles are, and how to generate index usage messages.  It illustrates how indexes can improve processing when subsetting and/or updating a large SAS data set and when an index can optimize a BY statement.  After reading this paper, you will have the basic information that you need to create and use SAS Indexes to improve the performance of your SAS applications.

 

 

Data Driven Systems – Strategies for Effective Data Access

Craig Dickstein, Tamarack Professional Services, LLC

 

'Data driven' is not just a buzzword, but also an application design concept that serves to resolve a number of challenges facing SASâ developers.  In this presentation, effective strategies and tactics are discussed that will provide guidelines for developers of large data access, analytic, and reporting systems.  SQL and non-SQL programming techniques are compared as tactics for implementing the proposed strategy.  RDBMS and SAS Data Libraries are also discussed vis-à-vis the underlying data structures that form a basis for choosing one technique over another.  A healthcare reporting application is presented as representative of the types of issues faced – large data volumes, extensive business rules, and complicated application management.

 

Transferring Your Mainframe SASâ Programs To Your PC in Three Easy Steps (Coder’s Corner)

Michael A Raithel, WESTAT

 

You have built up quite a collection of useful SAS programs in your many years of using the SAS System on mainframe computers under MVS.   Now that you find yourself doing more and more work in PC SAS, it seems a shame to write new programs entirely from scratch.  Wouldn’t it be more helpful to port your mainframe Partitioned Data Set (PDS) of SAS programs to a file on your PC?  Then, you could reuse your mature SAS code on the desktop by making simple modifications to suit it to its new environment and to the particular task at hand.

 

This paper illustrates an easy way to transfer a PDS of SAS programs from the mainframe to the PC in three easy steps.

 

 

Measuring SAS®  Software Usage On Shared Servers With the RTRACE Facility

Michael A Raithel, WESTAT

 

How often is SAS software being used in your organization, who is using it, and which SAS products are being used?  These questions are not always easy to answer, particularly for organizations that run SAS on multiple platforms.  However, an innovative technique for exploiting SAS RTRACE files can provide you with a way to record and report information about SAS usage in your organization.  This paper presents a methodology for exploiting SAS’s native RTRACE facility to track all SAS batch and interactive sessions in the Windows, Unix, and Linux environments.  It provides an overview of the RTRACE facility and how to set it up to run behind-the-scenes in shared server environments.  The paper contains example programs that process RTRACE files and store the information in SAS data sets.  It includes a sample program that reports SAS usage based on the captured RTRACE information. After reading this paper, you will have all of the tools that you need to exploit RTRACE, and determine the “who”, “what”, “when” and “where” of SAS software usage in your own organization.

 

Bios:

Michael A. Raithel has worked with Information Systems in the commercial and government sectors since 1980. An internationally recognized expert in the use of SAS software in mainframe environments, he is the author of over a dozen SAS technical papers and is a popular lecturer at SUGI and at regional SAS conferences. Michael has been a section chair at SUGI, SESUG, and NESUG, and he co-chaired NESUG in 1995. He has been a mainframe computer performance analyst for Marriott International and for the U.S. Customs Service, as well as an independent consultant specializing in mainframe and Unix performance issues.  He now works as a Senior Systems Analyst for Westat.  A copy of the first edition of this book, entitled Tuning SAS Applications in the MVS Environment, resides in the Smithsonian Institution of American History’s Permanent Research Collection of Information Technology.

Craig Dickstein, an independent Consultant, works with clients and select project teams to implement customized business solutions for the health care industry.  He has significant past experience managing and developing SAS applications and has been a SAS user since 1978.  With a Masters Degree in Statistics and meaningful work experience in medical research and health insurance, he adds value in the resolution of specific client business needs.

 

 

  

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DIRECTIONS:

 

Holiday Inn Newton

399 Grove Street

Newton, MA  02462

(617-969-5300)

 

DRIVING:

 

FROM BOSTON:

Take I-90 West to Exit 15, then take Route 128 South (I-95)1/4 mile to Exit 22.  When you exit, stay right and bear right at the fork onto Grove Street.  The hotel is on your left.

 

FROM SOUTH OF BOSTON:

Take Route 128 North (I-95) to Exit 22.  When you exit, stay right and bear right at the fork onto Grove Street.  The hotel is on your left.

 

FROM WESTERN MASS:

Take I-90 East to Exit 14, then take Route 128 South (I-95) 1/4 mile to Exit 22.  When you exit, stay right and bear right at the fork onto Grove Street.  The hotel is on your left.

 

FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE:

Take I-93 South to Route 128 South (I-95), follow for approximately 15 miles to Exit 22.  When you exit, stay right and bear right at the fork onto Grove Street.  The hotel is on your left.

 

FROM RHODE ISLAND:

Take I-95 North to Route 128 North (I-95).  Follow to Exit 22. When you exit, stay right and bear right at the fork onto Grove Street.  The hotel is on your left.

 

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:

The hotel is adjacent to the Riverside T Station.  From Kenmore Square take the Green Line - D (Riverside) to the Riverside stop.  The hotel is adjacent to the T Station.

 

The hotel is also accessible from downtown Boston via Express Bus #500 (EXPRESS BUS Riverside - Downtown via Mass. Turnpike).  The bus drops off at Riverside T Station, which is adjacent to the hotel.  For a detailed bus route and schedule, go to

 

http://www.mbta.com/schedmaps/bus/index.cfm

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                         BASUG INFORMATION

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MAILING ADDRESS:

 

BASUG

PO Box 253

Boston, MA 02117

 

WEBMASTER:

webmaster@basug.org

 

MEMBERSHIP:

 

2004

 

If would like to join BASUG or need to pay dues for the 2004 calendar year, please print this membership form and follow the instructions on the form:

 

http://www.basug.org/MemForm2004.doc

 

If you are unsure if you are a member or you do not know if your company has paid its 2004 calendar year corporate dues, please contact

 

Robert Rosofsky:    robert.rosofsky@verizon.net

 

2005

 

Get a jump start on 2005, and pay your dues for next year!  Print this form for your 2005 dues, and bring it with you to the meeting:

 

http://www.basug.org/MemForm2005.doc

 

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