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help for saswrapper                                           manual:  [R] none
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Run a SAS program from within Stata

        saswrapper [varlist] [if] [in] [using sas program filename] [,
                 pre_sas_prog(`"sas code"') post_sas_prog(`"sas code"') check
                 messy usesas nodata savasas(sas dataset name) noformats
                 rename clear char2lab float quotes]

        
Description

    saswrapper runs a SAS program in batch and prints the output in the Stata
    results window/log file.  This usually occurs by specifying a SAS program
    file after using, but saswrapper can also run SAS code specified by the
    pre_sas_prog() and/or post_sas_prog() options.  By default, saswrapper
    will save the current data in memory using savasas and make it available
    in SAS's WORK library.  If that is not desired, use the nodata option.
    The usesas option tells saswrapper to load the last SAS dataset created
    in the WORK library by the submitted SAS program into Stata using the
    SAVASTATA SAS macro.

    NOTE:  saswrapper calls SAS to run the SAS program.  This requires the
    ability to run SAS on your computer.  If saswrapper does not run SAS for
    you, your sasexe.ado file may need to be edited to set the location of
    your SAS executable file (sas.exe) and your SAVASTATA SAS macro file
    (savastata.sas).  It may be that saswrapper will be able to run with the
    default settings in sasexe.ado.  See the setup instructions below.

    saswrapper uses the SAVASTATA SAS macro to create the Stata dataset from
    the SAS dataset when the usesas option is specified.  saswrapper
    downloads the SAVASTATA SAS macro and stores it where user-written Stata
    ado-files are stored that begin with the letter "s".  This macro can be
    used in SAS.  Learn about SAVASTATA here:
    http://www.cpc.unc.edu/research/tools/data_analysis/sas_to_stata/savastat
    > a.html

 
Options

    using sas program filename specifies saswrapper to run this SAS program.
        saswrapper assumes the SAS program file extension .sas if no file
        extension/suffix is specified.

    pre_sas_prog() and/or post_sas_prog() contain SAS code to be run by
        saswrapper.  If SAS programming code is supplied by using,
        pre_sas_prog(), and post_sas_prog() then the order the code will be
        run is:

              pre_sas_prog()

              using

              post_sas_prog()

        It is best to enclose the SAS code within compound double quotes:

        . saswrapper, pre_sas_prog(`"proc means;"')

        in case the SAS code contains any double quotes.  An interesting way
        to submit SAS code is to first put it in a local macro and use three
        forward slashes to continue the line:

        . local pre_sas_prog data new; ///
        set work.stata_data; ///
        gender = "female"; ///
        run;

        .  saswrapper , pre_sas_prog(`" `pre_sas_prog' "')

        You can put a lot of SAS code in a local macro if you don't use an
        equal sign (=) after then local macro name.  For the above example to
        work, Stata has to be using the carriage return as an end-of-line
        delimiter and not semi-colons which is changed by the #delimit
        command.  Stata will see Stata-style comments in the SAS code as
        Stata comments so avoid starting a line with a star/asterisk "*":

        * some comment ; ///

        because Stata will comment out the three forward slashes at the end
        and thus end the input to the local macro.  Since the contents of the
        local macro will be one long line, do not attempt to do anything in
        your SAS code that expects carriage returns like the SAS datalines
        statement that reads in raw data.

    check specifies to generate basic stats for both the SAS and Stata
        datasets for the user to make sure saswrapper created the files
        correctly.  This is a comparison that should be done after any
        datafile is converted to any other type of datafile by any software.
        The SAS file is created in the same directory as the SAS program
        specified in using or if no program was specified in using then it
        will be created in the current directory.  The file is named starting
        with the name of the datafile followed by "_SAScheck.lst" (SAS).
        e.g. "mySASdata_SAScheck.lst"

    messy specifies that all the intermediary files created by saswrapper
        during its operation are not to be deleted.  The messy option
        prevents saswrapper from cleaning up after it has finished.  This
        option is mostly useful for debugging purposes in order to find out
        where something went wrong.  All intermediary files have a name
        starting with an underscore "_" followed by the process ID and are
        located in Stata's temp directory.

    usesas specifies to load the SAS dataset into memory that was most
        recently created in the SAS WORK library in the SAS program submitted
        to saswrapper.  saswrapper figures out how much memory the SAS
        dataset will require to be loaded into Stata and sets Stata's memory
        for you if your memory setting is less than is required.


    nodata specifies to override the default behavior of saswrapper which is
        to save the current dataset in memory to the SAS WORK library.  Use
        this option when your SAS program is not going to use the dataset in
        memory.

    savasas specifies a different dataset name than the name of the dataset
        in memory.  If the dataset in memory does not have a name and the
        option savasas is not used, then the dataset in memory will be
        available in SAS's WORK library as "stata_data" (a.k.a.
        "WORK.STATA_DATA").

Options when saving data to SAS

    varlist specifies what selection of variables in the dataset in memory
        are to be saved to the SAS dataset in the WORK library in the SAS
        program submitted to saswrapper. If no variables are specified then
        all variables will be saved the SAS dataset.

    if exp subsets the dataset in memory before saving the dataset to the SAS
        dataset in the WORK library in the SAS program submitted to
        saswrapper.

    in range subsets the dataset in memory before saving the dataset to the
        SAS dataset in the WORK library in the SAS program submitted to
        saswrapper.

    noformats specifies that no value labels be saved as SAS formats.

    rename specifies that any required renaming of file name and/or variable
        names is to be done when saving the dataset in memory to SAS using
        savasas.  The rename option is only necessary when variable names are
        not unique in SAS.  savasas displays the list of renamed variables.
        rename also renames the SAS file name when the name provided is not a
        valid SAS file name.

Options when using the usesas option

    clear specifies to clear the data currently in memory before running
        saswrapper.

    char2lab specifies to encode long SAS character variables like the Stata
        command encode.  Character variables that are too long for a Stata
        string variable are maintained in value labels.

    float specifies that numeric variables that would otherwise be stored as
        numeric type double be stored with numeric type float.  This option
        should only be used if you are certain you have no integer variables
        that have more than 7 digits (like an id variable).

    quotes specifies that double quotes that exist in string variables are to
        be replaced with single quotes.  Since the data are written out to an
        ASCII file and then read into Stata, there are rare instances when
        double quotes are not allowed inside string variables.



Examples

    . saswrapper using "mySASprog.sas"

    . saswrapper using "mySASprog.sas", nodata usesas clear

    . saswrapper using "c:\data\mySASprog.sas", savasas(tester) check

    . saswrapper , pre_sas_prog(`" proc print; "')
    
    . saswrapper , pre(`" data new; set work.stata_data; if income > 0 then
        do; employed = 1; output; end; run; "') usesas clear

    . saswrapper , post(`" proc univariate; "')



    NOTE:  If you are setting up this program on your computer for the first
        time, please edit sasexe.ado to set the location of your SAS
        executable file (sas.exe).  If you do not, saswrapper will try to set
        it for you.  The sasexe.ado file is an ASCII text file and should be
        saved as such after editing.  Stata's do-file editor will do the
        trick.


Setting up saswrapper

    If you are setting up this program on your computer for the first time,
    you may need to edit the sasexe.ado file to set the location of your SAS
    executable file (sas.exe).  If you do not, saswrapper will look in the
    "usual" locations for it.  saswrapper also may need to have the location
    of the SAS macro savastata.sas set.  The sasexe.ado file is an ASCII text
    file and should be saved as such after editing.  Stata's do-file editor
    will do the job.  edit sasexe.ado (click, to edit the sasexe.ado file,
    remember to save when done.)


Author

    Dan Blanchette
    The Carolina Population Center
    University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, USA
    dan_blanchette@unc.edu


Also see

    On-line: savasas, usesas