SAS Enterprise Guide® - Implementation Hints and Techniques for Insuring Success With Traditional SAS Programmers in a Pharmaceutical Development Role

Traditional SAS programmers in the pharmaceutical industry develop SAS code in files and submit it for processing regardless of the operating environment (PC, Unix, mainframe, etc.). SAS Enterprise Guide (EG) follows this model, but adds some unique additional capabilities. This paper addresses setup, initialization and workflow ideas to smoothen and enhance the transition to the EG graphical user interface centered around a process flow window. This paper will address local vs. remote (server) processing. Starting with hardware and network capabilities, the paper then moves into a discussion on data location and how that affects work flow. Certain features in SAS EG may either be hidden or exposed with advantages to doing either. The number of process flows in an Enterprise Guide Project offers flexibility in constructing the total programming effort. The ability to store code at a central facility as Stored Processes for sharing with other users will be discussed. Techniques for submitting and developing code for step-by-step processing vs. the submission of entire project files is discussed. Backup strategies will be discussed. And lastly, the handiest key in EG, the F4 key, which is used to toggle back-and-forth between the current Process Flow window and the most recent window (program, data set, log, output, etc.) will be repeatedly emphasized.