Use the CData ODBC Driver for SAS Data Sets in SAS for Real-Time Reporting and Analytics

SAS is a software suite developed for advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence, data management, and predictive analytics. When you pair SAS with the CData ODBC Driver for SAS Data Sets, you gain database-like access to live SAS Data Sets data from SAS, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. This article explains how to create a library for SAS Data Sets in SAS and create a simple report based on real-time SAS Data Sets data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAS Data Sets data in SAS due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAS to SAS Data Sets, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAS Data Sets and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can easily visualize and analyze SAS Data Sets data in SAS.

Connect to SAS Data Sets as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to SAS Data Sets follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for SAS Data Sets must be installed on the machine hosting the SAS System).

Set the following connection properties to connect to your SAS DataSet files:

Connecting to Local Files

• Set the Connection Type to "Local." Local files support SELECT, INSERT, and DELETE commands.
• Set the URI to a folder containing SAS files, e.g. C:\PATH\TO\FOLDER\.

Connecting to Cloud-Hosted SAS DataSet Files

While the driver is capable of pulling data from SAS DataSet files hosted on a variety of cloud data stores, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE are not supported outside of local files in this driver.

Set the Connection Type to the service hosting your SAS DataSet files. A unique prefix at the beginning of the URI connection property is used to identify the cloud data store and the remainder of the path is a relative path to the desired folder (one table per file) or single file (a single table). For more information, refer to the Getting Started section of the Help documentation.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for SAS Data Sets in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData SASDataSets Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for SAS Data Sets
Description = My Description
URI = C:/myfolder

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Create a SAS Data Sets Library in SAS

Connect to SAS Data Sets in SAS by adding a library based on the CData ODBC Driver for SAS Data Sets.

1. Open SAS and expand Libraries in the Explorer pane.
2. In the Active Libraries window, right-click and select New.
3. Name your library (odbclib), select ODBC as the Engine, and click to Enable at startup (if you want the library to persist between sessions).
4. Set Data Source to the DSN you previously configured and click OK. 👁 Creating a library for SAS Data Sets in SAS.
   

Create a View from a SAS Data Sets Query

SAS natively supports querying data either using a low-code, point-and-click Query tool or programmatically with PROC SQL and a custom SQL query. When you create a View in SAS, the defining query is executed each time the view is queried. This means that you always query live SAS Data Sets data for reports, charts, and analytics.

Using the Query Tool

1. In SAS, click Tools -> Query
2. Select the table sources and the table(s) you wish to pull data from. Then, click OK. 👁 Selecting table(s) to visualize.
   
3. Select columns and right-click to add filtering, ordering, grouping, etc. 👁 Selecting columns(s) to visualize and configuring the query.
   
4. Create a local view to contain the query results by right-clicking the SQL Query Tool window, selecting Show Query, and clicking Create View. Name the View and click OK. 👁 Create a local view to work with SAS Data Sets data.
   

Using PROC SQL

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC SQL to query the data and create a local view.
   NOTE: This procedure creates a view in the Work library. You can optionally specify a library in the create view statement.

   proc sql;
    create view restaurants_view as
    select 
    name, 
    borough 
    from 
    odbclib.restaurants 
    where 
    cuisine = 'American';
   quit;
   

3. Click Run -> Submit to execute the query and create a local view.

Report On or Visualize SAS Data Sets Data in SAS

With a local view created, you can report, visualize, or otherwise analyze SAS Data Sets data using the powerful SAS features. Print a simple report using PROC PRINT and create a basic graph based on the data using PROC GCHART.

Print an HTML Report

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC PRINT to print an HTML report for the SAS Data Sets restaurants data.

   proc print data=restaurants;
    title "SAS Data Sets restaurants Data";
   run;
   

   👁 A simple SAS Data Sets data report.
   

Print a Chart

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC GCHART to create a chart for the restaurants data.

   proc gchart data=restaurants;
    pie name / sumvar=borough
    value=arrow
    percent=arrow
    noheading
    percent=inside plabel=(height=12pt)
    slice=inside value=none
    name='restaurantsChart';
   run;
   

   👁 A simple SAS Data Sets data chart.