Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 13:31:35 -0800
Reply-To: gwarnick@fhcrc.org
Sender: "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: greg warnick <gwarnick@SNAP.FHCRC.ORG>
Organization: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Subject: SAS-L FAQ
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Tim Berryhill maintained the original FAQ. A search of the UGA site on
Berryhill and FAQ found this
post from Sally Muller prior to SUGI 25, prepared by Joe Kelley
SAS-L FAQ
SUGI 25
Indianapolis, IN April 9-12, 2000
Q1) What is SAS-L?
SAS-L is a mailing list devoted to discussions about SAS* software. It is
handled by Listserver (listserv) software, and is used by persons all over
the world. Because of the high volume of mail traffic, and because of mail
delays, SAS-L is a "peered" list. Such lists were more common through the
early 1990's; they are less so now. The four listservs which maintain
SAS-L at their sites are:
Site
Listserv Address
University of Vienna listserv@akh-wien.ac.at
Marist University listserv@vm.marist.edu
University of Georgia listserv@listserv.uga.edu
Virginia Polytechnic University listserv@listserv.vt.edu
Q2) What is the history of SAS-L?
In late 1986, on the old Bitnet List "LIAISON" (a user services-type list in
those days) there was a suggestion about having a list devoted to SAS.
Harry Williams at Marist and Harold Pritchett at University of Georgia set
up a "SAS-L" listserv at just about the same time as a response. The two
were then "peered" (so a post on one was sent to the other). A number of
other sites followed; today four remain (there were more at one time).
Using Bitnet (NJE) terminology and current addresses, they are:
Site SAS-L Address
Marist University sas-l@vm.marist.edu
VaTech University sas-l@listserv.vt.edu
University of Vienna sas-l@akh-wien.ac.at
University of Georgia sas-l@listserv.uga.edu
Q3) How do I send instructions and requests, such as a request to subscribe
to SAS-L?
In each case, commands or instructions for the Listserver are sent to the
email address of listserv@site, while postings for SAS-L are sent to
sas-l@site . And site
is one of the addresses below:
Site Listserv Address
University of Vienna listserv@akh-wien.ac.at
Marist University listserv@vm.marist.edu
University of Georgia listserv@listserv.uga.edu
Virginia Polytechnic University listserv@listserv.vt.edu
For instructions on how to subscribe to SAS-L see Q5 below.
Q4) How do I post questions and responses to SAS-L?
In each case, questions or responses for the list are sent to the email
address of
sas-l@site, while instructions are sent to listserv@site . And site is one
of the addresses below:
Site SAS-L Address
Marist University sas-l@vm.marist.edu
VaTech University sas-l@listserv.vt.edu
University of Vienna sas-l@akh-wien.ac.at
University of Georgia sas-l@listserv.uga.edu
Some tips when posting a message: Use a subject line. If your subject line
is "No Subject" many people will ignore your message. If your subject line
is "FREE LOVE" many people will read your message, but you may not like the
responses.
Include your SAS version and platform. Try to quote the error message
correctly. Consider cutting and pasting the log or output. You may want to
read a few posts before you compose your first one.
Q5) How do I read the messages on SAS-L? (how to subscribe?)
One way to read SAS-L is via the newsgroup comp.soft-sys.sas. SAS-L is
bidirectionally gated to the newsgroup comp.soft-sys.sas, and postings on
one will pass to the other. If you read SAS-L this way, you will not get
any messages mailed to your mailbox.
To have the SAS-L messages mailed to you as they are available, you may
"subscribe" to SAS-L. To subscribe to SAS-L, send a message to the email
address of a listserv@site, where site is one of the sites listed in Q3
above.
The subject line is ignored and the body should contain the command:
subscribe sas-l your name here
For example:
subscribe sas-l Tom Smith
is how Tom Smith would subscribe.
Perhaps the easiest way to subscribe to SAS-L is through the University of
Georgia's web interface. This method has the distinct advantage that it
allows you to specify your SAS-L defaults at the same time that you
subscribe. Go to:
http://www.listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=sas-l&A=1
OR you can also go to:
http://www.listserv.uga.edu
and follow the instructions -- a few more steps, but easier to type.
Note: When you select your SAS-L settings, i.e. defaults, you probably want
to select NOACK REPRO which means that when you post a message to SAS-L you
will get a copy of the message so that you will know that it has been
delivered to the list.
Note: please be careful to send your requests and instructions to the sites
LISTSERV address and not the site's SAS-L address. The latter will get
posted to the SAS-L list and it is rather annoying for the subscribers of
the list to get such requests, since they can do nothing about them.
You can also read SAS-L through a new facility, see Q7 below!
Q6) Can I access SAS-L via my web browser?
You can read both the messages on SAS-L during the current week and the
messages on SAS-L during every week from January 1, 1996 via your web
browser. You can also search the SAS-L archives via your browser (see Q7).
You may go to the UGA listserver site:
http://www.listserv.uga.edu
Currently only UGA and MARIST offer a browser interface. If you wish to
post via the UGA Listserv web interface, you will have to register.
You are NOT registering for SAS-L and you must do this even if you ARE
registered for SAS-L. This is mostly to register your email address - which
will appear in any posting
you make.
If you are subscribed to SAS-L at UGA (but not one of the other peers), you
may also manage your subscription if you are registered. Should you
register, the listserver will send you a test message asking you to
"confirm" your registration. You may respond either by email (usually a
"reply") or by using your browser. If you use the email method, be sure to
send the message from the same address to which the original was sent (i.e.,
the one you registered). Please send any questions about this to
sas-l-request@listserv.uga.edu <mailto:sas-l-request@listserv.uga.edu>
Q7) How can I search the SAS-L pages with my web browser?
You may search the SAS-L archives via the UGA browser interface, see Q6 for
instructions on registering, if necessary. Simply go to:
http://www.listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=sas-l
You can also go to:
http://www.listserv.uga.edu
and follow the instructions -- a few more steps, but easier to type.
Another web site that has the SAS-L archive:
www.dejanews.com
For complete instructions for using this DEJANEWS see:
http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/sas/newsgroup.html
Below are abbreviated instructions:
Deja.com Power Search provides an easy way to
read comp.soft-sys.sas and search the archives.
To read the messages:
Connect to: http://deja.com/home_ps.shtml
Enter the newsgroup name, comp.soft-sys.sas, in the forum field
Select SEARCH
To search the archives:
Connect to: http://deja.com/home_ps.shtml
Enter the newsgroup name, comp.soft-sys.sas, in the forum field
Enter your desired search string
Select SEARCH
Q8) How do I search the SAS-L archive using the E-mail technique?
To search the archive using the e-mail technique, you can find complete
instructions at:
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/user/user.html
Here are some abbreviated instructions:
Send e-mail to any of the listservers. For example:
SEARCH DDE IN SAS-L SINCE 96/05/26
The reply will include something like:
Item # Date Time Recs Subject
------ ---- ---- ---- -------
006546 96/07/22 23:25 94 Lines written
006569 96/07/22 15:47 1184 Re: SAS Data Set Format (long)
Send another message using the item numbers in the first column:
GETPOST SAS-L 6546 6569
Note: please be careful. Many people who try this send their request to the
list
rather than to the Listserver. See Q3 for a list of Listserv addresses.
How can I do a better search using the e-mail technique?
Start by sending a message to the list server with the body:
help
The server will send you a quick reference card.
Q9) SAS-L sends a lot of mail. Can I get a little less mail?
Send e-mail to the server (not to the list) to which you subscribed. See Q3
above for the sites. The subject line is ignored and the body should
contain the command:
set sas-l digest
This will set your subscription to "digest."
Note:
set sas-l mail
will reverse this.
Q10) I'm going on vacation and would like to stop delivery of SAS-L?
To temporarily stop delivery of SAS-L, send e-mail to the server (not to the
list) to which you subscribed. See Q3 above for the sites. The subject
line is ignored and the body should contain the command:
set sas-l nomail
Q11) I want to leave the list permanently?
To STOP receiving mail from SAS-L (leave the list):
signoff sas-l
As with any request or instruction, you send this to the Listserver to which
you subscribed to SAS-L. See Q3 above for a list of listserver addresses.
Q12) What if I try to unsubscribe and the server says I am not subscribed,
but it still sends me all the mail?
In general, you may subscribe, maintain your subscription and leave without
the intervention of the list owner. In a few cases, principally when your
email address changes, you may have to contact the owner. The standard
address for this is
sas-l-request@site
Where site is one of the sites listed above in Q3.
Q13) Where are the macros?
Some people add macros they post here to the SAS File Contribution Server
at:
ftp://ftp.uga.edu/pub/sas/contrib.
Get the file USER.DOC first.
Q14) Are there other cool SAS related web pages?
Searching in http://www.altavista.digital.com for SAS, there are about
40,000 hits. Here are a few:
SAS Institute maintains a web at:
http://www.sas.com
The SI web site includes technical support FAQ pages:
http://www.sas.com/service/techsup/faq/index.html
Dr. Carina Ortseifen offers a pointer to SAS info in German
(auf Deutsche?) at:
http://web.urz.uni-heidelberg.de/Unterstuetzung/Hinweise/Einzel/SAS/
Don Cram has notes on converting between Excel and SAS (both ways) at:
http://www.stanford.edu/class/gsb/excel2sas.html
Arnold Schick maintains libraries of SAS macros at:
http://members.tripod.com/~schick/m-index.html
http://members.tripod.com/~schick/p-index.html
The Claremont Graduate School has some help at:
http://www.cgs.edu/acit/help/sas.html
A number of data sets can be found at the following (slow) URL:
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~statdata/
There is a subscription form for several lists at:
http://www.stattransfer.com/lists.html
The Lsoft manual (it maintains the list) is at:
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/user/user.html
Acknowledgements
F. Joe Kelly prepared this information for the SUGI 25 Random Access Lunch.
Joe maintains the SAS-L listserv and the SAS-L web site at the University of
Georgia. Also thanks to Tim Berryhill for compiling and maintaining the
original FAQ.
Dianne Louise Rhodes
Sr. Systems Analyst
Westat
