thanks for everyone's input. i truly appreciate it.

please allow me to make this problem more challenging. right now, we are running unix sas with EG as client. in this case, how to mimic the function of dde?

have a nice weekend. On Aug 25, 2011 7:04 PM, "Data _null_;" <iebupdte@gmail.com> wrote: > You can append data to an existing sheet/template using the EXCEL > libname engine. > > On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 2:23 PM, Wensui Liu <liuwensui@gmail.com> wrote: >> but ods wont use our existing excel template >> On Aug 25, 2011 3:21 PM, "Mike Bohlig" <bohlig@cccse.org> wrote: >>> Hi Wensui, >>> >>> I use Proc Report and ODS to create excel files. You can specify >>> >>> ods tagsets.msoffice2k file = [path\filename.xls] ; >>> >>> When you open the excel file you will get a warning about the file >> possibly being corrupted - or something like that. You can just respond that >> the file is OK and open it. >>> >>> This approach will retain the formatting specified in proc report for >> fonts, colors, etc. >>> >>> Good luck, >>> Mike. >>> >>> >>> E. Michael Bohlig, Ph.D. >>> Senior Research Associate >>> Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) >>> Community College Leadership Program >>> College of Education >>> The University of Texas at Austin >>> 3316 Grandview St. >>> Austin, TX 78705 >>> >>> Phone: 512-232-6456 >>> Fax: 512-471-4209 >>> email: bohlig@cccse.org >>> web: www.cccse.org >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of >> Wensui Liu >>> Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 1:57 PM >>> To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU >>> Subject: [SAS-L] alternative to dde >>> >>> iam wondering if there is any alternative to dde using or not using sas. >>> >>> thx a lot. >>> On Aug 25, 2011 2:37 PM, "Titaan Titaan" <titaan08@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> If the digit id is a character variable then use cats, length functions. >>>> Make sure the length of id should atleast be 6, else it will be truncated >>>> at the end. >>>> ex: if length(cats(id)) eq 4 then id = cats('00',id); >>>> else if length(cats(id)) eq 5 then id = cats('0',id); >>