WUSS 2008 Half-Day Classes

Pre/Post-WUSS Half-Day Classes

Take this opportunity to further your SAS education attending one or more of the following classes Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon. Class instructors are recognized experts in the SAS community, including several SAS press authors, SAS Alliance Partners, and past conference chairs.

Half-day classes are $125 each if you register by October 26 and $150 each after October 26. Class attendees receive class notes.

WUSS, Inc. reserves the right to cancel any pre/post conference class(es), and if said occurs, then WUSS' liability is limited to the refund of any registration frees paid for the canceled class(es).

Wednesday Classes November 5, 2008 8:30 am - Noon*		Instructor
Advanced SAS Programming Techniques		Kirk Paul Lafler
An Expert's Guide to Data Cleaning		Ron Cody
Generating Data Definition Domain Documentation DEFINE.XML		Sy Truong
Nitty Gritty of PROC Report		Mal Foley
ODS Markup and Tagsets, from the Outside in, Beginning to End		Eric Gebhart SAS Institute
Friday Classes November 7, 2008 1:30 pm -5:00 pm**		Instructor
Generating Custom-Formatted Excel Output from SAS		Nathaniel Derby
Kick Up Your SAS Skills a Notch		Ginger Carey Helen Carey
Powerful, Yet Less Commonly Used: Procedures and Techniques That You Should Know		Art Carpenter
What is a HASH Object and How Do I Use It		Jane Stroupe SAS Institute
* Complimentary continental breakfast served before class ** Complimentary light lunch served before class Note: The use of laptops and all recording devices is not permitted without the instructor's prior approval.
Wednesday Half-Day Class Descriptions
	Advanced SAS Programming Techniques	Kirk Paul Lafler
	Abstract: SAS users who have acquired basic skills presented in a SAS Software Basics course and want to expand their knowledge in the DATA step as a programming language will want to attend the Advanced SAS Programming Techniques seminar. Attendees learn complex programming topics and techniques in the areas of data access, data manipulation, data management, data presentation, and much more. Topics include DATA step programming techniques including reading a variety of file formats; using column and line pointers; specifying system and language options; coding loops, ranges, and arrays; using operators and modifiers; testing and debugging techniques; reshaping columns of data; techniques on managing data; custom report writing techniques; and integrating ODS for improved output.
	An Expert's Guide to Data Cleaning	Ron Cody
	Abstract: Explore ways to look for data errors using both DATA step programming and Base SAS procedures. Functions such as VERIFY and several of the new SAS 9 character functions make SAS especially well suited to this task. In addition, it will briefly touch on the use of Perl regular expressions for data cleaning applications.
	Generating Data Definition Domain Documentation DEFINE.XML	Sy Truong
	Abstract: This course will describe methods and tools that would enable you to document your data definition document. You can have greater understanding and management of your data if it is well documented with data definition documentation in the format of DEFINE.PDF and DEFINE.XML.
	Nitty-Gritty of PROC Report	Malachy (Mal) Foley
	Abstract: One of the most powerful PROCs in SAS is Proc REPORT. Just this one procedure does the yeoman's work of PROC PRINT, SORT, FREQ, MEANS, and TABULATE, and PUT-Statement Formatting (DATA _NULL_) combined. This seminar is for anyone interested in getting started with PROC REPORT. Through examples, it completely examines how to produce listings through the PRINT, SORT and DATA _NULL_ aspects of PROC REPORT. The seminar goes on to address the FREQ, MEANS and TABULATE aspects of PROC REPORT. The workshop briefly looks at alternatives to ODS. Come experience what PROC REPORT can do for your SAS programming.
	ODS Markup and Tagsets, from the Outside in, Beginning to End	Eric Gebhart SAS Institute
	Abstract: Everything you ever wanted to know about ODS Markup and tagsets! Learn what tagsets are available and how to use them, then find out how they work and what you can do to customize them or create your very own.
Friday Half-Day Class Descriptions
	Generating Custom-Formatted Excel Output from SAS	Nathaniel Derby
	Abstract: Do you spend too much time manually formatting your Excel output from SAS, such as setting font sizes, coloring cells, or cutting and pasting data onto a pre-formatted Excel template? Then this course is for you! Learn how to program SAS to automatically custom-format your Excel spreadsheets for you.In this course, you'll be introduced to many different techniques for creating customized Excel output from SAS, and the differences between them. You'll learn which technique is best for many different situations. Detailed examples will be given for each technique.
	Kick Up Your SAS Skills a Notch	Ginger Carey Helen Carey
	Abstract: Have you viewed SAS Institute's free Web seminars or listened to the blogs? Information on resources such as these, and time-saving tips and techniques will help kick your SAS skills up a notch. In this fast-paced, fact-filled and fun seminar we focus on the topics defined by the acrostic EMPOWER (Elementary, Managing/Knowing Your Data, Programming and Procedures, Output, Work Habits, Efficiency, Resources.) You are encouraged to learn about and use simple macros, the Output Delivery System, the SQL procedure, SAS Enterprise Guide and many features of the windowing environment by being shown simple but time-saving methods. Tips are illustrated with SAS code.
	Powerful, Yet Less Commonly Used: Procedures and Techniques That You Should Know	Art Carpenter
	Abstract: The SAS System includes a vast array of tools that provide the programmer with a vast amount of power to do all sorts of things. Just in the Base system alone there are over 50 procedures and more are being added with each new release of the software. Some of these procedures and techniques you will probably never use, and some although very useful are very underutilized. A few of these underutilized procedures are new, some of the techniques are perceived to be difficult to learn. All offer huge benefits to the programmers that can make use of them. This seminar will cover a number of these underutilized, but often extremely powerful and useful procedures and techniques. Although of potential value to programmers of any ability level this Seminar is designed for newer and intermediate level programmers.
	What is a HASH Object and How Do I Use It	Jane Stroupe SAS Institute
	Abstract: Have you heard that in SAS 9, there's a new DATA step component called a HASH object? The HASH object is a wonderful way to perform table lookups, but knowing when you should use it and exactly how you use it can be a mystery. This tutorial makes it easy to understand what the HASH object is, why you might want to use it, and how you write programs to utilize the object in the most efficient manner.