TU07
The Ugliest Data I’ve Ever Met
Contributed
Derek Morgan
Division of Biostatistics, Washington University Medical School
Abstract:
Data management frequently involves interesting ways of doing things with the SAS® System. Sometimes, “interesting” becomes another way of saying “messy”, especially when it comes to processing files from outside of your department. This paper will detail
the code used to transform raw data we received into raw data that we could use. At first glance, flat file-to-flat file translation wouldn’t seem to be a problem. However, this is a list of the programming methods necessary to perform this particular tran
sformation; Automation of a process using SAS System macros; Reading from and writing to multiple files with a single DATA step; Using the SAS System to write its own code "on the fly"; Adding sequence numbers for new records in a data set; "Merging" witho
ut sorting; and "Arrays" of SAS System macro variables.
Biography:
Derek is a Database Administrator in the Division of Biostatistics at Washington University School of Medicine. His areas of expertise include Base SAS, SAS/FSP, SCL, macro language and SAS/AF. He designs, develops and supports data entry/management system
s for medical research as well as directing and implementing the compilation and documentation of data for several collaborative studies. He also teaches the basics of reading raw data with the SAS® System in a university-sponsored hands-on seminar several
times a year. He has been using the SAS System to process raw data in many different formats for over 15 years. Derek has won two "Best Speaker" awards at MidWest SAS Users Group conferences and has also received two honorable mentions at SUGI. He is curr
ently the president of the MidWest SAS Users Group Board of Directors.