SAS to Spectrum Writer Conversion Helper

Instructions and Information
As mentioned in the SAS conversion FAQ, there is no program that converts an entire SAS program to Spectrum Writer. But this conversion "helper" can give you a headstart in your manual conversion process. Use this tool to convert your SAS input file definitions. That is a long, tedious process that we were able to automate. By letting this conversion helper perform this routine conversion work for you, you'll save time and effort.

How to Use this Tool
Simply paste your sample SAS code in the left-hand box above. Then press the Convert button. The conversion helper will parse through the SAS code and create snippets of Spectrum Writer code that could be useful in your manual conversion process. (This may take a little while for large SAS programs.) You can paste entire SAS programs into the box, or smaller subsets (one SAS INPUT statement, for example).

Note: Be sure to paste only pure text data into the box. For example, paste SAS code copied from Notepad or something similar. Code copied from a word processor program (like Word) usually contains formatting codes and other non-text bytes that prevent the helper from properly parsing the SAS code.

Conversion Details
The current version of the Conversion Helper does the following:

• SAS INPUT statements are converted to Spectrum Writer file definitions. A file definition is one FILE statement, followed by one FIELD statement for each field in the input layout. Spectrum Writer chooses the closest match to the SAS INFORMAT for each field. Unsupported INFORMATS (such as FLOAT) are converted into character type place-holder fields. You should put these Spectrum Writer file definition statements in a member of your Spectrum Writer Copy Library PDS. Once there, you can request a report from that file with a simple Spectrum Writer "INPUT: filename" statement.

• SAS PROC SORTs can normally be converted into an equivalent Spectrum Writer SORT statement.

• SAS PROC REPORT: at this time, only a limited amount of a PROC REPORT is converted. the VAR list, if present, is used.

• After processing all of the SAS code, Spectrum Writer shows a model or skeletal report request for each input file found in the SAS code. A Spectrum Writer report request always begins with an INPUT statement, naming the input file. (Spectrum Writer will look for the definition of that file in your Spectrum Writer Copy Library, using the filename as the member name.) After the INPUT statement, Spectrum Writer will show a SORT statement and a COLUMNS statement. If the conversion helper found corresponding PROCs in the SAS code, it will fill in the Sort fields and the Columns fields (the VAR list) for you. Otherwise, it will just list a few fields as a model for you to work with.

• We hope to add additional features to this utility in the future. Your feedback will be helpful. Let us know if you find errors in the conversion. Or, tell us if you can identify a portion of SAS code that can reliably be converted to specific Spectrum Writer code algorithmically. We will consider adding it to the program.
Send your suggestions or comments here.

Disclaimer
This free tool is offered "as is". If the results are helpful, feel free to use them. However, we make no guarantees or warranties about its operation or suitability for your use. This tool is for online use only. It is not available to download.