To make a permanent sas file
from data you have typed into INSIGHT


Suppose you have gone into INSIGHT and, when prompted by the SAS/INSIGHT:open" window, you have chosen "New" and typed data into the spread-sheet-like window.

Say you want to save these data into a SAS file. For example, you might want to come back to this file later to do more analyses, and you don't want to have to type in the data again.

Maybe you want to save the SAS file to a diskette, so you can put it on another computer and work on it there. Or you will come back to it on the same computer where you created it.


When SAS is installed on a computer, it sets up a directory called "sasuser" where you can store permanent sas files.

By default, INSIGHT presents you with this directory when you ask it to save a file in SAS format.

(You are not limited to this one directory for storing datasets -- you can use a LIBNAME in the SAS Editor if you want to choose a different directory...one could imagine wanting to store datasets in different project subdirectories, but that's getting fancier ... and a small bit more complicated... it requires typing two lines of sas statements into the Editor!)

For now, we can use the default directory...

Thus, to save from within INSIGHT...

Under the "File" menu


If you don't believe the message in the LOG window, use say Windows Explorer or "My Computer" to locate the "sasuser" directory. A good place to look is the sas directory itself.. it depends on where SAS set up the subdirectory at the time of installation. You should find the file (kkmn0506) there and it should have a SAS icon.

Now you can "take it with you" by simply copying (dragging) it to your diskette (A drive)!

If you want to use it on another computer, locate the "sasuser" subdirectory on that other computer and drag (copy) the SAS file into the subdirectory. Then, you can call it up from INSIGHT (or from "regular SAS" for that matter!)