To open, manage, or close the RTF destinations that produces output that is written in Rich Text Format for use with Microsoft Word, use the ODS RTF statement:

You can modify an open RTF destination with many ODS RTF options. However, the FILE= option performs the following actions on an open RTF destination:

RTF produces output for Microsoft Word. Although other applications can read RTF files, the RTF output might not work successfully with the other applications.

The RTF destination enables you to view and edit the RTF output. ODS does not define the vertical measurement, which means that SAS does not determine the optimal place to position each item on the page. For example, page breaks are not always fixed because you do not want your RTF output tables to split at inappropriate places when you edit your text. Your tables remain intact on one page, or they break where you specify.

However, Microsoft Word requires the widths of table columns, and Microsoft Word cannot adjust tables if they are too wide for the page. Therefore, ODS measures the width of the text and tables (horizontal measurement). All of the column widths can be set properly by SAS, and the table can be divided into panels if it is too wide to fit on a single page.

In short, when producing RTF output for input to Microsoft Word, SAS determines the horizontal measurement, and Microsoft Word controls the vertical measurement. Because Microsoft Word can determine how much room there is on the page, your tables are displayed consistently even after you modify your RTF file.

ODS RTF produces output in rich text format, which supports three formats for graphics that Microsoft Word can read.

When you do not specify a target device, the default target is EMF.

In the following program, the STYLE= option applies the FestivalPrinter style to the output for the ODS RTF statement:

ods html close;
ods rtf file="SampleRTF" style=FestivalPrinter; 
proc freq data=sashelp.cars;
  tables origin*type;
run;
ods rtf close;