There are specific types of SAS windowing environment commands. The type of commands that you use might depend on the task that you need to complete, or on your personal preferences. These commands can be in the form of:

For information about specific commands that can be issued in the SAS windowing environment, see Working with SAS Windows. For information about specific commands that can be used in the SAS text editor, see Working with Text.

Command-line commands can be entered in two places:

If the command line is turned on, then you can place your cursor on the command line and type commands. You can toggle the command line on or off for a specific window by selecting ToolsOptionsTurn Command Line On or ToolsOptionsTurn Command Line Off.

The Command window (if it is available in your operating environment) includes a text area. You can place your cursor in this area and then issue commands.

To execute a command, type the command on the command line and then press the ENTER key, depending on which operating environment you are using. You can specify a simple one-word command, multiple commands separated by semicolons, or a command followed by an option.

For example, if you want to move from the Editor window and open both the Log and the Output windows, on the command line of the Editor window, specify

log; output

Next, press ENTER or RETURN to execute both commands. The Log and Output windows appear. The Output window is the active window because the command to open this window was executed last.

SAS windowing environment windows can display menus instead of a command line. You can then make menu selections to do things that you would usually accomplish by entering commands.

If your operating environment does not default to using drop-down menus, then issue the PMENU command at a command line to turn on menus for all windows that support them.

You can point and click menus and menu items with a mouse to make your selections. In some operating environments, you can also make menu selections by moving your cursor over the menu items and then pressing ENTER or RETURN. Depending on the item that you select, one of three things happens: In many cases, double-clicking on items and right-clicking on items will cause different menus to appear. Sometimes you might want to try one or the other when selecting an item does not give you the expected result.

Line commands are one or more letters that copy, move, delete, and otherwise edit text. You can execute line commands by entering them in the numbered part of a text editing window (such as the Editor or the SAS NOTEPAD).

Although line commands are usually executed in the numbered part of the display or with function keys, they can also be executed from the command line if preceded by a colon.

Your keyboard includes function keys to which default values have already been assigned. You can browse or alter those values in the Keys window. To open the Keys window, select ToolsOptionsKeys or issue the KEYS command.

To change the setting of a key in the Keys window, type the new value over the old value. The new setting takes effect immediately and is saved permanently when you execute the END command to close the Keys window.

Function keys enable you to customize your key settings to meet your needs in a particular SAS session. For example, if you might need to submit a number of programs and need to move between the Editor window and the Output window. Then each time you finish viewing your output, you must type the PGM and ZOOM commands on the command line and press ENTER or RETURN. As a shortcut, define one of your function keys to perform this action by typing the following commands over an unwanted value or where no value existed before:

pgm; zoom

Then, each time you press that function key, the commands are executed, saving you time. You can also use function keys to execute line commands. Simply precede the line command with a colon as you would if you were issuing the line command from the command line.