Host Systems Getting Organized in Mac OS Rick Asler If you work on just one simple project with SAS MAE is emulation software to run Mac on some software, it may not matter very much how you UNIX systems. It is not the best way to run SAS organize your files. But if you work on a complex software. project or on several projects, your productivity and SAS software requires at least version 7.5 of peace of mind depend on organizing your projects Mac OS. System 7.5 shipped on new computers in effectively. 1994-1995 and can be purchased separately for This paper presents a system for organizing the older computers. A new system version is due in files of SAS projects, taking advantage of the 1996. special features of Mac OS. Then it demonstrates A computer system for running SAS software techniques for automating SAS projects. should also have at least an average-size hard disk and at least 16 megabytes of physical RAM. The Finder is the main application that is always Mac essentials running in Mac OS. It displays disks and files as icons and subdirectories as folders. First, these are some Mac terms and features The system folder is the folder containing the you may need to be aware of to operate SAS System file, Finder, and other Mac OS files. software under Mac OS. The Trash Is a Finder container where deleted Mac, Mac OS, Mac operating system, or Macin­ files go. You can retrieve them Hyou don't wait too tosh operating system is the distinctive graphical long. operating system of Apple Computer. Mac users An alias is a small file that refers to another file. usually just call it the System. When you move or rename the original file, Mac A Mac-compatible computer is one that runs updates the alias to maintain the link. Mac OS. Mac-compatible computers are made by SimpleText is the Mac OS text editor (called Apple, Radius, Power Computing, DayStar, Pioneer, TeachText in earlier versions). and others. You can identity Mac-compatible computers by the Mac OS logo. A Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Quadra, CentriS, Organizing SAS software or PowerBook is a Mac-compatible computer made by Apple Computer. The default SAS software installation includes PowerPC is the central processor of choice for both PowerPC and 68000 versions of binary code. Mac-compatible computers running SAS software. To save hard disk space, install only the one set of 68040 and 68030 are central processors from the binaries for your computer's central processor. 68000 family, used in older Mac-compatible After you install SAS software on your Mac­ computer models. They're slower, but fast enough compatible computer, there are new files in various for most SAS applications. locations on the hard disk. To work with SAS A floating-point unit (FPU) is a good thing to software, you need to be able to find the following have for running SAS software. PowerPCs and icons in the Finder: most 68040s include an FPU. Some computers with a 68030 have an FPU as a separate processor SAS preferences folder. This is the ·SAS· folder (a math co-processor). in the "Preferences" folder in your system folder. You need a CD-ROM drive to read the CD that SAS root folder. This is the folder, usually in the you install SAS software from. You might borrow root directory of your hard disk, that contains the an external drive, because SAS software installation SAS application. The "SAS local" alias in the SAS only takes minutes. preferences folder pOints to this folder. F-keys are the dedicated function keys found on many Mac keyboards. Some users find them SAS application. This is the ·SAS" icon in the SAS indispensable for running SAS software in Mac. root folder. Some Macintosh models, particularly the SE/30, Classic II, Color Classic, and PowerBooks, have Configuration file. This is the text file with the built-in monitor screens that are too small to run name beginning with "config.sas" in the SAS root some interactive parts of SAS software comfortably. folder. 353 Host Systems Improving your setup can change the minimum and preferred memory After the installation, there are several things you size for the SAS System. Reduce the minimum can do in the Finder to make SAS software easier to memory size if you must run the SAS System with work with. less memory - but then, don't open a lot of windows or do a lot of things at once in the SAS 1. Delete the Option Editor application. Even if session. Adjust the preferred memory size to give you like its look and feel (and it's not a crowd· the SAS System most of the memory that is left pleaser), it's not worth the amount of RAM it takes over after you set aside space for any other up when you run it. applications you run at the same time. If you have plenty of physical RAM, give the SAS System about 2. Make an alias for the SAS preferences folder. 21 megabytes. Call it ·SAS preferences folder" and move it to the In the Memory control panel, you can set up SAS root folder. This gives you an easy way to get virtual memory. This does not give you any more from the SAS root folder to the SAS preferences memory for the SAS System, but can allow you to folder. run other applications at the same time, with some 3. Move the configuration file to the SAS compromises in speed. In the Monitors control panel, set color depth to preferences folder. Just drag it onto your new ·SAS preferences folder" icon. no more than 8 bits - less if you have limited RAM. 4. Create a SAS projects folder. Make a new Apple menu folder called ·Projects" in the SAS root folder. Use If you haven't already done so, make an alias of this folder for aliases of project folders. your hard disk and put it in the Apple Menu Items folder in the System Folder. In the Apple Menu Configuration file Options control panel, tum on the submenus option. You use the configuration file to tell the SAS This puts your hard disk and its folders on the Apple System what options to start up with. Unlike in all menu, so you can open files and folders on your other operating systems, SAS software for Mac hard disk, such as SAS project files, directly from doesn't offer a convenient way to tell it what con· the Apple menu. figuration file to use. Instead, it always looks for a particular file name (such as "config.sas61 0j first in the SAS preferences folder, and second in the SAS Organizing projects root folder. Options in the SAS root folder override options in the SAS preferences folder. The simplest way to keep track of projects is to In the first configuration file - in the SAS prefer· put each project in its own directory, or folder. Mac ences folder - set options for a display manager as makes it easier to do that. I prefer to put the session that is not associated with any particular project folders in the root directory of the disk, but project. In most cases, you won't need to change you can put them wherever is convenient for you. the original installed configuration file. It is a good idea to keep the project folders Use the second configuration file, in the SAS separate from the SAS root folder. That makes root folder, for options that are specific to a particu· backups, updates, and any sort of file management lar project or SAS session. Use SimpleText to cre· easier to do. ate the second configuration file, so that when you Within the project folder, you should usually have open it in the Finder, you can edit it in SimpleText. several more folders: If you use just one such configuration file, you • A folder for each SAS data library you use in the would use these steps to launch the SAS System: project. Use the librel as the folder name. 1. Open the configuration file (in SimpleText), edit it • A folder for input data files. These files could be as needed, and save it. Quit SimpleText. aliases of files stored elsewhere on a network. 2. Open the SAS application icon. • A folder for output data files, if appropriate. Usually, it's more convenient to keep a separate • A folder for print files, appropriate. configuration file for each set of system options you if use. I'll describe that later. • Possibly a folder or folders for SAS programs, if you have a lot of them. Memory management In the Get Info box for the SAS application The project folder should also include an initial· (accessible from the File menu in the Finder), you ization file and configuration files. 354 Host Systems In the Finder, your project folder might look like options in the batch configuration file. The SYSIN this: option names the SAS program file, which should be the file "sysin' in the project folder. The LOG and PRINT options name the project's log and standard print files. The extra lines might be: -- -nodms El S LJ LJ -sysin 'Real:My Project:sysin' ma.x.c.sas B.tch OLDDATA NE'w'OATA -log 'Real:My Project:log' LJ LJ LJ -print 'Real:My Project:standard print' OUTDATA MAIN Progrorns Although it isn't strictly necessary, I prefer to set up a separate configuration file for each interactive SAS application I use in a project.