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Getting Acquainted with the Interface

The SAS/SPECTRAVIEW interface is a point-and-click, button-driven interface that provides the functionality to visually explore data.

Invoking SAS/SPECTRAVIEW Software

1. First, bring up the SAS System. For information on bringing up the SAS System, see your SAS Installation Representative.

2. Issue one or more LIBNAME statements to assign a libref to each data library containing data sets that you want to use in the session. For example, libname mylib 'mypath';. Details are provided in Assigning Librefs to Data.

3. Then, invoke SAS/SPECTRAVIEW with a command or as a SAS procedure. On a command line, issue the command spectraview; acceptable abbreviations include spectrav and sview.

   Invoking SAS/SPECTRAVIEW with a Command
   

   

   Or issue the SPECTRAVIEW procedure, which can be abbreviated to proc spectrav; or proc sview;. Note that you do not need to include a RUN statement.

   Invoking SAS/SPECTRAVIEW as a Procedure
   

   

Looking at the Initial Display

Once you invoke the software, the initial interface display appears. By default, the interface is ready for you to load data; that is, [Data] and [Load data] are already selected. From the initial display, you can do the following:

• Load a SAS data set, which you must do before you can do anything else. That is, you cannot select any other buttons until you have loaded a data set. Details are provided in Loading Data.

• Apply data filtering, which is explained in Adjusting Data with Filters.

• Customize colors for your images with the color palette. From the color palette, you can define response value ranges and specify colors for those ranges. You can also specify colors for image customizations like text, axis tick marks, and so on. Of course, you can simply use the software defaults. Details are provided in Setting Response Value Colors for Images.

• Request the various visualization techniques that produce the images such as cutting planes, point clouds, isosurfaces, a solid-volume display, and direct volume rendering. Details are provided in Exploring Data with Visualization Techniques.

SAS/SPECTRAVIEW Initial Display

Selecting Buttons

You interact with the software by selecting buttons with your graphics input device, which can be a mouse, a pick, or a stylus. SAS/SPECTRAVIEW treats all graphics input devices the same. For simplicity, this document refers to the graphics input device as a mouse.

To select a button, position the cursor on it, and click the left mouse button. Once selected, the button becomes shaded, and in many cases, additional buttons appear. Note that in some situations, the software will select a button for you by default.

Using the Windows

You view and manipulate images in display windows, and you communicate with the software in the text window.

Display Windows

There are four display windows, which provide different views of an image:

• The top right window, labeled Volume, displays the three-dimensional image or images, according to the technique(s) and options that you specify. For example, by requesting a point cloud, you can view all the data points in this window.

• The other three windows, labeled XY Surface, XZ Surface, and YZ Surface, display two- and three-dimensional images of your data. These are linked to the Volume window and show a single "slice" of your data.

Display Windows

Instructions to resize the display windows are in Resizing the Display Windows.

Text Window

Using the text window, which is located to the right of the three basic function buttons (that is, [Data], [Palette], and [Tools]), you can enter text and receive messages from the software.

For example, when you position the cursor on a button, a one-line help message, which is usually a description or instruction, displays in the text window. In response, you usually select a button, enter a value, or use the cursor in a window. You also use the text window to enter specifications, such as for a WHERE clause or to enter text to be added to an image.

Text Window

Instructions to resize the text window are in Resizing the Text Window.

Using Global Buttons

Global buttons, located at the top middle of the interface above the text window, display at all times. Global buttons provide the following capabilities:

Global Buttons

[Xform]	To transform an image by rotating and zooming, to probe for a response value, or to manually move a cutting plane through the volume grid.
[Reset]	To reset the display window's orientation, the color palette, or the entire software.
[Axis]	To define axis labels.
[Save]	To save an image as a PostScript file or a TIFF file or to save data values to a SAS data set.
[Help]	To display the online help.
[Anno]	To add annotation to an image by defining text, displaying the response legend, or displaying the bounding box.
[Exit]	To terminate SAS/SPECTRAVIEW software.

Accessing Online Help

SAS/SPECTRAVIEW provides online help for the interface buttons and sliders. By default, when you position the cursor on a button, a one-line help message displays in the text window. To display more detailed online help, you use the [Help] global button.

To access the detailed online help:

1. Select [Help], then [Detail]. The software opens the Online Reference window.

2. Move the window to a position so that you can view both it and the SAS/SPECTRAVIEW interface window. You can move the window by dragging it to any location. You can also pop it behind the interface.

   In order for the Online Reference window to be visible, the SAS/SPECTRAVIEW interface should be set to pop-to-top only when you select its window border. If the Online Reference window does not stay on top, you need to modify your window manager files as explained in Controlling the Online Reference Window.

3. Click the SAS/SPECTRAVIEW interface window to make it the active window.

4. Position the cursor on a button or slider and wait a moment. Note that to display online help, you only have to position the cursor on a button; you do not have to select it.

   Online Reference Window
   

   

5. If the text is longer than the window, shift the text vertically with the scroll bar on the right. Clicking the up arrow shifts the text up; clicking the down arrow shifts the text down. You can also drag the scroll bar itself up or down.

To remove the Online Reference window and continue the one-line help message in the text window, select [Help], then [Brief]. To turn off both, select [Off]. Note that you cannot close the Online Reference window from the window itself.

Using the Detailed Online Help

The text for each button follows a top-down structure. Information that you need frequently appears at the top. Concepts and other information that you may read only once appears lower down. Each button's information

• starts with a general description of that button's function

• describes subsequent button choices next (if applicable)

• ends with more detailed information, such as, information on understanding a tool.

Recognizing and Using Cursors

As you use the interface, you will notice several cursors presented as symbols. These symbols represent different actions to help you perform an activity. The default cursor is an arrow. The default cursor will change for some activities. For example:

• When the software is waiting for you to enter a response, such as for a filename when saving an image, the default cursor changes to an input cursor, which is a standard I-beam (eye-beam) symbol.

• When you request to rotate an image, the cursor changes to a directional symbol, indicating the directions for dragging the mouse.

• When you are deleting text, a hand symbol displays so that you can point to the text line to be deleted. The hand symbol also lets you indicate where you want axis labels to appear.

Exiting the Software

You exit SAS/SPECTRAVIEW with the [Exit] global button, which is located at the top right of the interface. Exiting SAS/SPECTRAVIEW returns you to the SAS System.

1. Select [Exit]. The button becomes highlighted, indicating that you need to confirm the request.

2. To confirm the request, select [Exit] again.

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Copyright 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.