SAS Companion for the Microsoft Windows Environment

Accessing Online Help and Documentation

The SAS System under Windows provides comprehensive online HTML-based documentation. You can access several different levels of help information, depending on the context and the type of information you need.

Note: For full help support for the SAS System, be sure Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or above is installed. SAS System Help displays best and provides full help functions using Internet Explorer, including easy navigation, indexing, and search capabilities. When Internet Explorer is installed, SAS System Help displays with all help functions available. For information on defining a browser, see Web Preferences.

Also note that when Internet Explorer is installed during SAS installation, it is only used for the SAS System. No changes are made to the Windows registry. [cautionend]

Getting Help from the Command Bar

You can get help for SAS language elements and SAS products by using the HELP command in the command bar. When you enter the HELP command, the SAS System Help displays help for either the active window or for the type of help you specify in the HELP command argument. Types of Help Available Using the Command Bar lists the HELP command arguments and the resulting display in the SAS System Help.

Types of Help Available Using the Command Bar
Help Argument The SAS System Help Display Example

none help for the active window HELP

language element help on the specified language element HELP FILENAME

language element type a list of links to all language elements within the language element type HELP DSOPTIONS

product name product help HELP SAS/CONNECT

HELP how to use the HELP command HELP HELP

***Types of Help Available Using the Command Bar***
Help Argument	The SAS System Help Display	Example
none	help for the active window	HELP
language element	help on the specified language element	HELP FILENAME
language element type	a list of links to all language elements within the language element type	HELP DSOPTIONS
product name	product help	HELP SAS/CONNECT
HELP	how to use the HELP command	HELP HELP

The HELP arguments for language element types include these strings:

commands lists SAS commands

dsoptions or datasetoptions lists SAS data set options

formats lists SAS formats

functions lists SAS functions

informats lists SAS informats

procedures lists SAS procedures

statements lists SAS statements

systemoptions lists SAS system options

Getting Help in the Dialog Boxes

To access help in a dialog box, click on [?] at the top of the dialog box, then click the item you want information about. A pop-up window appears with a definition for the item. To close the pop-up window, click anywhere on the dialog box. If the dialog box doesn't have the [?] button, look for a Help button or press F1.

Getting Help for a SAS Product

To access help information about the SAS product associated with the currently active window, click on the Help toolbar button (the book with the question mark), press the F1 function key, or select the Help menu and Using This Window. (For example, if you click on the Help toolbar button and the active window is a SAS/GRAPH window, the SAS System Help displays help information about SAS/GRAPH software.)

You can also get help for a SAS product using the HELP command in the command bar. When you use the product name as an argument to the HELP command, the SAS System Help displays the product help. For example, if you entered HELP SAS/GRAPH in the command bar, the SAS System Help will open to the SAS/GRAPH help.

Getting Help from the Help Menu

The Help menu is always available within your SAS session. Here are descriptions of the help topics available from the Help pull-down menu:

SAS System Help: comprehensive SAS language and option information, including information that is specific to the Windows environment.
Using this Window: help information relevant to the currently active window. This is the same as clicking on the [Help] toolbar button or pressing the F1 key.
Books and Training: provides access to SAS System HTML-based books and tutorials available on CD-ROM. The SAS Online Tutor is a separately licensed SAS product.
Getting Started with SAS Software: opens the SAS System Help to a tutorial that will help you get started with SAS.
SAS on the Web: provides links to useful areas on the SAS Institute web site, including technical support, frequently asked questions, sending feedback to SAS, sample code, and the SAS homepage.

Getting to SAS Institute (and Other Web Sites) from within the SAS System

The SAS System is configured to launch your local web browser to view HTML files. You can invoke your web browser in a few ways:

Enter a URL (uniform resource locator) in the command bar. The SAS System will launch the browser that you specified in the Preferences dialog box Web page.
Enter the WBROWSE command, which will launch the browser with SAS Institute's home page or another default URL that you can specify in the Preferences dialog box Web page. For more information about the WBROWSE command, see WBROWSE.

Note that you can access web pages on the Internet (such as the SAS Institute home page) only if your workstation is connected to a network that allows such access.

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commands	lists SAS commands
dsoptions or datasetoptions	lists SAS data set options
formats	lists SAS formats
functions	lists SAS functions
informats	lists SAS informats
procedures	lists SAS procedures
statements	lists SAS statements
systemoptions	lists SAS system options