MWSUG 2015 Pre-Conference Training Classes

MWSUG offers a full menu of pre-conference training courses. These training classes are learning opportunities which allow you to delve more deeply into a topic. Classes are offered on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday prior to the conference.

Registration Type	Half Day	Full Day	Three Day Bundle - BEST VALUE!
Conference Attendee	$175	$350	$975
Without Conference	$275	$550	$1,535
Full-Time Student	$100	$200	N/A

To register for a training class, please select the corresponding class during the registration process. Seating for the training classes are limited and registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The three day bundle price may be used for any combination of training courses equivalent to three full days (six half days).

Courses Offered

Friday, October 16, 2015

Course Title (click for description)	Instructor	Time
Advanced Reporting and Analysis Techniques for the SAS ® Power User: It's Not Just About The PROCs!	Art Carpenter	8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Advanced Features of Enterprise Guide	Ben Cochran	8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Advanced SAS® Programming Techniques	Kirk Lafler	1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Course Title (click for description)	Instructor	Time
From %Macro to %MEND: An Introduction to the SAS ® Macro Language	Art Carpenter	8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Manipulating Data Using Numeric Functions	Ben Cochran	8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Quick Start in SAS Enterprise Guide	Jennifer First-Kluge	8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
PROC SQL Programming: The Basics and Beyond	Kirk Lafler	8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Using ODS to Create Good Looking and Colorful Reports	Ben Cochran	1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Leveraging The Query Builder in SAS Enterprise Guide	Jennifer First-Kluge	1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Advanced PROC SQL Programming: Concepts and Techniques	Kirk Lafler	1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Course Title (click for description)	Instructor	Time
Advanced Techniques in the SAS ® Macro Language	Art Carpenter	8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Applications Development, a case study of the Summarize-Each-Variable List Processing Suite.	Ron Fehd	CANCELLED
Manipulating Data Using Character Functions	Ben Cochran	8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Report Writing in SAS Enterprise Guide	Jennifer First-Kluge	8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Best Practice Programming Techniques Using SAS® Software	Kirk Lafler	8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
What Graphics Should I Use?	Ted Durie	1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Course Descriptions

Advanced Reporting and Analysis Techniques for the SAS ® Power User: It's Not Just About The PROCs!
Art Carpenter
Friday, October 16, 2015, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

This one day course presents a series of those nuggets. It covers a broad range of SAS topics that have proven to be useful to the intermediate and advanced SAS programmer who is involved with the analysis and reporting of data. The intended audience is expected to have a firm grounding in Base SAS. For most of the covered topics, the course will introduce useful techniques and options, but will not "teach the procedure". No matter how experienced we are, no matter how well we know a procedure or a technique, there is still more that we do not yet know.

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Advanced Features of Enterprise Guide
Ben Cochran
Friday, October 16, 2015, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

This course covers some of the more advanced features in EG such as: 1. Creating Stored Processes, 2. Creating simple and cascading prompts, 3. applying conditional logic in executing parts of the project, 4. creating Tabular reports, 5. creating user defined Formats, and more...

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Advanced SAS® Programming Techniques
Kirk Lafler
Friday, October 16, 2015, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

SAS® users who have acquired basic skills presented in a SAS Software Basics course and want to expand their programming knowledge in the DATA and PROC steps will want to attend this Advanced SAS Programming Techniques course. Attendees learn complex programming topics and techniques in the areas of data access, data manipulation, data management, data presentation, and more. Topics include DATA step programming techniques such as reading and writing data/output from/to MS-Excel spreadsheets; creating and using user-defined formats and functions; reshaping columns and rows of data with the TRANSPOSE procedure; coding and using one-dimensional and multi-dimensional arrays, loops, and ranges; using operators and modifiers to search data; exploring the details associated with index rules and strategies; using specialized ODS techniques for improved output including ODS statistical graphics; and drill-down techniques.

Intended Audience: All SAS users
Prerequisites: Minimum 1-year Base-SAS programming experience
Delivery Method: Instructor-led with code examples
Length: ½-Day

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From %Macro to %MEND: An Introduction to the SAS ® Macro Language
Art Carpenter
Saturday, October 17, 2015, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

This one-day course is designed for the SAS programmer who is new to the Macro Language. We will start at the basics and cover the fundamentals necessary to start applying SAS macros in your programs. By the end of the day you will understand how the Macro Language works, what the Macro Symbol Table is and how values are stored in it, how the SAS System uses Macro Variables, key Macro Language concepts, important SAS Macro Language statements, and how to invoke Macros in your programs. The example Macros shown in the course materials demonstrate the power and flexibility of this part of the SAS System and will enable you to apply the functionality of the Macro Language to your own programs right away. This session is suited for the SAS user who already has a basic understanding of the Data Step and Procedure Steps, and who is new to the Macro Language facility in SAS System software. It is a beginning-level course that assumes no prior understanding of the SAS Macro Language. It is also suitable for SAS users who want to understand the Macros found in programs that have been "inherited" from other programmers.

Intended Audience Level: Beginner to early intermediate
Delivery Method: Seminar style
Class Material: Carpenter's Complete Guide to the Macro Language, 2nd Edition (will be available to students at a 30% discount)

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Manipulating Data Using Numeric Functions
Ben Cochran
Saturday, October 17, 2015, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This course teaches students the art of manipulating SAS data with functions found in the following categories: Dates, Postal Codes, Statistics, and Data Conversions.

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Quick Start in SAS Enterprise Guide
Jennifer First-Kluge
Saturday, October 17, 2015, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This half day class will focus getting starting working in SAS Enterprise Guide. Topics will include how to use point and click tasks, how to write programs, how to read in a variety of data types, how to structure and organize SAS Enterprise Guide projects and Process Flows, overall best practice, and efficiencies. This class includes hands on exercises (laptops provided).

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PROC SQL Programming: The Basics and Beyond
Kirk Lafler
Saturday, October 17, 2015, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This popular course teaches SAS® and SQL users core concepts and features about PROC SQL. Attendees learn how to use PROC SQL to access data in SAS datasets (tables); accomplish essential programming tasks including retrieving, subsetting, ordering, and grouping data; construct logic scenarios with case expressions; explore one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many data relationships; understand the similarities and differences between DATA step merges and joins; create inner and outer join constructs as well as use set operators; use summary (statistical) functions to aggregate data; create new tables; interface PROC SQL with the macro facility to create single-value and multi-value (list) macro variables; and apply "select" query debugging techniques.

Intended Audience: All SAS and SQL users
Prerequisites: SAS Essentials course or 6-months SAS software experience
Delivery Method: Instructor-led with code examples
Length: ½-Day
Course Material: Course Notes are provided

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Using ODS to Create Good Looking and Colorful Reports
Ben Cochran
Saturday, October 17, 2015, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

This course teaches students how to use several of the SAS procedures (including PROC REPORT) to generate reports. Attention is given to understanding data, as well as report requirements. Topics include: Data Preparation, Detail Reports, Summary Reports, Graphic Reports with SAS/GRAPH and the Output Delivery System (ODS).

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Leveraging The Query Builder in SAS Enterprise Guide
Jennifer First-Kluge
Saturday, October 17, 2015, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

This half day class will focus on the vast functionality available in SAS Enterprise Guide's Query Builder. It will walk students through the point and click interface, with a peak behind the scenes at the PROC SQL. Topics will include beginning to work with the query builder, filtering in the query builder, joining tables, and calculating new columns of data in the Query Builder. This class includes hands on exercises (laptops provided).

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Advanced PROC SQL Programming: Concepts and Techniques
Kirk Lafler
Saturday, October 17, 2015, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

This course teaches advanced PROC SQL concepts and techniques to exploit SQL as a programming language. Attendees learn how to construct queries to identify FIRST.row, LAST.row, and BETWEEN.rows during By-group processing; understand and explore the application of "virtual" tables known as views; explore rule-based and cost-based optimization strategies; influence the optimizer to choose from the available join algorithms; explore the details and strategies associated with index rules and the creation of simple and composite indexes; construct table validation rules using table integrity constraints; and explore "select" query performance tuning techniques.

Intended Audience: All SAS and SQL users
Prerequisites: Introductory SQL course, SAS Essentials course or 6-months SAS software experience
Delivery Method: Instructor-led with code examples
Length: ½-Day
Course Material: Course Notes are provided

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Advanced Techniques in the SAS ® Macro Language
Art Carpenter
Sunday, October 18, 2015, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

This one day course is designed for students with a good understanding of the DATA and PROC steps and who already understand the basic structure and syntax of the SAS Macro Language. The course will start with a short review of the macro basics and quickly move on topics selected to improve your macro language expertise. Several key macro functions will be introduced, explained and demonstrated. Course topics include: Macro Language Review Macro Functions, Using and Creating Writing Dynamic Code Controlling Your EnvironmentWorking With SAS Data Sets Using SAS Macro Libraries Miscellaneous Macro Topics Learn how the macro language thinks as you use it to write your programs.

Intended Audience Level: Intermediate
Delivery Method: Seminar style
Class Material: Carpenter's Complete Guide to the Macro Language, 2nd Edition (will be available to students at a 30% discount)

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Manipulating Data Using Character Functions
Ben Cochran
Sunday, October 18, 2015, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This course continues teaching students the art of manipulating SAS data with functions. Functions covered include the ANY family, the CAT family, SCAN, SUBSTR, INDEX and many others.

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Report Writing in SAS Enterprise Guide
Jennifer First-Kluge
Sunday, October 18, 2015, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This half day class will focus on how to create useful reports in SAS Enterprise Guide. Topics will include creating a basic listing, formatting data with built in formats and user created formats, creating reports with basic statistics, developing and customizing summary reports, producing a variety of graphs, and designing reports in a variety of output formats and styles. This class includes hands on exercises (laptops provided).

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Best Practice Programming Techniques Using SAS® Software
Kirk Lafler
Sunday, October 18, 2015, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This course provides SAS® users with a comprehensive overview of programming conventions, guidelines and techniques when using the Base-SAS software. Core concepts and examples are illustrated to ensure that code is readable, clearly written, understandable, structured, portable, and maintainable. Attendees learn how to apply good programming techniques including implementing naming conventions for datasets, variables, programs and libraries; code appearance and structure using modular design, logic scenarios, controlled loops, subroutines and embedded control flow; code compatibility and portability across applications and operating platforms; developing readable code and program documentation; applying statements, options and definitions to achieve the greatest advantage in the program environment; and implementing program generality into code to enable its continued operation with little or no modifications.

Intended Audience: All SAS users
Prerequisites: SAS Essentials course or 6-months SAS software experience
Delivery Method: Instructor-led with code examples
Length: ½-Day
Course Material: Course Notes are provided

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What Graphics Should I Use?
Ted Durie
Sunday, October 18, 2015, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

The presentation explores the methodology that can be used to determine easiest way available for creating graphic output. SAS code will be generated initially with Point and Click Tools like Enterprise Guide or the ODS Graphics Designers. If those facilities cant create the required results, the presenter will compare various coded methods that are available using SAS Graph Procedures or some cases with SGPLOT from ODS Graphics. Additional graphic enhancements for one-time presentations can be added manually via point-and-click graphics editors like Microsoft Paint. Finally if graphic enhancements are required in a production routine that creates multiple pieces of graphic output the programmers will have to use either SGANNOTATE or ANNOTATE to create the required results.

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