Notes on Using SAS on Computers in the ArtSci Computing Lab

As of the last week of September (2010), the Windows computers in the ArtSci computer lab do not have single-user copies of SAS. Instead, the current procedure is to log onto a ``virtual machine'' that is stored on a Windows server instead of on the local computers. The ``virtual machines'' apparently do not have direct access to the internet, and it is not immediately obvious how to access files on the local computers.

The purpose of this note is to explain how to load files into the current SAS (on a server) from the internet or from a local computer in the computer lab and similarly how to have SAS programs read data from data files stored on a local computer. A flash drive on the local computer, however, should be visible from SAS on a server.

NOTES:
            (i) Using SAS on Windows computers in the WashU ArtSci Computer lab now requires that you use your ``Wustl Key'', which is composed of a Username (which we will call ``WuName'') and a password (``WuPassword'').
            (ii) If you want to refer to or load files stored on the Desktop of a local computer, you will need to know the MACHINE NAME of the computer. This will be on a label on top of the computer and will also be on top of the window that you get by clicking on Start on the computer desktop. It should be of the form MAINLAB XX where XX varies between 01 to around 40.

Carry out the following steps:

    (1)   Find a computer that is not currently in use, and click on the SAS icon on the Desktop.

    (2)   You will now see a window that says RemoteApp with a warning that connecting to ``lab.vlab.wustl.edu'' may harm your computer. Ignore the warning and click on Connect.

    (3)   At the logon screen. Enter 

       Username:   Accounts\WuName
       Password:   WuPassword
    DON'T FORGET the initial Accounts\   !!

    SAS (Version 9.2) will now load, after a while. (It is not instantaneous since the server first creates a local home directory tree for you on the virtual machine.) However, SAS and most of its directories are now located on a different machine.

    (4)   To load a SAS program or data file from the Internet to the local computer:
        (These steps could also be done using a secure ftp program, if the internet files are accessible in that way.)
        (4a)   Click on a browser icon on the Desktop of the local computer, for example Firefox or Internet Explorer (IE). The browser will run on your local machine, not on the virtual machine that is housing SAS.
        (4b)   Load a SAS program or a data file into the browser
        (4c)   Save the program or data file into either the directory c:\temp on the local computer (which will be the easiest to find later) or else on the local Desktop.
        (4d)   Repeat (4b)-(4c) if necessary for more than one program or a program with one or more data files.

NOTES:   To save a file from Firefox or IE to the local computer,
        (i)   On Firefox, click on File then Save Page As....   On IE, click on File then Save As...
        (ii)   By default, the file extension will not appear in the Save As window. Thus `AppleExamp.sas' and `AppleExamp.dat' will both appear as `AppleExamp', but the correct file will be saved.

    (5)   To load a SAS program into SAS (which is now running the server):
        (5a)   From SAS, click on either   File | Open   or   File | Open Program  , depending on what options are available.
        (5b)   If you saved files in c:\temp, enter 

       \\tsclient\c\temp
in the program-name edit window at the bottom of the screen. You should now see a list of the files that you downloaded (as well as, perhaps, other files). Double-click on the SAS program to load it.
            If you saved your files on the Desktop of the local computer, enter instead 
      \\tsclient\c\Documents and Settings\MLXX\Desktop
where XX is the machine number mentioned above.

        NOTE: If you have previously loaded a file from your local computer, you can navigate upwards in the directory tree from the SAS default directory on the server until you see \\tsclient\c . At that point you can find the files that you saved via point and click. Alternatively, you can click on 

    C ON MAINLAB XX
at any time and navigate to where you transferred your files.

    (6)   To have SAS read a data file on the local computer into a SAS dataset, enter (for example) 


     data mydata;
        infile "\\tsclient\C\temp\MyFile.dat";
        ....
if the data file is stored in c:\temp on the local computer, or else 

     data mydata;
        infile "\\tsclient\C\Documents and Settings\MLXX\Desktop\MyFile.dat";
        ....
if it is stored on the Desktop, where `XX' in MLXX is 01,02,03,... etc, as above. The ``tsclient'' link will work even if you can't see it in ``Open File'' or ``Open Program'' Windows.

A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY:
            \\   is a standard prefix for a computer name, so that \\tsclient suggests another machine on the same intranet. The name `tsclient' stands for `Terminal Services Client', which means you at this point.
            The next notation \c or \C means that `C' is the name of a computer `share', which is Windows terminology for a resource that can be shared by others on the same net. Since SAS is not on the local computer, it must access the local computer through a `share' that it has permission to access. Here `\C' is standard Windows terminology for the share consisting on the entire drive c: of the local computer.
            The rest of the address is relative to the root of the `share' `C', which is the root of drive c: on the local computer.

  • Top of this page
  • Click here for Prof. Sawyer's home page

    Last modified October 8, 2010