Using SAS/INSIGHT

Starting SAS/INSIGHT

1. Issue an INSIGHT command from a Display Manager command box, e.g.:

   INSIGHT TOOLS
   

2. Select Solutions:Analysis:Interactive Data Analysis from the menus. After you have opened a data set, select Edit:Windows:Tools from the menu to bring up the tools window.
3. Submit a PROC INSIGHT statement, e.g.:

   PROC INSIGHT TOOLS; RUN;
   

Selecting a dataset

When you start INSIGHT, an Open panel appears. You should first select a data library, then select a data set from the scrolling list, and click the Open button. (You can also enter a new dataset in the spreadsheet data editor by selecting the New button).

Alternatively, you can specify a dataset directly in the INSIGHT command or in the PROC INSIGHT statement, e.g.,

INSIGHT TOOLS DATA=PSY614.BASEBALL

Working with SAS/INSIGHT objects

• Most of the actions in SAS/INSIGHT use a noun-verb syntax. That is, you first select an object (noun), then choose a menu (verb). For example, to produce a scatterplot matrix, select two or more variables (nouns), then select Scatter Plot (Y X) from the Analyze menu. The scatterplot is produced automatically.
• If no variables are selected, then Scatter Plot (Y X) brings up a panel where you can choose the Y variable(s) and X variable(s) from those in the data table. This is often a more flexible way to make plots and do analyses.
• To select one object, click on the object. This selects the object, and deselects all other objects.
• To extend or toggle a selection, Ctrl-click on the object. This selects a deselected object, or deselects a selected object. to
• To select a group of objects, press the mouse button down, drag the mouse, then release the mouse button. In graphs, this creates a brush that you can size and move to highlight observations in linked plots.

The default white background with Version 6.10 often makes the plots difficult to see, especially if you are using colors. To change the background to black, choose Edit:Windows:Display Options... from the menu, click on the "Black" button under "Background", and click on "OK".

You may want to make a plot or plots bigger. To do so, you can follow these steps:

1. Drag a corner of the window outward to make the window bigger.
2. Go to the Tools window and click on the magnifying glass.
3. Go back to the window containing the plot(s) you want to make bigger and click near (but not too near) the edge of the window. The plot(s) should grow to fill most of the window.
4. Go to the Tools window and click on the arrow to restore the usual mouse cursor.

Saving your preferences

Other INSIGHTful features

Animated Graphs

Choose Windows:Animate from the Edit menu. The Animate dialog box allows you to choose one variable which controls the animation. As the values of this variable change (after you click Apply), the observations having this value are selected both in the graph and in the data window when you click Apply. A slider controls the speed of cycling through the possible values.

Showing groups by color or marker shape

Note that this is particularly effective together with the Animate window -- click on a value of the group variable, and all observations with that value are selected. Change the color or marker shape as above.

Alternatively, you can click on the 'rainbow' button or the 'all markers' button to bring up a window that will allow you to set the colors or markers according to the values of any variable.

%paint-ing observations

The %paint macro (by Warrne Kuhfeld) reads an input DATA= data set and creates an OUT= data set with a new variable _OBSTAT_ that contains observation symbols and colors interpolated from the COLORS= list based on the values VAR= variable.

The _OBSTAT_ variable is interpreted specially by INSIGHT to assign colors and shapes to individual observations. Three interpolation methods (NOMINAL, ORDINAL, INTERVAL) are available with the LEVEL= option.

For example, the statements below choose the color of observations based on the YEARS variable. Values 1 or less (rookies) are painted red, values 7 or more are painted blue, values in between map to colors between red and blue.

%paint(data=psy614.baseball, out=basenew,
	var=years,
	colors= red blue   1 7);

proc insight tools data=basenew;
run;

• As described above (Starting SAS/INSIGHT) When you start SAS/INSIGHT with a PROC INSIGHT statement, you must terminate INSIGHT before you can run additional procedures from the Program Manager.
• If you do not supply an OUT= name, the new data set is called _paint_.

BY-variables

You can assign a variable as a Group variable by default by clicking in the small box above the variable's name in the datasheet.

INSIGHTful statements

proc insight tools data=psy614.baseball;
	scatter salary years hits * salary years hits / label=name;
	fit salary = years hits;
	run;

If you start INSIGHT with the FILE= option,

insight tools file='a:\myins.sas'