New SAS/GRAPH ® Procedures for Creating Statistical Graphics in Data Analysis

Making a plot of the data is often the first step in a data analysis or a statistical study. In SAS ® 9.2, SAS/GRAPH introduces a family of new procedures developed for this purpose. These procedures are designed to create stand-alone displays that complement the more specialized graphs produced by the statistical procedures that use the ODS Statistical Graphics infrastructure. Since these new procedures and the statistical procedures use the same infrastructure, graphs created with all of these procedures are consistent in their appearance and in the way they are produced and managed. The new “SG” family of procedures includes SGPLOT, SGPANEL, SGSCATTER, and SGRENDER. The SGPLOT procedure creates single-celled plots that can be constructed with a variety of plot types, along with data smoothers, fitted curves, and other statistical features. The SGPANEL procedure creates paneled plots and charts where the paneling is driven by classification variables. The SGSCATTER procedure creates paneled scatter plots and matrices with support for fitted lines, confidence bands, and computed ellipses. These three procedures are designed with a syntax that is powerful yet concise. The SGRENDER procedure is unique in that it creates customized plots by rendering user-defined templates written in the Graph Template Language. This presentation provides examples showing how you can use these procedures in your own work.