PROC STREAM: Extending the Macro Language to create more than just SAS code

The STREAM procedure is a new experimental procedure available in SAS 9.3. It processes a SAS generated input stream, including macro specifications and logic and directs the generated text to any fileref. It provides direct support for SAS Server Pages, as initially described in my SAS Press book, Building Web Applications with SAS/IntrNet®: A Guide to the Application Dispatcher.  PROC STREAM significantly expands those capabilities in a number of ways:

1. There is no 32K limit on the text produced by a single input line in a SAS Server Page.
2. A much broader range of SAS statements can now be used, including macro definitions and %include statements.
3. SAS code can be embedded and executed from within a SAS Server Page.
4. The %sysfunc macro can invoke the SCL functions that access data.
5. and more

PROC STREAM can be used with the macro language in order to produce virtually any data driven text file, including but not limited to:

1. HTML Reports and UIs.
2. Word documents (as RTF files).
3. XML documents
4. XAML/Silverlight documents

The bottom line is that this facility can be used for more than just creating SAS Server Pages. It will be the subject of an upcoming e-Book, SAS Server Pages and More: A Framework for Generating Dynamic Content, that will be published by SAS Press. Please use the discussion tab on sasCommunity.org to ask any questions or suggest topics/examples for the e-Book.

If you have SAS 9.3, please feel free to try out the following example that just scratches the surface of what this powerful new procedure can do.

filename sspout '\PROC_STREAM_says_hello.html';
proc stream outfile=sspout sqac dqac;
BEGIN
%macro checkTOD;
%local timeOfDay;
%let timeOfDay = %sysfunc(time());
%if &timeOfDay le 43200 %then Morning;
%else %if &timeOfDay le 64800 %then Afternoon;
%else %if &timeOfDay le 72000 %then Evening;
%else Night;
%mend checkTOD;
<h1>Good %checkTOD &sysuserid..</h1>
<h2> This welcome note generated
 at %sysfunc(time(),timeampm8.)
 on %sysfunc(date(),worddate.).</h2>
This HTML file was produced and customized
 courtesy of PROC STREAM using
 SAS Release &sysver on &sysscp..;
;;;;
dm "wbrowse '\PROC_STREAM_says_hello.html'";