%STPBEGIN: How Enterprise Guide Almost Removed the L-word from My Relationship With SAS

Somewhere in the SAS Enterprise Guide documentation we read how easy it was to create a SAS stored process write and test your code, add a simple %stpbegin and %stpend and let SAS Enterprise Guide take care of the rest. Presto, a new stored process ready to conquer the enterprise. Although that might work in the Hello World example, our first stored process project proved that applying the same guidelines to a more complex SAS program was much more challenging. In reality, creating stored processes is more involved than adding the basic syntax, input parameters and macro variables. You must also be aware of the differences that exist between SAS Enterprise Guide and PC SAS sessions, the importance of efficient coding, and the distinctions between the Workspace and Stored Process servers. This paper will step through some “gotcha’s” that may stump you when converting existing code or creating new stored processes from scratch.