SAS-L

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NOTE: This article is a work in progress and the changes here may be rolled back and moved to another page. The intent of this update is to provide some insights on how to post to SAS-L and how to leverage sasCommunity.org in a way that benefits both forms of communication/collaboration.

Contents

[edit] Overview of SAS-L

As Howard Schreier (User:Howles) once put it, "SAS-L is a worldwide online community of SAS software users; see Ask This Old Newsgroup: Using SAS-L Effectively (PDF). Participants discuss various aspects of SAS and help one another solve SAS-related problems."

[edit] Posting a Question/Problem to SAS-L

Before posting a question to the SAS-L list you should first consider doing the following:

  • Search the SAS 9.1 Online Doc for an answer to your question. Many times that will be faster and less work than posting a question to the list. You might also want to search
  • Search the SAS-L archives to see if the question has already been answered. Many questions are repeats and you will typically find answers to questions that are similar to yours and are close enough that they will provide the information/insights you need.
  • Search sasCommunity.org to see if the answer to your question is already here.
  • If you can't find an answer, post your question to SAS-L (need to fill in some instructions on the options for how to do this), making sure to:
    • Use a meaningful subject line. Subjects such as Help or Question or SAS don't help other SAS-L participants understand what you are asking.
    • If you have a question about code, include a simplified version that illustrates the problem.
    • Including some sample or test data would also be useful.
    • The platform (e.g., Windows, Unix, MF, etc.) as well as the release of SAS you are using.

[edit] Answering Questions Posted on SAS-L

When answering a question there are a number of factors to consider.

  • If the question is clear and could have been answered by doing one of the searches above. instead of writing the answer in your reponse, point the user to the URL where you found the response based on the search you did on any/all of:
    • the Online Doc
    • the SAS-L Archives
    • sasCommunity.org
  • If the question is something new and is not addressed in any of the above places, create an article on sasCommunity.org with and including the link in your response to SAS-L. The benefits are multi-fold:
    • The answer to the question is now available for others to find via Search.
    • The rest of the SAS-L and sasCommunity.org communities can update and improve upon the answer.
    • Multiple threads with different responses are avoided.
  • Use the conversational mode of SAS-L to ask questions regarding the question.
  • Use sasCommunity.org as the summary/respository for the response.


[edit] Ideas from the Original Note

More info to come (proposed subtopics):

  • Subscribing to SAS-L
  • Reading SAS-L messages
  • Posting messages to SAS-L
  • Using SAS-L effectively
  • SAS-L presentations
  • SAS-L BOF (including statistics, awards, Hall of Fame, photos)
Retrieved from "http://www.sascommunity.org/wiki/SAS-L"
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