Stephen Arthur writes: ... > My background is all in SAS right now, but I am open > to learning and using SPlus. I know SAS is better in > data management, than SPlus, but that the graphics in > SPlus and programming flexibility in SPlus are > superior to SAS. > > In the long run I would like to use both SAS and SPlus > ($ is a constraint at my company at this point), but I > am not sure how sophisticated the statistical > calculations I will be performing in SAS will be and > if SAS can stand alone statistically from SPlus. > > I have some familiarity with SAS GRAPH, but don't see > much advantage in using it because it is so > complicated. Has anyone gotten away with not ordering > the whole SAS "PC-bundle", say with BASE, STAT, and > ACCESS with any success?

I've muddled through SAS/graph and been both super-pleased with it (especially for those tasks where a large number of very similar graphs is desired, and a macro or by-statement makes all the development time worthwhile) and less than enamored with it (especially when I only have one or two of any given graph types to produce; and I have yet to find a flawless combination of device drivers, fonts, etc., that allow perfect, WYSIWYG importing of SAS output into CorelDraw). But I stay with it because I know how. I'd be lost trying to do the same things in something as simple as Excel, with the control that I have in SAS.

If you can recycle code many times--either by running essentiall the same code periodically on similar input data sets, or by using a by statement (or a macro, if you want output written to files) to generate N graphs at a time on one data set--then all the development time in SAS is worth it, IMO.

We have several packages here, mainly because those who learned a product at one point in their career show "brand loyalty" mainly because of the learning curve (and time) involved in picking up a new package. When I've [briefly] looked at code for other packages (S-plus, systat), I have very quickly decided it isn't worth my time trying to pick up a new package, when I already know how to do what I need in SAS. Fortunately, because of the size of our SAS contract nationally, our site's SAS licenses don't break the bank.

-- Mark E. Brigham, Environmental Engineer U. S. Geological Survey, 2280 Woodale Drive, Mounds View, MN 55112-0049 mbrigham@usgs.gov http://wwwmn.cr.usgs.gov/