PROC SQL Tutorial for Beginners (20 Examples)

This tutorial is designed for beginners who want to get started with PROC SQL. Also, it will attempt to compare the techniques of SAS DATA step and PROC SQL.

TERMINOLOGY
The difference between SAS and SQL terminology is shown in the table below.
SAS vs. SQL
SAS vs. SQL

Syntax: PROC SQL

The syntax of PROC SQL is as follows:

PROC SQL;
  SELECT column(s)
  FROM table(s) | view(s)
  WHERE expression
  GROUP BY column(s)
  HAVING expression
  ORDER BY column(s);
QUIT;
The SELECT statement must be specified in the following order:
  1. SELECT
  2. FROM
  3. WHERE
  4. GROUP BY
  5. HAVING
  6. ORDER BY

Note: SELECT FROM clauses are required. All the other clauses are optional.

To memorize the order of SQL queries, you can use the mnemonic "SFWGHO".

Tip to Memorize SQL Query Order
Tip to Memorize SQL Query Order

EXPLANATION
PROC SQL: calls the SQL procedure
SELECT: specifies the column(s) (variables) to be selected
FROM: specifies the table(s) (data sets) to be queried
WHERE: subsets the data based on a condition
GROUP BY: classifies the data into groups based on the specified column(s)
ORDER BY: sorts the resulting rows (observations) by the specified column(s)
QUIT: ends the PROC SQL procedure

We are going to look at the difference between Non-SQL Base SAS and PROC SQL.
SAS Functions, Procedures vs SQL Statements & Clauses
SAS Functions & Procedures vs SQL Statements & Clauses

Important Terminology
You would hear the word 'schema' from SQL programmers. It refers todesign of database. In other words, it is the framework of database.

Prepare Dummy Data for Illustration
In the SAS program below, mylib is a name of permanent library which we are creating. Make sure you change the directory location of libname. We are using a sample of dataset which is stored in SASHELP library. This data set contains birth weight data.
libname mylib '/home/deepanshu/';
data mylib.outdata ;
 set SASHELP.BWEIGHT (obs=1000);
run;

PROC SQL STATEMENTS

1. How to select all variables from the data set
proc sql; 
 select * 
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 
Asterisk (*) is used to select all columns (variables) in the order in which they are stored in the table.
Outdata is the table (data set) from which we need to select the columns (variables). It is stored in MYLIB library.
To display the list of columns to the SAS log, use FEEDBACK option in the PROC SQL statement
proc sql feedback; 
 select * 
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 

The SAS log is shown below:
 71         proc sql feedback;
 72          select *
 73          from mylib.outdata;
 NOTE: Statement transforms to:
         select OUTDATA.Weight, OUTDATA.Black, OUTDATA.Married, OUTDATA.Boy, OUTDATA.MomAge, OUTDATA.MomSmoke, OUTDATA.CigsPerDay, 
 OUTDATA.MomWtGain, OUTDATA.Visit, OUTDATA.MomEdLevel
           from MYLIB.OUTDATA;
 74         Quit;
2. How to select specific variables from the data set
In the SELECT clause, multiple columns are separated by commas.
proc sql; 
 select weight,married 
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 
In the SELECT clause, Weight and Married columns (variables) are specified so that we can select them from OUTDATA table (data set).
3. How to limit the number of rows
Suppose you want to limit the number of rows (observations) that PROC SQL displays, use the OUTOBS= option in the PROC SQL statement.
proc sql outobs=50; 
 select weight,married 
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 
4. How to rename a variable in output
Suppose you want to rename a variable, use the column alias AS option in the PROC SQL statement.
options nolabel;
proc sql; 
 select weight,married as marriage
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 
The variable name has been renamed from married to marriage. options nolabel tells SAS not to use variable labels in SAS procedures. I used it so that you can see variable name has been changed to marriagae
5. How to create a new variable
Suppose you want to create a new variable that contains calculation.
proc sql; 
 select weight, (weight*0.5) as newweight
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 

A new variable has been created and named newweight which is calculated on the basis of the existing variable weight.
6. How to refer to a previously calculated variable
The keyword CALCULATED is used to refer a previously calculated variable.
proc sql; 
 select weight, (weight*0.5) as newweight, 
CALCULATED newweight*0.25 as revweight
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 
7. How to remove duplicate rows
The keyword DISTINCT is used to eliminate duplicate rows (observations) from your query results.

In the following program, we are asking SAS to remove all those cases where in duplicates exist on combination of both the variables - weight and married.
proc sql;
select DISTINCT weight, married
from mylib.outdata;
quit;
The DISTINCT * implies cases having same values in all the variables as a whole would be removed.
proc sql;
select DISTINCT *
from mylib.outdata;
quit;
8. How to label and format variables
SAS-defined formats can be used to improve the appearance of the body of a report. You can also label the variables using LABEL keyword.
options label;
proc sql; 
 select weight FORMAT= 8.2
, married Label =" Married People"
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 
9. How to sort data
The ORDER BY clause returns the data in sorted order.

ASC option is used to sort the data in ascending order. It is the default option.
DESC option is used to sort the data in descending order.
proc sql; 
 select MoMAge, eight, married
 from mylib.outdata
ORDER BY weight ASC, married DESC;
Quit;
10. How to filter data with the WHERE clause
Use the WHERE clause with any valid SAS expression to subset data.
List of conditional operators :
1. BETWEEN-AND
The BETWEEN-AND operator selects within an inclusive range of values.
Example : where salary between 4500 and 6000;
2. CONTAINS or ?
The CONTAINS or ? operator selects observations by searching for a specified set of characters within the values of a character variable
Example : where firstname contains 'DE';
OR where firstname ? 'DE';
3. IN
The IN operator selects from a list of fixed values.
Example : where state = 'NC' or state = 'TX';
The easier way to write the above statement would be to use the IN operator
where state IN ('NC','TX');
4. IS MISSING or IS NULL
The IS MISSING or IS NULL operator selects missing values.
Example : where dateofbirth is missing
OR where dateofbirth is null
5. LIKE
The LIKE Operator is used to select a pattern.

LIKE Operator

LIKE Operator Examples

Important Point :

The WHERE clause can reference a previously calculated variable in two ways-

1. Use CALCULATED keyword.
2. Repeat the calculation in the WHERE clause.

Method I :
PROC SQL;
 SELECT momage,
 (WEIGHT * .01) AS NEWWEIGHT
 FROM mylib.outdata
 WHERE CALCULATED NEWWEIGHT > 5;
QUIT;
Method II :
PROC SQL;
 SELECT momage, (WEIGHT * .01) AS NEWWEIGHT
 FROM mylib.outdata
 WHERE (WEIGHT * .01) > 5;
QUIT;
11. How to write multiple conditions/criteria in PROC SQL?

The CASE WHEN statement is used in SQL to perform conditional logic and return different values based on specified conditions. The END statement is required when using the CASE WHEN statement.

PROC SQL;
 SELECT WEIGHT,
 CASE
 WHEN WEIGHT BETWEEN 0 AND 2000 THEN 'LOW'
 WHEN WEIGHT BETWEEN 2001 AND 3000 THEN 'MEDIUM'
 WHEN WEIGHT BETWEEN 3001 AND 4000 THEN 'HIGH'
 ELSE 'VERY HIGH'
 END AS NEWWEIGHT
 FROM mylib.outdata;
QUIT;

The conditions within the CASE statement are as follows:

  1. If the weight is between 0 and 2000 (inclusive), it is categorized as 'LOW'.
  2. If the weight is between 2001 and 3000 (inclusive), it is categorized as 'MEDIUM'.
  3. If the weight is between 3001 and 4000 (inclusive), it is categorized as 'HIGH'.
  4. If the weight does not fall into any of the above ranges, it is categorized as 'VERY HIGH'.

The following operators can be used in CASE expression:
  • All operators that IF uses (=, <, >, NOT, NE, AND, OR, IN, etc)
  • BETWEEN AND
  • CONTAINS or '?' (wildcard operator)
  • IS NULL or IS MISSING
  • = *
  • LIKE
12. How to summarize data
Use GROUP BY clause to summarize or aggregate data. Summary functions are used on the SELECT statement to produce summary for each of the analysis variables.
proc sql; 
 select momage, COUNT(married) AS marriage 
 from mylib.outdata
GROUP BY momage;
Quit;
SQL functions
The summary functions available are listed below:
  1. AVG/MEAN
  2. COUNT/FREQ/N
  3. SUM
  4. MAX
  5. MIN
  6. NMISS
  7. STD
  8. VAR
  9. T (t value)
  10. USS (Uncorrelated Sum of Square)
  11. CSS (Correlated Sum of Square)
  12. RANGE
13. How to filter data in the groups?
In order to subset data when grouping is in effect, the HAVING clause must be used.The variable specified in having clause must contain summary statistics.
proc sql; 
 select momage, weight, COUNT(married) AS marriage 
 from mylib.outdata
GROUP BY momage, weight
HAVING marriage > 2;
Quit;

Important Point -
The WHERE clause cannot be used to subset aggregated data. To subset data with the GROUP BY clause you must use HAVING clause.
14. How to create a new table
The CREATE TABLE statement can be used to create a new data set as output instead of a report produced in output window.

SYNTAX
PROC SQL;
CREATE TABLE table-name AS
SELECT column(s)
FROM table(s) | view(s)
WHERE expression
GROUP BY column(s)
ORDER BY column(s);
QUIT;
proc sql; 
create table health AS 
 select weight, married 
 from mylib.outdata
ORDER BY weight ASC, married DESC;
Quit; 
15. How to limit the number of rows in the newly created dataset?
Suppose you want to limit the number of rows (observations) that PROC SQL produces in the data set, use the INOBS= option in the PROC SQL statement.
proc sql INOBS=50; 
create table health AS 
select weight,married 
 from mylib.outdata;
Quit; 

Difference between INOBS= and OUTOBS=

INOBS controls how many records are read from the dataset and OUTOBS controls how many records are written. Run the following program and see the difference. Both returns different results.

/* OUTOBS=Example*/
proc sql outobs=2;
select age, count(*) as tot
from sashelp.class
group by age;
quit;
/* INOBS= Example */
proc sql inobs=4;
select age, count(*) as tot
from sashelp.class
group by age;
quit;
16. How to count unique values by a grouping variable
Suppose you are asked to calculate the unique number of age values by Sex columns using SASHELP.CLASS dataset

You can use PROC SQL with COUNT(DISTINCT variable_name) to determine the number of unique values for a column.
PROC SQL;
CREATE TABLE TEST1 as
SELECT Sex,
Count(distinct Age) AS Unique_count
FROM sashelp.class
GROUP BY Sex;
QUIT;

17. How to count the number of missing values

You can use NMISS() function to compute the number of missing values in a variable. The COUNT() function returns the number of non-missing values in a variable.

data temp;
input id;
cards;
1
2
.
4
5
.
;
run;
proc sql;
select nmiss(id) as N_missings,
count(id) as N,
calculated N_missings + calculated N as total
from temp;
quit;
Proc SQL : Number of Missing Values
Proc SQL : Number of Missing Values

How to refer to a calculated variable
The keyword CALCULATED is used to refer to a newly created variable for further calculation. In this case, we have used CALCULATED to sum 'N_MISSINGS' and 'N' variables.
18. KEEP and DROP some variables
Suppose you need to keep all the variables from SASHELP.CARS except variables 'MODEL' and 'MAKE'. The DROP= option is used to drop these two variables. Similarly, we can use KEEP= option to keep specific variables. These DROP= and KEEP= Options are not native SQL language. It only works in SAS.
proc sql;
create table saslearning (drop= make model) as
select * from sashelp.cars;
quit;
19. How to delete rows from a table
You can use DELETE FROM statement to remove records (rows) from a dataset.
proc sql;
delete from mylib.outdata
where momage > 0;
quit;
In this case, we are deleting all records having momage greater than 0 from outdata dataset. Log shows '478 rows were deleted from MYLIB.OUTDATA'.

20. How to use sub query in PROC SQL?

Suppose you need to find out employee IDs having records in the table named 'file1' but not in table 'file2'.

data file1;
input ID age;
cards;
1 24
2 34
3 45
4 67
;
run;
data file2;
input ID age;
cards;
1 25
3 46
4 62
;
run;
Proc SQL;
Select ID from file1
Where ID not in (select ID from file2);
Quit;
21. Sub Query - Example II
Find employee IDs whose age is in the average age +/- 10 years.
Proc SQL;
Select id from file1
where age between (select Avg(age) from file1) - 10 and
(select avg(age) from file1)+10;
Quit;
22. Sub Query - Example III

The CASE statement is used to evaluate a condition: whether a student has a score below 70 in any test. To achieve this, we have written a subquery that selects "Student_ID" from the "Tests" table where the "Score" is less than 70.

If the condition is true, the new column "Test_Results" is assigned the value 'Failed one or more tests.' If the condition is false, the value 'Passed all tests' is assigned to the "Test_Results" column. The result of the query will display the student's name, grade, teacher, and their test results.

proc sql;
select Name,Grade,Teacher,
Case
When Student_ID in
(select Student_ID from Tests where Score lt 70) then 'Failed one or more tests'
else 'Passed all tests'
end as Test_Results
from Students;
quit;
Next Lesson : PROC SQL Joins
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About Author:
Deepanshu Bhalla

Deepanshu founded ListenData with a simple objective - Make analytics easy to understand and follow. He has over 10 years of experience in data science. During his tenure, he worked with global clients in various domains like Banking, Insurance, Private Equity, Telecom and HR.

56 Responses to "PROC SQL Tutorial for Beginners (20 Examples)"
  1. Well Done Deepanshu, I was almost new to SQL.
    But Now I can say that atleast I have learnt basic steps and statements for PROC SQL.
    Could you be so kind to share codes for joints as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Check out this article : http://www.listendata.com/2014/06/proc-sql-merging.html

      Delete
  2. Excellent information! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is really wonderful.
    It is better, let the students try then provide the answers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. VERY NICE AND HELPFUL MATERIAL, HOWEVER I SEE ONE CORRECTION, WHERE CLUASE CAN REFER A COMPUTED VARIABLE USING THE CALCULATED KEYWORD.

    PLEASE CORRECT ME IF MY UNDERSTANDING IS WRONG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, your understanding is correct. We can use CALCULATED keyword in WHERE clause. Please make a note that the CALCULATED keyword in WHERE clause is not a standard SQL. It’s SAS SQL, which is unique to SAS. Hence i don't recommend to people who are novice to SQL programming.

      Delete
  5. nice to understand...its very use full for freshers...

    ReplyDelete
  6. very informative post.Easy to understand for learning SQL.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Replies
    1. Check out this article - http://www.listendata.com/2014/08/download-and-install-free-version-sas.html

      Delete
  8. Sincerely admiring ur effort to share knowledge to us. Keep it up sir ji...

    ReplyDelete
  9. so useful information to have an idea about sql. it also helpful for quick reference toooo.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am learning SAS through this. Excellent info for beginners

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you so much for this exposition and explanation. Well done!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Deepanshu could u tell me from where I can get sasuser.outdata dataset
    outdata (dataset I mean)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think you should add screenshots of program and their output

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think you should add screenshots of program and their output

    ReplyDelete
  15. Screenshot would have been further ease the understanding

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great lesson! Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  17. proc sql;
    select distinct*
    from sashelp.class;
    quit;

    in this code it is not removing duplicate values in the whole dataset.why?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is because no duplicate record is found in this dataset. If you intend to remove duplicates based on a variable, you can use the code below -
      proc sql;
      select distinct age
      from sashelp.class;
      quit;

      Delete
  18. Thank you for your post! Very useful and helpful information for a beginner like me.

    ReplyDelete
  19. hi... i am not getting difference between inobs and outobs even when i am trying both the output is same...plz help...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. inobs is for no. of obs to fetch from a table while outobs is no. of obs to insert in a table.

      Delete
    2. I added explanation with example in the article. Cheers!

      Delete
  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you for this great tutorial. Can I practice these Proc SQL statements/code with a regular SAS dataset or do I need to use something else? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  22. How i am unable to get SAS data set used in this exercise.. Could you please help me..?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Difference between inobs and outobs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. example:
      inobs=2; means it will read only two observations from source.
      outobs=5; means it will print only 5 observations in output.
      while using these two functions we will get a warning alert in log as we are not reading or writing all data to sas.

      Delete
  24. Can anyone tell..what is more efficient order by or proc sort?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Can anyone tell..what is more efficient order by or proc sort?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For a small dataset, there isn’t a big difference in performance between PROC SORT and PROC SQL. However, for larger datasets, PROC SQL is faster than PROC SORT. Also, it seems that sorting character data is easier (read: faster), than numeric data.

      Delete
  26. Thank you. Great information about SQL. It helps me a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  27. SUPER AND VERY VERY GOOD WITH NEAT EXPLANATIONS THANK YOU

    ReplyDelete
  28. Very good work and thanks for sharing! However I think there might be one mistake in the article. In point 16, counting unique vallues by a grouping variable, assume we have the following table:

    College_names student_ID score
    A 1001 88
    A 1002 88
    A 1003 88
    A 1004 92
    B 1005 90

    your output would be:

    College_names unique_count
    A 2 * since there are only 2 distinct scores for A
    B 1

    But the desired output should be:

    College_names score unique_count
    A 88 3
    A 92 1
    B 90 1

    Correction:
    select college_names, count(student_ID) AS unique_count
    from test
    group by college_names, score

    Correct me if I am wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  29. In 16)Counting unique values by a grouping variable example, how can count(distinct score) give number of students who got same scores?

    ReplyDelete
  30. great job sir.........

    ReplyDelete
  31. Can you please share blogs for SAS VA(Visual Analytics) and SAS PM(Predictive Modeling)

    ReplyDelete
  32. where is outdata. articles are very useful but could not get a chance to hands on

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hi Deepanshu, Can you please provide the outdata, It would be a great help for learning

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I added outdata dataset in the article. Thanks!

      Delete
  34. This site is really very helpful. A big 👍

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hi i love this site and article its very helpful.
    I do have one question How do i solve the problem select the 2nd most highest salary in the dataset for all the customers .is there a way to rank the data.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We can use the rank procedure based on that we can retrieve nth highest salary data.

      Delete
  36. can some one help me..

    data a;
    input party account$ balance;
    datalines;
    1 A1 50
    1 A2 60
    1 A3 30
    2 A4 40
    2 A5 50
    3 A6 30
    3 A7 90
    run;

    write a query to fetch all accounts listed to the party who has at least one account having balnce greater than 50?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, The below code will give the result account having balance greater than 50.

      proc sql;

      select * from work.a
      where balance gt 50;
      quit;

      Delete
  37. Thank you! All I needed was the first image - SFWGHO.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thank you so much for sharing information! You are so wonderful!

    ReplyDelete

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