9.4 Generating CSV, PowerPoint & Other ODS Destinations

9.4 Generating CSV, PowerPoint & Other ODS Destinations

Quick Answer: The content guide's ODS objective asks for four things: identify the Output Delivery System destinations, create HTML, PDF, RTF, XLSX, and PPTX files with ODS statements, use the STYLE= option to specify a style template, and generate comma-separated value (CSV) files with ODS statements. HTML, PDF, RTF, and XLSX are covered in the preceding sections; this section closes out CSV and PPTX and the options that apply across every destination.

---

1. ODS CSV: Procedure Output as Comma-Separated Text

ods csv file="C:\reports\region_summary.csv";

proc means data=sashelp.shoes mean sum maxdec=2;
   class Region;
   var Sales;
run;

ods csv close;

ODS CSV takes the rendered report — the same table PROC MEANS would print — and writes it as comma-separated text. Because it is a reporting destination rather than a data-transfer utility, it honours everything the report honours: column labels, applied formats, computed statistic columns, and the column order the procedure chose.

ODS CSV versus ODS CSVALL

ods csvall file="C:\reports\annotated_summary.csv";

title "Regional Sales Summary";
footnote "Source: SASHELP.SHOES";

proc means data=sashelp.shoes mean sum maxdec=2;
   class Region;
   var Sales;
run;

ods csvall close;
footnote;

Use CSV when another program will parse the file, because leading title rows break most parsers. Use CSVALL when a human will open it and needs the context.

Two Ways to Get a CSV, and When Each Is Right

Exam Trap: ODS CSV writes what the procedure displayed. Point it at a PROC MEANS step and you get the summary statistics, not the underlying observations. When a question asks for a comma-delimited copy of a data set, PROC EXPORT is the answer; when it asks for a comma-delimited copy of a report, ODS CSV is.

---

2. ODS POWERPOINT: Native .pptx Decks

ods powerpoint file="C:\reports\quarterly_review.pptx"
               style=PowerPointLight;

title "Q1 Sales by Region";
proc means data=sashelp.shoes mean sum maxdec=2;
   class Region;
   var Sales;
run;

title "Q1 Product Mix";
proc freq data=sashelp.shoes;
   tables Product / nocum;
run;

ods powerpoint close;

Each procedure output becomes a slide, with the active TITLE used as the slide title. The result is a genuine OpenXML .pptx file that opens natively in PowerPoint — no image capture, no manual pasting.

Controlling Slide Layout

ods powerpoint file="C:\reports\deck.pptx"
               layout=titleandcontent
               style=PowerPointDark;

STARTPAGE= behaves on ODS POWERPOINT the way it does on ODS PDF: STARTPAGE=NO keeps consecutive procedure outputs on the same slide, and STARTPAGE=NOW forces a break immediately.

ods powerpoint file="C:\reports\compact.pptx" startpage=no;
   proc print data=sashelp.class(obs=5) noobs; run;
   proc means data=sashelp.class mean; var Height; run;   /* same slide */
ods powerpoint close;

---

3. Style Templates Apply Everywhere

STYLE= is accepted on the opening statement of essentially every destination, so one option controls fonts, colours, borders, and cell padding across the whole document.

ods pdf        file="report.pdf"    style=Pearl;
ods rtf        file="report.rtf"    style=Journal;
ods excel      file="report.xlsx"   style=Excel;
ods powerpoint file="report.pptx"   style=PowerPointDark;
ods csv        file="report.csv";   /* CSV is plain text - STYLE= has no visual effect */

ODS CSV accepts the option without complaint but produces plain text, so a style template has nothing to act on. That asymmetry is a favourite distractor.

---

4. Opening Several Destinations at Once

ODS routes each output object to every open destination simultaneously. One execution of a procedure can therefore populate four files.

ods listing close;                                   /* skip redundant text rendering */
ods pdf        file="C:\out\summary.pdf"   style=Pearl;
ods excel      file="C:\out\summary.xlsx"  style=Excel;
ods powerpoint file="C:\out\summary.pptx"  style=PowerPointLight;
ods csv        file="C:\out\summary.csv";

title "Regional Sales Summary";
proc means data=sashelp.shoes mean sum maxdec=2;
   class Region;
   var Sales;
run;

ods _all_ close;    /* closes every open destination in one statement */
ods listing;        /* restore the default for interactive work       */

ODS _ALL_ CLOSE; is the safety net at the end of a batch program: it releases every file lock without your having to remember which destinations were opened.

---

5. Destination Summary