A Comparison of SAS versus Microsoft Excel and Access s Inbuilt VBA Functionality

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Raymond Atkins
8 years ago
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2 Overview What is VBA? VBA Essentials: Modules and Subroutines Programming an Export from Excel to CSV Programming an Import from CSV to Access Comparison of VBA versus SAS Copyright 2011 Amadeus Software Ltd. 2

3 What is VBA? VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) is an event-driven programming language built into most Microsoft Office applications, often informally referred to as Macro. It allows us to script and automate almost any procedure that can be done manually. It lends itself to any procedure that the user finds themselves having to do repetitively. Or to any task that an administrator would prefer to be automatic and not subject to user input and associated error. Copyright 2011 Amadeus Software Ltd. 3

often informally referred to as Macro. It allows us to script and automate almost any procedure that can be done manually.

9 Defining Variables with DIM Statements Dim anyname1 as Integer Dim anyname2 as String Dim anyname3 as Worksheet Dim anyname4 as Database Dim anyname5 as TableDef Dim anyname6 as Boolean Dim anyname7 as Object Dim anyname8 as DAO.Database Dim anyname9 as DAO.Recordset Dim anyname10 as DAO.Field Dim anyname11 anyname1 anyname2 anyname3 anyname4 anyname5 anyname6 anyname7 anyname8 anyname9 anyname10 anyname11 Name Type Numeric variable Character variable or string Excel worksheet ODBC database Table view or editing interface Boolean variable Any other object DAO (Data Access Object) enabled database DAO (Data Access Object) enabled recordset DAO (Data Access Object) enabled field Call to application, no type needs to be specified Copyright 2011 Amadeus Software Ltd. 9

Field Dim anyname11 anyname1 anyname2 anyname3 anyname4 anyname5 anyname6 anyname7 anyname8 anyname9 anyname10 anyname11 Name Type Numeric variable Character variable or string Excel worksheet

21 VBA vs. SAS VBA Consolida$on through impor$ng to Excel IF statements control reading Expor$ng to Access by crea$ng temporary recordset object SAS Consolida$on through PROC IMPORT or CONNECT TO ODBC IF and WHERE statements control reading and wri$ng Write out directly to an external database Copyright 2011 Amadeus Software Ltd. 21

22 VBA vs. SAS continued Explicit loops VBA Variables have to be defined in type and number Requires interfaces with external objects to be explicitly programmed and embedded Custom func$ons Implied loops SAS Allows the user to create variables as and when needed SAS uses built- in, or some$mes addi$onally licensed, engines to interface with external objects Parameterized macros Copyright 2011 Amadeus Software Ltd. 22

23 Conclusions Both VBA and SAS are perfectly good options to consolidate data from multiple sources VBA is included as part of MS Office, although no formal support is provided SAS is much easier to use and benefits from greater discipline across all procedures and functions Copyright 2011 Amadeus Software Ltd. 23

A Comparison of SAS versus Microsoft Excel and Access s Inbuilt VBA Functionality Jozef Tarrant, Amadeus Software Ltd., Oxford, UK

A Comparison of SAS versus Microsoft Excel and Access s Inbuilt VBA Functionality Jozef Tarrant, Amadeus Software Ltd., Oxford, UK ABSTRACT There are a great variety of business situations where it is necessary to automatically export data from a large number of similar Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (perhaps reports, forms etc.) into