| %pry | A DataStep Studio line in your program that freezes the run there so you can look at data and macro variables. |
| ADAE | The ADaM data set of adverse events, one record per event (an OCCDS). |
| ADaM | The CDISC standard for analysis data sets: data ready for a table with one PROC. |
| ADSL | The ADaM subject-level data set: one record per subject with treatment, populations and key dates. |
| ADTTE | The ADaM data set for time-to-event analyses, with the time in AVAL and the censor flag in CNSR. |
| Analysis visit | The visit (AVISIT, AVISITN) a record counts for in the analysis, assigned by a visit window. |
| Autocall library | A folder of macro files that SAS finds and compiles by name when a macro is first called. |
| Baseline | The value before treatment that later values are compared with; flagged by ABLFL = "Y". |
| BDS | The ADaM basic data structure: one record per subject, parameter and time point. |
| Big N | The number of subjects in each treatment column of a table, shown in the column header. |
| BY group | All records with the same values of the BY variables in a sorted data set. |
| CALL EXECUTE | A DATA step routine that sends code to run after the step ends. |
| Call pane | The small editor above a macro definition in DataStep Studio where you write the call that the macro debugger runs. |
| CALL SYMPUTX | A DATA step routine that creates a macro variable from a value in the step. |
| Change from baseline | CHG = AVAL - BASE, the difference between a value and its baseline. |
| Check program | A short read-only program that tests your assumptions about the data before you derive. |
| Compile phase | The first phase of a DATA step: SAS reads the code and builds the PDV, before any record is read. |
| Conservative | Describes a rule that, when the data are unclear, chooses the result that hides no risk, for example counting an event as treatment emergent. |
| Coverage | In DataStep Studio, marks on each macro line that show how often it ran (×2) or that it never ran. |
| DATA step debugger | A DataStep Studio tool that runs a DATA step one statement at a time and shows the PDV. |
| DataStep Studio | A VS Code extension to write, run and debug SAS on SAS OnDemand or a SAS 9.4 server. |
| Decision data | An intermediate data set that records which rule applied to each record and why. |
| define.xml | The machine-readable metadata of the submitted data sets. |
| DOSUBL | A function that runs a piece of SAS code at once, inside a running DATA step. |
| Double programming | Two programmers implement the same specification independently and compare the results. |
| Execution phase | The second phase of a DATA step: SAS runs the statements once per record. |
| FIRST. and LAST. | Temporary variables that are 1 on the first and the last record of a BY group. |
| Format | A rule that changes how a value is shown, not the value itself. |
| Function-style macro | A macro that runs no step and only returns a value, such as %m_need or %varlabel, so you can use it inside an expression. |
| Hash object | An in-memory lookup table in a DATA step; fast, and needs no sort. |
| Imputation flag | A variable (ADTF, ATMF) that records which part of a date or time was imputed. |
| Indirect reference | A macro reference that builds a name from other names, like &&trt&i.. |
| Interleave | SET a b; BY key;: reads the records of two sorted data sets in key order, one after the other, into one data set. |
| ISO 8601 | The text format for dates and times in SDTM, for example 2014-03-15T09:30. |
| Keyboard macro | In DataStep Studio, a short word that you type and complete with Tab to write a whole piece of code. |
| Log check | A review of the log for ERRORs, WARNINGs and NOTEs that point to problems. |
| Macro debugger | A DataStep Studio tool that runs a macro one statement at a time and shows its macro variables. |
| Macro quoting | Functions such as %STR, %NRSTR and %SUPERQ that make special characters (, ; & %) plain text for the macro processor. |
| Macro variable | A named piece of text that the macro processor puts into the program. |
| MedDRA | The medical dictionary that codes adverse event terms into preferred terms (AEDECOD) and system organ classes (AEBODSYS). |
| MERGE | A DATA step statement that joins data sets record by record within BY groups. |
| OCCDS | The ADaM occurrence data structure: one record per event, such as an adverse event. |
| Open code | SAS code outside any macro definition. Macro variables made in open code are global. |
| PDV | The program data vector: the memory area that holds one record while a DATA step runs. |
| Population flag | A Y/N variable in ADSL, such as SAFFL, that says whether a subject belongs to an analysis population. |
| PROC COMPARE | The procedure that compares two data sets value by value and reports every difference. |
| PROC SQL | The SQL language inside SAS, used to join, count and summarise. |
| QC programmer | The programmer who writes the independent version of a program to validate it. |
| Quoting function | A macro function such as %STR or %SUPERQ that hides special characters from the macro processor. |
| RETAIN | A statement that keeps a variable’s value from one record to the next. |
| Run in Batch | A DataStep Studio command that runs whole programs in a new SAS session, one after the other, and saves each log. |
| SAP | The statistical analysis plan: the document that says what to analyse and how. |
| SAS OnDemand for Academics | The free cloud SAS that you use with DataStep Studio for this book. |
| Scope | The symbol table a macro variable lives in: global, or local to one macro call. A macro sees its own and its callers’ variables. |
| SDTM | The CDISC standard for collected trial data, organised in domains such as DM, AE and EX. |
| Shell | A mock table from the statistician: the layout of a table, listing or figure with placeholders (xx.x) instead of numbers. |
| Specification language | A macro parameter that packs several settings into one text with separators, like age|Age (years)|0. |
| Study macro | A small macro that does one rule of one study’s SAP, written in the study, with the rule in its parameters. |
| Subquery | A SELECT inside another query, for example in WHERE usubjid NOT IN (SELECT ...). |
| Suspicious Log | The DataStep Studio tab that lists only the log lines a QC log check looks for. |
| Symbol table | The list of macro variables and their values. There is one global table and one local table for each running macro. |
| SYSINFO | An automatic macro variable that PROC COMPARE sets: 0 means equal, other values are a sum of codes for each kind of difference. |
| TEAE | A treatment-emergent adverse event: an event that starts or worsens after the first dose. |
| TLF | Tables, listings and figures: the outputs of a clinical study report. |
| Traceability | The ability to show which records and rules produced each number. |
| Transport file | A .xpt file in the SAS XPORT format, the file format the FDA asks for. LIBNAME ... XPORT reads it. |
| Variable specification | A table that lists each variable of a data set with its label, type, length and format; define.xml is made from it. Not the same as the specification language of chapter 18.5. |
| Visit window | A range of study days that maps each measurement to one analysis visit. |
| Word scanner | The part of SAS that splits a program into tokens and sends % and & tokens to the macro processor. |