How to develop a third-party SAS PROC?

Question

Is it possible, as a third party, to develop a SAS PROC? I'm thinking of something like a matlab toolbox or an R package.

I've looked everywhere for info on how to do this, and the lack of discussion leads me to believe this is Not Done. Can anyone point to counterexamples, preferably with some insight into both the technical and business issues involved?

Answer 1

You can create custom PROCs using the SAS/TOOLKIT product if you have it licensed. I don't think it is widely used by SAS customers. I did a very trivial example with it many years ago just to see what was involved. I think most SAS customers stick with using SAS Macro, SAS/AF and more recently PROC FCMP for their custom code bundling requirements (there are also ways of calling Java object methods and Windows DLL routines too).

The primary document is SAS/TOOLKIT Software: Usage and Reference, Version 6, First Edition and it looks like it is only available for purchase as there is no PDF link like there is for most of the other SAS docs. SAS Usage Note 15647: Documentation for SAS/TOOLKIT® software explains that there is no single document available for SAS9 - you use the V6 document and the various changes and enhancements documents since V6 - the usage note lists them all for you.

You might also be interested in the following old SUGI23 paper for some background: Statistical Development Using SAS/TOOLKIT® Software