SAS Dataset Viewer for VS Code

A powerful VS Code extension for viewing and analyzing SAS7BDAT dataset files directly in your editor. No SAS installation required!

✨ Features

📊 Dataset Viewing

• Open and view SAS7BDAT files directly in VS Code
• Professional tabular display with pagination
• Support for large datasets (tested with 12,000+ rows)
• Real-time data loading with visual feedback

🔍 Advanced Filtering

• WHERE Clause Filtering: Use SAS-style WHERE conditions
  • Case-insensitive variable names
  • Support for operators: =, >, <, >=, <=, !=
  • Logical operators: AND, OR, &, |
  • Example: AGE > 30 AND COUNTRY = 'USA'

📝 Variable Management

• KEEP/DROP Variables: Quick variable selection by typing
  • KEEP: Specify variables to include (comma-separated)
  • DROP: Specify variables to exclude (comma-separated)
• Checkbox Selection: Click to select/deselect individual variables
• Select All/Clear All: Quick selection buttons
• Display Modes: Show variable names, labels, or both

🎯 Smart Features

• Metadata View: See all variable details in a popup
• Variable Icons: Visual indicators for data types
  • 📝 Character variables
  • # Numeric variables
  • 📅 Date variables
  • 🕐 DateTime variables
  • 💰 Currency variables
  • % Percentage variables

🚀 Performance

• Optimized pagination (50, 100, 200, 500 rows per page)
• Efficient Python backend using pandas and pyreadstat
• Smart data caching for smooth navigation
• Professional logging system with debug mode

📋 Requirements

Python Requirements

• Python 3.x installed and accessible as py command

• Required Python packages:

  pip install pandas pyreadstat
  

VS Code Requirements

• VS Code version 1.74.0 or higher

🎮 Usage

Opening SAS Datasets

1. File Explorer: Simply click on any .sas7bdat file
2. Command Palette: Use SAS: Open SAS Dataset command
3. File Menu: File → Open → Select .sas7bdat file

Filtering Data

1. WHERE Clause: Enter conditions in the WHERE input box

   AGE > 30 AND GENDER = 'M'
   VISITNUM >= 5 OR COUNTRY = 'USA'
   

2. KEEP Variables: Type variable names to keep

   USUBJID, AGE, WEIGHT, HEIGHT
   

3. DROP Variables: Type variable names to exclude

   DESC_LONG, NOTE, CHAR_MIXED
   

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Enter in WHERE field: Apply filter
• Enter in KEEP/DROP fields: Apply selection
• Click variable checkboxes: Toggle selection

⚙️ Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

• sasDatasetViewer.enableDebugLogging: Enable debug logging output (default: false)

🐛 Known Issues

• Virtual scrolling mode has limitations with very large datasets (use pagination mode)
• Some complex WHERE clauses may require specific formatting

📝 Release Notes

1.0.0

• Initial release
• Full dataset viewing and filtering capabilities
• KEEP/DROP variable selection
• Professional logging system
• Comprehensive WHERE clause support

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Uses pyreadstat for reading SAS files
• Built with the VS Code Extension API

Enjoy viewing your SAS datasets in VS Code! 🎉