MacroCore Library¶

The MacroCore library provides routines and helpers for use in SAS side application logic and deployments. It is divided into 5 sections:

BASE - Macro functions (mf_*) and macro procedures (mp_*) that can be used in all flavours of SAS. No XCMD is assumed.
META - Macros (mm_*) that interface with SAS 9 metadata. No XCMD assumed.
METAX - Metadata macros that depend on XCMD, eg those interfacing with the Batch tools.
VIYA - Macros that interface with SAS Viya. No XCMD assumed.

Check out the source code and documentation.

Installation¶

The easest way to make these macros available is to just include them in your session as follows:

filename mc url "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sasjs/core/main/all.sas";
%inc mc;

If you don't have internet access from your SAS session, you can download the macros directly from here and place them in your autoexec, or initialisation file.

A further option might be to git clone the repository, and set up sasautos, eg:

options insert=(sasautos="/your/path/macrocore/base"));
options insert=(sasautos="/your/path/macrocore/meta"));

The final deployment option, if you are building web apps, is Node Package Manager - simply run npm install @sasjs/core in your project repository. Using sasjs-cli you can compile these macros into your web services at build time, and lock them to a particular release.

Useful Features¶

Generating Viya Client & Secret in SAS Studio¶

The CORE library can be used by an administrator to register a Viya Client & Secret. Execute the following:

filename mc url "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sasjs/core/main/all.sas";
%inc mc;

/* create random client and secret */
%mv_registerclient(outds=clientinfo)

This will generate a URL in the log, which must be followed to generate a refresh code (one time step). Paste that code into the macro below:

/* paste the code below */
%mv_tokenauth(inds=clientinfo,code=xET8ETs74z)

There is now a table in the WORK library containing the access token. The clientinfo table contains the client & secret.

A convenient (but insecure) way to extract these details to the log:

/* extract client, secret & token to the log */
data _null_;
  merge mv_tokenauth clientinfo(drop=error);
  put access_token=;
  put refresh_token=;
  put client_id=;
  put client_secret=;
run;

Warning

Security tokens are like passwords. The above is provided for convenience, but you should avoid writing tokens to log files unless you are very sure of your environment.

Calling SAS Viya from SAS 9¶

When calling SAS Viya from SAS 9, the oauth_bearer=sas_services option is not available. However it is still possible to call the APIs in SAS 9 with proc http in the core library by putting the ACCESS_TOKEN in a macro variable and referring to that variable in the access_token_var= keyword parameter of each viya macro (starting mv_).

Warning

Saving security tokens in project repositories, especially if they are committed to source control, is a security risk - as anyone with access can use them to make modifications on the Viya platform. Be sure to use a secure mechanism such as the %inc from a secure directory, or another approved mechanism for securing these kinds of variables. Avoid writing Access Tokens to log files.