SASEBLS Interface Engine

specifies whether or not to retrieve the aspects data that are associated with a given data point for a specified BLS series ID. For each observation, the associated aspects data consist of one or more name-value pairs of variables along with footnotes. When ASPECTS=TRUE and an aspect data file exists for the requested time series, the SASEBLS engine creates an auxiliary data set containing the aspects data. This auxiliary data set is named using the name specified in the OUTJSON= option, which is appended with "_data_aspects". For example, if OUTJSON=MYCPI, then the aspects data set is named mycpi_data_aspects.sas7bdat.

By default, ASPECTS=FALSE.

specifies whether to retrieve (TRUE) or not retrieve (FALSE) the net change and percentage change calculations available for 1, 2, 3, 6, or 12 months. Depending on the frequency of the data and the availability of the data, there might not be calculations

available for all intervals (1, 2, 3, 6, or 12 months).

By default, CALCULATIONS=FALSE. When CALCULATIONS=TRUE and a catalog is available for the requested time series, each calculation series is labeled appropriately. To see the labels, use the CONTENTS procedure with the output data set.

specifies the name of the CAS library (caslib) where the in-memory CAS table is stored when the JSON data from the BLS website are read into SAS. You can use this option to name your caslib where the in-memory CAS table is stored. The default value is the name of the active caslib. The GOCAS=ON option is required when you specify the CASLIB= option.

specifies the name of the in-memory CAS table that is created when the JSON data from BLS are read into SAS. The default value is the name that you specify in the OUT= option. The in-memory table is created only when you also specify the GOCAS=ON option. libref.data-table is a two-level name, where libref refers to the library, and data-table specifies the name of the output data table. For more information about this two-level name, see the section Using CAS Sessions and CAS Engine Librefs.

specifies whether or not to retrieve additional descriptive data about the requested time series. These catalog data include the series description (series title); the seasonality description; the survey name description; the survey abbreviation; and (where appropriate) descriptions such as measured data type, commerce industry, occupation, and regional area. When CATALOG=TRUE and a catalog is available for the requested time series, the SASEBLS engine creates an auxiliary data set that contains the catalog data. This auxiliary data set is named using the name specified in the OUTJSON= option, which is then appended with "_catalog". For example, if OUTJSON=MYCPI, then the catalog data set is named mycpi_catalog.sas7bdat.

By default, CATALOG=FALSE.

specifies whether to use (ON) or not use (OFF) the connect method along with the PROXY= option. Note: To use the connect method, you must use the PROXY= option and specify your proxy server in addition to the CONNECT=ON option. For more information about a secure connection, see the PROXY= option.

specifies whether or not to include diagnostic message logging in the SAS log window. This information can be useful for troubleshooting. Specify DEBUG=ON to see all the log messages (including debugging information) in the SAS log. By default, DEBUG=OFF.

specifies the ending year of the time series in the format YYYY.

specifies the format of the file to be retrieved from the BLS website. Although BLS can report data in many formats, the SASEBLS engine supports only the JSON format (the default).

specifies the frequency of the data that you want to retrieve. You can specify the option values shown in the Frequency Code column in Table 2. For an example that retrieves monthly data, see Example 23.1.

specifies whether to create (ON) or not create (OFF) an in-memory CAS table of the BLS data (in addition to the SAS data set that is created). When GOCAS=ON, the SASEBLS engine assumes that there is an active CAS session running when it executes the LIBNAME statement. By default, GOCAS=OFF.

specifies the name of the input SAS data set that contains a list of time series to include in the output SAS data set. The list is in the following format:

DATA \Argument{bls\_input\_SAS\_dataset\_name};
   seriesid = \Argument{\Squotes{bls\_seriesid\_name1}}; output;
   seriesid = \Argument{\Squotes{bls\_seriesid\_name2}}; output;
    .
    .
    .
   seriesid = \Argument{\Squotes{bls\_seriesid\_nameN}}; output;
run;

The BLS API enables you to retrieve up to 50 series IDs in one request. To see a list of all series IDs for a particular survey, such as CU, visit the web page at the following URL: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/cu/cu.series .

The CPI and PPI survey names are as follows: CU, CW, SU, AP, LI, MU, MW, ND, PC, PD, WP, and WD. You can replace the 'CU' with a different survey name to see a list of that survey’s series IDs. For example, for the WD survey, use the following URL

: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/wd/wd.series .

For examples that retrieve CPI and PPI data, see Example 23.1 and Example 23.2, respectively.

specifies the name of the JSON file (downloaded to the SAS Work library) and the name of the SAS data set that is created when the JSON data are read into SAS. The SAS data set is stored in the folder that is specified by physical-name.

specifies the physical path and file name of the payload.txt file. Do not specify the .txt file extension, because the SASEBLS engine automatically adds .txt to the end of the payload.txt file name. The payload.txt file is

created by the engine and contains information from the INSET= option, as well as information from the following options: STARTYR=, ENDYR=, CATALOG=, and ASPECTS=.

specifies which proxy server to use. This option is not required. The specified proxy server is used only when a connection-refused error or a connection-timed-out error occurs. For bls_proxyserver, specify the server’s HTTP address followed by a colon and the port number, and enclose that string in double quotation marks; for example, PROXY="http://inetgw.unx.sas.com:8118". See also the CONNECT= option.

specifies the name of the BLS data set to retrieve the BLS data from. Table 3 shows the list of available BLS data set names. This release of SASEBLS supports the data set names shown in Table 4. See Example 23.1 for a CPI example, Example 23.2 for a PPI example, and Example 23.3 for an IPP example.

specifies the starting year of the time series in the format YYYY.

specifies the unique user registration key, enclosed in quotation marks, that the BLS assigns to the user (subscriber) to allow access to the data provided by the BLS website. The BLS access key is a 32-character alphanumeric lowercase string that you can request from the website at the following URL: https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/ .