The UNIVARIATE Procedure

Dictionary of Common Options

The following entries provide detailed descriptions of options that are common to all the plot statements: CDFPLOT, HISTOGRAM, PPPLOT, PROBPLOT, and QQPLOT. Options marked with † apply only when traditional graphics are produced.

ALPHADELTA=value

specifies the change in successive estimates of at which iteration terminates in the Newton-Raphson approximation of the maximum likelihood estimate of for gamma distributions that are requested by the GAMMA option. Enclose the ALPHADELTA= option in parentheses after the GAMMA keyword. Iteration continues until the change in is less than value or the number of iterations exceeds the value of the MAXITER= option. By default, ALPHADELTA=0.00001.

ALPHAINITIAL=value

specifies the initial value for in the Newton-Raphson approximation of the maximum likelihood estimate of for gamma distributions that are requested by the GAMMA option. Enclose the ALPHAINITIAL= option in parentheses after the GAMMA keyword. The default value is Thom’s approximation of the estimate of (Johnson, Kotz, and Balakrishnan 1995).

† ANNOKEY

applies the annotation that is requested by the ANNOTATE= option only to the key cell of a comparative plot. (By default, the procedure applies annotation to all of the cells.) This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement. You can use the KEYLEVEL= option in the CLASS statement to specify the key cell.

† ANNOTATE=SAS-data-set † ANNO=SAS-data-set

specifies an input data set that contains annotate variables as described in SAS/GRAPH: Reference. This data set is used for all plots that are created by plot statement in which you specify this option. You can also specify this option in the PROC UNIVARIATE statement to enhance all plots that are created by the procedure (see the section ANNOTATE= Data Sets).

† CAXIS=color † CAXES=color † CA=color

specifies the color for the axes and tick marks. This option overrides any COLOR= specifications in an AXIS statement.

† CFRAME=color

specifies the color for the area that is enclosed by the axes and frame. The area is not filled by default.

† CFRAMESIDE=color

specifies the color to fill the frame area for the row labels that are displayed along the left side of a comparative plot. This color also fills the frame area for the label of the corresponding CLASS variable (if you associate a label with the variable). By default, these areas are not filled. This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement.

† CFRAMETOP=color

specifies the color to fill the frame area for the column labels that are displayed across the top of a comparative plot. This color also fills the frame area for the label of the corresponding CLASS variable (if you associate a label with the variable). By default, these areas are not filled. This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement.

† CHREF=color |(color-list) † CH=color |(color-list)

specifies the colors for horizontal axis reference lines that are requested by the HREF= option. If you specify a single color, it is used for all HREF= lines. Otherwise, if fewer colors are specified than reference lines are requested, the remaining lines are displayed with the default reference line color. You can also specify the value _default in the color list to request the default color.

† COLOR=color † COLOR=color-list

specifies the color of the curve or reference line that is associated with a distribution or kernel density estimate. Enclose the COLOR= option in parentheses after a distribution option or the KERNEL option. In a HISTOGRAM statement, you can specify a list of colors in parentheses for multiple density curves.

CONTENTS='string'

specifies the table of contents grouping entry for output that is produced by the plot statement. You can specify CONTENTS='' to suppress the grouping entry.

† CPROP=color |EMPTY CPROP

specifies the color for a horizontal bar whose length (relative to the width of the tile) indicates the proportion of the total frequency that is represented by the corresponding cell in a comparative plot. By default, no proportion bars are displayed. This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement. You can specify the keyword EMPTY to display empty bars. See Example 3.20.

You can specify CPROP with no argument to produce proportion bars that use an appropriate color from the ODS style.

† CSTATREF=color |(color-list)

specifies the colors for reference lines that you request in the STATREF= option. If you specify a single color, it is used for all STATREF= lines. Otherwise, if fewer colors are specified than reference lines are requested, the remaining lines are displayed with the default reference line color. You can also specify the value _default in the color list to request the default color.

† CTEXT=color † CT=color

specifies the color for tick mark values and axis labels. The default is the color specified for the CTEXT= option in the GOPTIONS statement.

† CTEXTSIDE=color

specifies the color for the row labels that are displayed along the left side of a comparative plot. By default, the color specified in the CTEXT= option is used. If you omit the CTEXT= option, the color specified in the GOPTIONS statement is used. This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement. You can specify the CFRAMESIDE= option to change the background color for the row labels.

† CTEXTTOP=color

specifies the color for the column labels that are displayed along the left side of a comparative plot. By default, the color specified in the CTEXT= option is used. If you omit the CTEXT= option, the color specified in the GOPTIONS statement is used. This option is not available unless you specify the CLASS statement. You can use the CFRAMETOP= option to change the background color for the column labels.

† CVREF=color |(color-list) † CV=color |(color-list)

specifies the colors for lines that are requested by the VREF= option. If you specify a single color, it is used for all VREF= lines. Otherwise, if fewer colors are specified than reference lines are requested, the remaining lines are displayed with the default reference line color. You can also specify the value _default in the color list to request the default color.

† DESCRIPTION='string' † DES='string'

specifies a description, up to 256 characters long, that appears in the PROC GREPLAY master menu for a traditional graphics chart. The default value is the analysis variable name.

FITINTERVAL=value

specifies the value of z for the method of percentiles when this method is used to fit a Johnson or Johnson distribution. Enclose the FITINTERVAL= option in parentheses after the SB or SU option. By default, FITINTERVAL=0.524.

FITMETHOD=MLE |MOMENTS |PERCENTILE

specifies the method to use to estimate the parameters of a Johnson or Johnson distribution. Enclose the FITMETHOD= option in parentheses after the SB or SU option. You can specify the following values:

MLE: uses maximum likelihood estimation. The OPTBOUNDRANGE=, OPTMAXITER=, OPTMAXSTARTS=, OPTPRINT, OPTSEED=, and OPTTOLERANCE= options control the optimizer that performs the maximum likelihood calculation.
MOMENTS: uses the method of moments.
PERCENTILE: uses the method of percentiles from Slifker and Shapiro (1980).

By default, FITMETHOD=PERCENTILE.

FITTOLERANCE=value

specifies the tolerance value for the ratio criterion when the method of percentiles is used to fit a Johnson or Johnson distribution. Enclose the FITTOLERANCE= option in parentheses after the SB or SU option. By default, FITTOLERANCE=0.01.

† FONT=font

specifies a software font for reference line and axis labels. You can also specify fonts for axis labels in an AXIS statement. The FONT= font takes precedence over the FTEXT= font specified in the GOPTIONS statement.

HAXIS=value

specifies the name of an AXIS statement that describes the horizontal axis.

† HEIGHT=value

specifies the height, in percentage screen units, of text for axis labels, tick mark labels, and legends. This option takes precedence over the HTEXT= option in the GOPTIONS statement.

† HMINOR=n † HM=n

specifies the number of minor tick marks between each major tick mark on the horizontal axis. Minor tick marks are not labeled. By default, HMINOR=0.

HREF=values

draws reference lines that are perpendicular to the horizontal axis at the values that you specify. Also see the CHREF=, LHREF=, and WHREF= options.

HREFLABELS='label1' …'labeln' HREFLABEL='label1' …'labeln' HREFLAB='label1' …'labeln'

specifies labels for the lines that are requested by the HREF= option. The number of labels must equal the number of lines. Enclose each label in quotes. Labels can have up to 16 characters.

HREFLABPOS=1 |2 |3 |4

specifies the vertical position of labels that are specified in the HREFLABELS= option. You can specify the following values:

1: places the labels along the top of the plot.
2: staggers the labels from the top to the bottom of the plot.
3: places the labels along the bottom of the plot.
4: staggers the labels from the bottom to the top of the plot.

By default, HREFLABPOS=1. Note: HREFLABPOS=2 and HREFLABPOS=4 are not supported for ODS Graphics output.

† INFONT=font

specifies a software font to use for text inside the framed areas of the plot. The INFONT= option takes precedence over the FTEXT= option in the GOPTIONS statement. For a list of fonts, see SAS/GRAPH: Reference.

† INHEIGHT=value

specifies the height, in percentage screen units, of text inside the framed areas of the plot. By default, the height specified in the HEIGHT= option is used, or if the HEIGHT= option is not specified, the height specified in the HTEXT= option in the GOPTIONS statement is used.

† INTERTILE=value

specifies the distance in horizontal percentage screen units between the framed areas, called tiles, of a comparative plot. By default, INTERTILE=0.75 percentage screen units. This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement. You can specify INTERTILE=0 to create contiguous tiles.

ITPRINT

requests a table that shows the iteration history and optimizer details of the maximum likelihood parameter estimation of a Weibull distribution that is requested by the WEIBULL or WEIBULL2 option.

† L=linetype † L=linetype-list

specifies the line type of the curve or reference line that is associated with a distribution or kernel density estimate. Enclose the L= option in parentheses after the distribution option or the KERNEL option. In a HISTOGRAM statement, you can specify a list of line types in parentheses for multiple density curves.

† LHREF=linetype |linetype-list † LH=linetype |linetype-list

specifies the line types for the reference lines that you request in the HREF= option. If you specify a single line type, it is used for all HREF= lines. Otherwise, if fewer line types are specified than reference lines are requested, the remaining lines are displayed with the default reference line type.

† LSTATREF=linetype |linetype-list

specifies the line types for the reference lines that you request in the STATREF= option. If you specify a single line type, it is used for all STATREF= lines. Otherwise, if fewer line types are specified than reference lines are requested, the remaining lines are displayed with the default reference line type.

† LVREF=linetype |linetype-list † LV=linetype |linetype-list

specifies the line types for lines that are requested by the VREF= option. If you specify a single line type, it is used for all VREF= lines. Otherwise, if fewer line types are specified than reference lines are requested, the remaining lines are displayed with the default reference line type.

MAXITER=n

specifies the maximum number of iterations in the Newton-Raphson approximation of the maximum likelihood estimate of for gamma distributions that are requested by the GAMMA option and c for Weibull distributions that are requested by the WEIBULL and WEIBULL2 options. Enclose the MAXITER= option in parentheses after the GAMMA, WEIBULL, or WEIBULL2 keywords. By default, MAXITER=20.

† NAME='string'

specifies a name for the plot, up to eight characters long, that appears in the PROC GREPLAY master menu for a traditional graphics chart. The default value is 'UNIVAR'.

NCOLS=n NCOL=n

specifies the number of columns per panel in a comparative plot. This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement. By default, NCOLS=1 if you specify only one CLASS variable, and NCOLS=2 if you specify two CLASS variables. If you specify two CLASS variables, you can use the NCOLS= option with the NROWS= option.

NOFRAME

suppresses the frame around the subplot area.

NOHLABEL

suppresses the label for the horizontal axis. You can use this option to reduce clutter.

NOVLABEL

suppresses the label for the vertical axis. You can use this option to reduce clutter.

NOVTICK

suppresses the tick marks and tick mark labels for the vertical axis. This option also suppresses the label for the vertical axis.

NROWS=n NROW=n

specifies the number of rows per panel in a comparative plot. This option is not available unless you use the CLASS statement. By default, NROWS=2. If you specify two CLASS variables, you can use the NCOLS= option with the NROWS= option.

ODSFOOTNOTE=FOOTNOTE |FOOTNOTE1 |'string'

adds a footnote to ODS Graphics output. You can specify the following values:

FOOTNOTE: uses the value of the SAS FOOTNOTE statement as the graph footnote.
FOOTNOTE1: uses the value of the SAS FOOTNOTE statement as the graph footnote.
'string': uses the specified string as the graph footnote. The string can contain either of the following escaped characters, which are replaced with the appropriate values from the analysis: n is replaced by the analysis variable name, or l is replaced by the analysis variable label (or name if the analysis variable has no label).

ODSFOOTNOTE2=FOOTNOTE2 |'string'

adds a secondary footnote to ODS Graphics output. You can specify the following values:

FOOTNOTE2: uses the value of the SAS FOOTNOTE2 statement as the secondary graph footnote.
'string': uses the specified string as the secondary graph footnote. The string can contain either of the following escaped characters, which are replaced with the appropriate values from the analysis: n is replaced by the analysis variable name, or l is replaced by the analysis variable label (or name if the analysis variable has no label).

specifies a title for ODS Graphics output. You can specify the following values:

TITLE: uses the value of the SAS TITLE statement as the graph title.
TITLE1: uses the value of the SAS TITLE statement as the graph title.
NONE: suppresses all titles from the graph.
DEFAULT: uses the default ODS Graphics title (a descriptive title that consists of the plot type and the analysis variable name).
LABELFMT: uses the default ODS Graphics title with the variable label instead of the variable name.
'string': uses the specified string as the graph title. The string can contain the following escaped characters, which are replaced with the appropriate values from the analysis: n is replaced by the analysis variable name, or l is replaced by the analysis variable label (or name if the analysis variable has no label).

ODSTITLE2=TITLE2 |'string'

specifies a secondary title for ODS Graphics output. You can specify the following values:

TITLE2: uses the value of the SAS TITLE2 statement as the secondary graph title.
'string': uses the specified string as the secondary graph title. The string can contain the following escaped characters, which are replaced with the appropriate values from the analysis: n is replaced by the analysis variable name, or l is replaced by the analysis variable label (or name if the analysis variable has no label).

OVERLAY

requests that plots associated with different levels of a CLASS variable be overlaid onto a single plot, rather than displayed as separate cells in a comparative plot. If you specify the OVERLAY option with one CLASS variable, the output associated with each level of the CLASS variable is overlaid on a single plot. If you specify the OVERLAY option with two CLASS variables, a comparative plot based on the first CLASS variable’s levels is produced. Each cell in this comparative plot contains overlaid output that is associated with the levels of the second CLASS variable.

The OVERLAY option applies only to ODS Graphics output.

SCALE=value

is an alias for the SIGMA= option for distributions that are requested by the BETA, EXPONENTIAL, GAMMA, SB, SU, WEIBULL, and WEIBULL2 options and for the ZETA= option for distributions that are requested by the LOGNORMAL option.

SHAPE=value

is an alias for the ALPHA= option for distributions that are requested by the GAMMA option, for the SIGMA= option for distributions that are requested by the LOGNORMAL option, and for the C= option for distributions that are requested by the WEIBULL and WEIBULL2 options.

STATREF=keyword-list

draws reference lines at the values of the statistics that are requested in the space-delimited keyword-list. These reference lines are perpendicular to the horizontal axis in a histogram or CDF plot, and perpendicular to the vertical axis in a probability or Q-Q plot (unless the ROTATE option is specified). The STATREF= option does not apply to the PPPLOT statement.

You can specify the following keywords:

MAX: specifies the maximum value.
MEAN: specifies the sample mean.
MEDIAN | Q2: specifies the sample median (50th percentile).
MIN: specifies the minimum value.
MODE: specifies the most frequently occurring value.
P p: specifies the pth percentile.
Q1: specifies the lower quartile (25th percentile).
Q3: specifies the upper quartile (75th percentile).
factor STD: specifies factor standard deviations from the sample mean. The factor can be positive (which puts a reference line above the mean) or negative (which puts a reference line below the mean).

Also see the CSTATREF=, LSTATREF=, STATREFLABELS=, STATREFSUBCHAR=, and WSTATREF= options.

STATREFLABELS='label1' …'labeln' STATREFLABEL='label1' …'labeln' STATREFLAB='label1' …'labeln'

specifies labels for the lines that you request in the STATREF= option. The number of labels must equal the number of lines. Enclose each label in quotes. Labels can be up to 16 characters long.

STATREFSUBCHAR='character'

specifies a substitution character (such as #) for labels that you specify in the STATREFLABELS= option. When the labels are displayed in a graph, the first occurrence of the specified character in each label is replaced with the value of the corresponding STATREF= statistic.

For example, suppose the mean of variable Weight is 155. The following statement creates a histogram with a vertical reference line at 155 with the label "Average=155":

histogram Weight / statref=mean statreflabel='Average=#' statrefsubchar='#';

† TURNVLABELS † TURNVLABEL

turns the characters in the vertical axis labels so that they display vertically. This happens by default when you use a hardware font.

VAXIS=name VAXIS=value-list

specifies the name of an AXIS statement that describes the vertical axis. In a HISTOGRAM statement, you can alternatively specify a value-list for the vertical axis.

VAXISLABEL='label'

specifies a label for the vertical axis. Labels can have up to 40 characters.

† VMINOR=n † VM=n

specifies the number of minor tick marks between each major tick mark on the vertical axis. Minor tick marks are not labeled. By default, VMINOR=0.

VREF=value-list

draws reference lines perpendicular to the vertical axis at the specified values. Also see the CVREF=, LVREF=, and WVREF= options.

VREFLABELS='label1'…'labeln' VREFLABEL='label1'…'labeln' VREFLAB='label1'…'labeln'

specifies labels for the lines that are requested by the VREF= option. The number of labels must equal the number of lines. Enclose each label in quotes. Labels can have up to 16 characters.

VREFLABPOS=1 |2

specifies the horizontal position of VREFLABELS= labels. You can specify the following values:

1: positions the labels at the left of the plot.
2: positions the labels at the right of the plot.

By default, VREFLABPOS=1.

† W=value † W=value-list

specifies the width in pixels of the curve or reference line that is associated with a distribution or kernel density estimate. Enclose the W= option in parentheses after the distribution option or the KERNEL option. In a HISTOGRAM statement, you can specify a list of widths in parentheses for multiple density curves.

† WAXIS=n

specifies the line thickness, in pixels, for the axes and frame.

WHREF=value-list

specifies the line thickness, in pixels, of the reference lines that you request using the HREF= option. If you specify a single thickness, it is used for all HREF= lines. Otherwise, if you specify fewer thicknesses than reference lines, the remaining lines are displayed using the default thickness.

WSTATREF=value-list

specifies the line thickness, in pixels, of the reference lines that you request using the STATREF= option. If you specify a single thickness, it is used for all STATREF= lines. Otherwise, if you specify fewer thicknesses than reference lines, the remaining lines are displayed using the default thickness.

WVREF=value-list

specifies the line thickness, in pixels, of the reference lines that you request using the VREF= option. If you specify a single thickness, it is used for all VREF= lines. Otherwise, if you specify fewer thicknesses than reference lines, the remaining lines are displayed using the default thickness.

Last updated: April 10, 2023