DsView

Version 0.6, 2020-11-05

DsView: a Windows viewer for SAS data sets, as produced by the SAS System®, the World Programming System, StatTransfer and others.

DsView 0.6 beta is a fully functional SAS data set viewer and we encourage you to install it, give it a try, and become part of the process of improving it by sending us bug reports, feature requests, and any other comments that you may have.

Version 0.6 is a minor bug fix release over 0.5, but also includes a change to the way data sets are identified within DsView: you will now see data sets identified by their filename instead of by the internal data set name stored within the data set itself. This is easier to understand in cases where a data set file has been renamed, and avoids the problem that some data sets don't have the internal name at all.

Version 0.5 added a couple of important new features. First, this version will correctly read and display data sets encoded in Unicode, Greek and a number of other encodings, allowing you to work seamlessly with data from partners around the world.

And secondly, version 0.5 introduced basic sorting functionality. While viewing a data set, just click on the 'sort' button in any column header to sort the data set by that column (only the view is sorted, DsView never alters the data set itself). We'll be adding more sophisticated sorting functions in later versions - keep those feature requests coming in!

DsView is a lightweight application consisting of a single executable file around one megabyte in size. As such it loads and displays your data set within a fraction of a second of double-clicking it - substantially faster than any other SAS data set viewer available, at any price.

This release is totally free and unrestricted - you can install and use it for as long as you like. In return, you contribute to the beta testing phase by allowing DsView to collect and upload usage information - please see below for details.

Watch the video intro

Download

If you have any difficulty with the full installer (perhaps due to permissions restrictions), you can download the DsView executable by clicking here (470 Kb, zip file). Extract the dsview.exe file to any convenient location and double-click to run it.

During installation of DsView, you will be required to read and accept the End User License Agreement (EULA). The EULA for DsView is also available here, if you'd like to read it before downloading, and it's also included in the zip file.

Uninstallation Instructions

If you choose to uninstall DsView, follow these instructions:

From the Start menu (or Start screen, on Windows 8/8.1), select the Control Panel (or Settings), then select 'Uninstall a program'. Select DsView in the list of installed programs, then click 'Uninstall'.

Features

DsView offers all the features you would expect from a data set viewer and more:

• Instantly view your data in an easy-to-read display
• Filter and sort data using intuitive Excel-style drop down menus
• Resize and move columns
• Use Grouping to see records sharing a common key value, such as USUBJID
• Instant access to basic statistics for each column
• Pan/drag your view using the middle mouse button (or use the scroll bars)

Many more features will be added in later versions - sign up to the forums to share your ideas.

Telemetry

This beta version of DsView includes telemetry that records certain details of how you use it and uploads this information to our servers on a roughly weekly basis. This is an important part of the beta testing phase as it helps us to understand how DsView is used, the types of computer that it's used on, the typical size of the data sets it's used with, etc. We guarantee that:

• no personal data is collected;
• no data from your data sets is collected other than some basic metadata such as the name, number of columns, number of records, etc;
• all collected data will be kept strictly confidential within Oceanview Consultancy and will not be shared with any third party.

The usage log file is stored in <user folder>\AppData\Local\Oceanview Consultancy\DsView and you can view this at any time if you'd like to see what data is being collected.

Acceptance of this telemetry is essential to the success of the beta test phase. If you would prefer not to contribute to the beta testing in this way, please wait for the commercial release of DsView before installing it.

Change History

Version 0.6:

• Data sets are now identified by their filename, instead of by the internal name stored in the data set itself.
• Fixed the crash when a data set is deleted from disk while open in DsView.

Version 0.5:

• Support for data sets encoded with UTF-8, Greek, Latin1, Latin9, Wlatin1 and Wlatin9 character sets.
• The data can now be sorted by any column with a single click.
• Further improvements to performance, stability and telemetry.

Version 0.4:

• No longer locks files during viewing.
• Bug fixes and performance improvements.

Version 0.3:

• Added Recent Files menu option.
• Bug fixes and performance improvements.

Version 0.1:

• Initial release.