Sas Enterprise Guide is a powerful desktop application that has been a cornerstone for SAS users for many years. Understanding its release history can provide valuable insights into its evolution and compatibility with different SAS versions. This article delves into the timeline of SAS Enterprise Guide releases, offering a visual guide and exploring the key milestones in its development.
SAS expert Rick Wicklin created an insightful chart detailing the history of SAS releases. Inspired by this, we present a similar timeline specifically for SAS Enterprise Guide. This visualization, created using SAS 9.4 and SAS Enterprise Guide itself, illustrates the application’s journey since its inception.
Chart visualizing SAS Enterprise Guide releases from 1999 to 2024, highlighting major versions and associated SAS releases.
As a desktop client designed to seamlessly integrate with various SAS environments, SAS Enterprise Guide has a more frequent release cycle compared to the core SAS engine. The chart above clearly demonstrates this active development, with numerous versions launched over the years to enhance functionality and broaden compatibility.
Each data point on the timeline is labeled with the key driver behind that particular release. Sometimes, a new version of SAS Enterprise Guide was launched to coincide with a major SAS software update, such as version 1.2 which accompanied SAS 8.2. In other instances, releases were focused on expanding support, like version 4.1 in 2007 which introduced compatibility with Microsoft Vista, or version 4.3 in 2010 which was the L10N (localization) release, broadening language support. Notably, the latest versions of SAS Enterprise Guide extend connectivity to SAS Viya 4, reflecting its adaptability to modern SAS architectures.
The proximity of some releases on the timeline highlights SAS R&D’s continuous efforts to improve and maintain SAS Enterprise Guide. Development teams often work in parallel on multiple versions, addressing immediate customer needs through maintenance releases and hotfixes while simultaneously innovating and developing major new features for future versions. This dual approach ensures both stability and forward-looking enhancements for SAS Enterprise Guide users.
For those interested in recreating this visualization or exploring the data further, the SAS code used to generate the chart is provided below:
data Releases;
format Date DATE7.;
input Category $8. Release $7. Date DATE9. Details $15.;
datalines;
Ancient 1.0 01Nov1999 SAS 8.0
Ancient 1.1 01Jul2000 SAS 8.1
Ancient 1.2 01Apr2001 SAS 8.2
Ancient 1.3 01Sep2001
Ancient 2.0 01Sep2002
Ancient 2.05 01May2003 SAS 9.0
Ancient 2.1 01Apr2004 SAS 9.1
Ancient 3.0 01May2004 .NET rewrite
Ancient 3.02 01Feb2005 remaster/L10N
Ancient 4.1 01Mar2006
Ancient 4.1v 01Apr2007 Vista
Ancient 4.2 01Mar2009 SAS 9.2
Ancient 4.22 01Sep2009 SAS 9.2m2
Old 4.3 01Aug2010
Old 4.305l 01Sep2010 L10N
Old 4.305r 01Jul2011 SAS 9.3
Old 5.1 01Feb2012
Old 6.1 01Jul2013 SAS 9.4
Old 7.1 01Oct2014
Old 7.11 01May2015
Old 7.12 01Feb2016
Old 7.13 01Nov2016 SAS 9.4m4
Recent 7.15 01Sep2017 SAS 9.4m5
Recent 8.1 01Jun2019 Redesign
Recent 8.2 01Nov2019
Recent 8.3 18Aug2020 SAS 9.4m7
Recent 8.4 19Mar2024 SAS Viya
Recent 8.5 04Dec2024
;
/* running in SAS EG - modify active ODS to add title to graph */
ods html5(id=eghtml) style=htmlencore gtitle;
ods graphics / height=850 width=1300 ;
title font="Anova" height=2.2 color=cx0766D1 "SAS Enterprise Guide Releases (1999-2024)";
proc sgplot data=Releases noautolegend;
styleattrs datacolors=(cxC4DEFD cxFFCC33 cx4398F9);
block x=date block=category / transparency = 0.75 valueattrs=(weight=bold size=14pt color=navy family='Anova');
scatter x=date y=release / datalabel=Details datalabelpos=topleft dataskin=matte datalabelattrs=(size=10pt weight=bold Family="Anova") markerattrs=(symbol=CircleFilled color=cxFF66B2 size=14);
xaxis grid type=time offsetmax=0.1 offsetmin=0 valueattrs=(Family="Anova") ranges=('01Jan1997'd-'01Jan2025'd) display=(nolabel) ;
yaxis type=discrete grid offsetmax=0.1 valueattrs=(Family="Anova") label="Release/Event" labelattrs=(Family="Anova");
inset "Updated &SYSDATE9." / textattrs=(weight=bold) position=bottomright;
run;In conclusion, the SAS Enterprise Guide release timeline demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation within the SAS ecosystem. From supporting new SAS versions to enhancing usability and expanding compatibility, SAS Enterprise Guide remains a vital tool for data analysis professionals leveraging the power of SAS.
