SAS makes extensive use of the Function keys (F1, F2, and so forth) on most terminals. The actual operation of each key depends on several variable factors associated with the user's environment, so each user will have to find out how the keys work in her or his environment. This is done by typing the word "keys" at the command line of any window. A temporary "keys" window will appear, and will contain a listing of the settings for the major Function keys, and some other keys as well.

You can change these settings easily, by moving to the key you wish to "program" and typing in the function you wish the key to have. When you leave the keys window (by typing "end" on the command line or using the Function key associated with "end"), the key settings you have changed will replace the old ones in your profile, which is stored in a subdirectory called "sasuser". (You should not molest the sasuser subdirectory, as information is saved there from session to session.) Note that whenever the profile is changed this, or any other way, it is a good idea to make a backup copy of the profile.sct01 file in case it might get corrupted at some future point. This is discussed below, with suggestions for avoiding such problems, in the section titled "Problems with SAS processes under UNIX".

Typical functions assigned to Function (or other special) keys are: Help, Keys, Log (move to the Log Window), Output (move to the Output Window), Next (move to the next window down), Program (move to the Program Editor), Zoom (and hitting it again is Zoom Off), Recall, and SUBmit. (Note: SUBmit is often enhanced by being programmed as "Zoom Off; SUBmit". It can also be programmed as "Zoom Off; End", which has the same effect, as "End" is a synonym for SUBmit in the Program Editor.)

At ITS, the key settings for SAS on the RCF and SCF have been standardized as much as possible so that users switching between different terminal types will encounter minimal differences. Standard key settings are:

F keys          SAS Function
(VT100)   
--------------------------------------------------------------
F1                  help
F2                  keys
F3                  end
F4                  recall
F5                  pgm (i.e., move to Prog Editor)
F6                  log
F7                  output
F8                  zoom off;submit
F9                  zoom
F10                 rfind
F11                 forward     (not all emulations have
F12                 backward    (the F11 and F12 keys

To see what key settings are in effect, type keys at a command line, or click Help>Keys.

Other Keys and Functions

SAS under UNIX provides a number of easy key sequences that are not available in the Keys window, yet can make your session much easier. Most of these are combinations of the CTRL (control) key (designated by the symbol ^) and keyboard letter keys. As much as possible, the UCS installation of SAS has standardized these keys across terminal types, and they have been configured intentionally to resemble emacs. Following is a relatively complete list for VT100, VT220, VT320, xterm, dtterm, sun and sun-cmd terminal types:

Key Sequence      Function
--------------------------------------------------
^U                Home
^E                Erase EOL
^X                Insert
^D                Delete
TAB key           Tab
Backspace key     backspace
Keypad-"."        backspace
^H                backspace
^I                Tab
ENTER key         linefeed
^J                linefeed
Carriage Return   linefeed
^C                break
^T                move to previous word
^K                move to start of line
^L                move to end of line
^W                delete word
--------------------------------------------------
Up Arrow          cursor up
^P                Previous (cursor up)
Down Arrow        cursor down
^N                Next (cursor down)
Right Arrow       cursor right
^F                Forward (cursor right)
Left Arrow        cursor left
^B                Backward (cursor left)