find . -exec fgrep -i "passw" '{}' \; -print

Do you use SAS/Connect? I do. I think it works really well. I've used it for many years in many situations and never found it coming up short. I would even go so far as to say it's one of the few things in SAS that is straightforward, stable and a pleasure to use.

Do you hardcode usernames/passwords into your connect scripts? Sometimes circumstances dictate it. Do you use pass-through SQL? Do you use SAS/Access libname statements? Do you think it might be a bad thing to have usernames/passwords sitting around in code?

This is something I've thought about before, and it just came up at work recently so I'm thinking about it again. As far as I know there is no facility in SAS to encrypt/decrypt script files during the SAS session (in this case, I am considering a "script file" to be anything not compiled: base sas, connect script, config files, etc). Does anyone know if there is such a mechanism?

I think I could write something to accomplish this, though it would be a little kludgy since there are no api hooks into the SAS system internals. But then, what's a little kludge between SAS programmers?

Pre-Cambrian Code

How old is the SAS code you are working with? I am working with an application that was built from an application that was built from an application, etc. A lot of times you can tell the code was just taken from what was previously working and slapped into the newer version. And there are some crazy fossils to be found in that old code. Take this one for example:

proc sortt data =

This was showing up in just enough places to get me curious. It couldn't just be a common misspelling, could it? Nope.

Now the question is: Should I leave it there for someone else to find in a couple of years, or change it?