By sending an email message 
To:  "sasnotes@sas.com"
Subject: "search"  (could be anything)

Body of Email: "HELP"


This is what you will get back to the email address that 
sent the above message:


 From:  Technical Support 
 Subject:  IW Help 
 Date:  Oct 26 2001 7:17a 
 To:   

 -------------------------------------------------------------
 ** PLEASE NOTE THE * ADDRESS * OF THIS MAIL SERVER. **
 >>>>>> SASNOTES@SAS.COM <<<<<<
 -------------------------------------------------------------

 Thank you for using the Technical Support Division's Information
 Warehouse Mail Server (IW Mail Server), also previously known as
 SAS Notes Mail Server at SAS Institute, Inc. The name has been
 changed to reflect the fact that there are many different types of
 documents that can now be searched and requested.

 This mail server permits you to search and retrieve over
 24,000 SAS documents. These SAS documents contain information
 about known problems, common user errors, undocumented features
 and circumventions and fixes for problems.

 The most up-to-date SAS documents are always available.

 The address you should use to send requests to this server is:

 sasnotes@sas.com

 The sample requests at the bottom of this document should be
 helpful.

 --------------------------------------------------------------


 Introduction to the IW Mail Server
 ----------------------------------

 A mail server is a program that allows you to retrieve data from a
 remote computer via electronic mail. You send requests to the
 server in an E-mail message and it sends you an E-mail message in
 response.

 NOTE: There is no human interaction with any mail you send to
 sasnotes@unx.sas.com. If you send mail to to sasnotes@unx.sas.com
 and it does not contain the required information as outlined
 below the mail will not be understood and you will receive back a
 mail message that states it does not understand what you are asking for.

 When sending mail to this server, please use this address:

 sasnotes@sas.com


 IW Mail Server Commands
 -----------------------

 The IW Mail Server understands the following commands, which should
 be placed in the body of the mail message. The Subject of your
 message will be ignored. In these commands, a word or expression
 enclosed in < > represents information that you need to provide.
 Do not include the < > in the actual commands that you send.

 Any command or provided keyword will ignore case.

 'DATABASE' and 'database' are the same as are the keywords
 you provide for searching.

 'search Proc PRINT ErRoR' is the same as
 'search proc print error' or
 'SEARCH PROC PRINT ERROR'


 DATABASE 

 The first command of a request should be DATABASE,
 followed by the name of the IW Database that
 you want to Search or Access for retrieving the IW document.

 If you do not specify a DATABASE command, then the
 SN IW database will be used by default.

 The IW databases that can be searched are:

 SN - Release 7 and later of the SAS System.
 V6 - Release 6.06 through 6.12 of the SAS System.
 V604 - Release 6.04 of the SAS System.
 V5 - Version 5 of the SAS System.
 CNOTES - The SAS/C compiler.
 TSNOTE - SAS Technical Support Notes that are in
 TEXT format. Does not search any
 other file type.
 ALERT - Alert Notes.
 PALERT - Problem Alert Letters, also
 known as Problem Corrections Notices.
 JMP - JMP Notes
 SYSTEM_REQ - These are the system requirements
 for the various operating systems
 such as SAS 6.12 under Windows.
 INSTALL - Installation Instructions for many Releases
 and OS's. Not all are available in text format.

 Only One DATABASE command can be specified in your mail
 message. This database will be used for all requests.

 Example Command:
 ----------------

 The following command specifies that the SN database is
 to be used.

 DATABASE SN

 SEARCH 

 The SEARCH command is used to specify the Keyword(s) that
 you want to use for the Search. One or more (up to five)
 keywords can be specified. An 'AND' is implied between
 the keywords. So, ALL keywords must be present in a
 SAS Note in order for it to be selected.

 Special characters such as ":" or "_" cannot start or
 end a keyword that will be searched for.
 Examples of illegal search keywords:
 _GET_WHERE_
 error:
 Usually the keyword you are looking for exists in a
 document without the special characters.

 Wildcard characters ( * ) are permitted on the END of the
 word you are searching ONLY.
 You cannot place the '*' at the front or inside a word.
 Legal syntax: search proc pri*
 Illegal syntax: search pr*c pri*t

 Multiple individual keywords can
 have wildcards:
 Legal syntax: search FORM* LEN*.

 If a document meets the search criteria, the document
 name and description will be provided in your return
 mail message.

 For example, consider this request:

 SEARCH FREQ MEMORY

 The keywords FREQ and MEMORY must BOTH be present in a
 IW Doc in order for it to be selected.

 Usually, only one keyword is sufficient for a search
 request (unless using the '*' wildcard).
 However, it may occasionally be helpful to
 specify more than one keyword, if you get too many hits
 with only one key.

 If more than 100 IW Docs meet your search criteria,
 only the first 100 IW Doc descriptions and IW Doc
 name will be mailed to you.

 Before specifying a SEARCH command, you should first
 specify a DATABASE command to indicate which database is
 to be searched. Otherwise, the V6 IW Doc database
 will be used by default.

 When you receive the IW Doc search hit list you will see
 a column called SCORE for score ranking. This number is generated
 with each result and is the program's "best guess" as to how
 relevant it thinks the file is to your query. This score number,
 which can range from 1 to 1000, depends on a number of factors,
 such as how many times your search word appears in the file, and
 how many words are in the file, among other factors.

 Tips for Searching
 ------------------
 1. Often, only one keyword is sufficient. Since there
 is an implied AND between keywords, if you specify
 too many keywords, you may not get any hits at all.

 2. In about 75% of all requests, specifying only one
 keyword works just fine. In the other 25%, you
 may get more than 100 hits.

 3. If you get more than 100 hits, then only the first
 100 IW Doc reference numbers and descriptions
 will be listed.

 4. Although, you can specify up to five keywords for
 the search, it is rarely practical to do so.
 You will rarely need to use more than two keywords.
 Remember, ALL keywords must be present in a SAS
 Note, in order for it to be selected.

 5. When deciding what keywords to use, consider these
 tips:
 A. If your question concerns a SAS Procedure, it
 would be useful to specify the name of the
 Procedure. The keyword PROC is usually
 not needed.

 B. If you are getting a particular ERROR message,
 it would be useful to specify one or more words
 of the message as keywords.

 C. It is better to specify too few keywords
 rather than too many. If you specify too
 many, you may not get any hits.

 D. Try a few sample requests (eg. those listed
 below). Then, retrieve some Notes and observe
 the keywords that are associated with the
 Notes for ideas concerning keywords.

 6. It is often useful to specify multiple search
 requests, since you increase the odds of getting
 hits.

 Example Commands:
 -----------------

 1. In this example, IW Docs containing the keyword
 TRANSPORT will be selected.

 SEARCH TRANSPORT

 2. In the following example, IW Docs must have
 BOTH keywords TABULATE and RTS in order to be
 selected.

 SEARCH TABULATE RTS

 3. This example use the '*' Wildcard. IW Docs
 will be selected ONLY if they contain keywords
 that contain:
 FORMAT* ( eg. FORMAT or FORMATS ),
 LEN* ( eg. LENGTH or LENGTH! ),
 CNT* ( eg. CNTLIN= or CNTLOUT= ).

 SEARCH FORMAT* LEN* CNT*

 Once you place a '*' in the search be aware that if
 you use too few keywords with this option that you may
 have many documents returned with what seem to be false hits.

 GET 

 The GET command is used to retrieve IW Docs from
 a particular database. At least one (but not more than 10)
 IW Docs document names can be specified on the GET
 command.

 Before specifying a GET command, you should specify a
 DATABASE command to indicate which database to use.
 Otherwise, the V6 IW Docs are used by default.

 When using the GET command, specify a IW Docs's
 document name to retrieve it.

 Example Request:
 ----------------

 The following GET command will cause IW Docs with
 document names 0017, 6981 and 8197 to be retrieved
 from the database that was specified on the DATABASE
 command. Note: 8197 refers to 8197.txt, etc.

 GET 0017 6981 8197

 HELP

 The HELP command retrieves information about using this
 IW Mail Server (you are reading this document).

 QUIT
 The QUIT command is not necessary unless you have a
 signature file at the end of your mail message.
 This command indicates the end of your requests.


 Some Sample Requests
 ---------------------

 1. This example searches the V6 Database (Version 6 SAS
 Notes) for Notes that contain BOTH keywords PRINT and
 FORMAT.

 TO: sasnotes@sas.com
 SUBJECT: the subject is ignored
 (body of message follows the dashed line)
 ----------------------------------------------------
 DATABASE SN
 SEARCH PRINT FORMAT

 2. This example performs two separate searches using
 the SN IW Docs database.

 DATABASE SN
 SEARCH XPORT
 SEARCH CHART VBAR

 3. This example retrieves IW Docs with reference
 numbers 1667, 2452, 0117 and 2456 from the V604
 database. Note: 1667 refers to V6-SYS.DMS-1667, etc.

 DATABASE V604
 GET 1667 2452 0117 2456

 4. The following example contains four separate requests,
 all using the V6 database.

 DATABASE V6
 GET 7744 5917 0010 9980
 GET 8562 0917
 SEARCH * MEANS MEM
 SEARCH CHART

 5. The following example contains a search of the Technical
 Support Notes.

 DATABASE TSNOTE
 SEARCH PRINT WINDOWS ERROR

 Other Notes
 -----------

 o SAS Technical Notes are also available via E-mail using the
 following approach:

 1. Send E-mail to:

 LISTSERV@VM.SAS.COM

 2. The body of the message should contain:

 INDEX TSNEWS-L

 o The address of the SAS World Wide Web site is:

 http://www.sas.com/

 o The address of the SAS FTP server is:

 ftp.sas.com