The LIFETEST Procedure

specifies an input data set that contains appropriate variables for annotation of the traditional graphics. The ANNOTATE= option enables you to add features (for example, labels that explain extreme observations) to plots produced on graphics devices. The ANNOTATE= option cannot be used if the LINEPRINTER option is specified or if ODS Graphics is enabled. The data set specified must be an ANNOTATE= type data set, as described in SAS/GRAPH: Reference.

The data set specified with the ANNOTATE= option in the PROC LIFETEST statement is “global” in the sense that the information in this data set is displayed in every plot produced by a single invocation of PROC LIFETEST.

specifies the symbol value for the censored observations in traditional graphics. The value, name or ’string’, is the symbol value specification allowed in SAS/GRAPH software. The default is CS=CIRCLE. If you want to omit plotting the censored observations, specify CS=NONE. The CENSOREDSYMBOL= option cannot be used if the LINEPRINTER option is specified or if ODS Graphics is enabled.

specifies a descriptive string of up to 256 characters that appears in the “Description” field of the traditional graphics catalog. The description does not appear in the plots. By default, PROC LIFETEST assigns a description of the form PLOT OF vname versus hname, where vname and hname are the names of the y variable and the x variable, respectively. The DESCRIPTION= option cannot be used if the LINEPRINTER option is specified or if ODS Graphics is enabled.

specifies the symbol value for the event observations in traditional graphics. The value, name or ’string’, is the symbol value specification allowed in SAS/GRAPH software. The default is ES=NONE. The EVENTSYMBOL= option cannot be used if the LINEPRINTER option is specified or if ODS Graphics is enabled.

defines the characters to be used for constructing the vertical and horizontal axes of the line printer plots. The string should be four characters. The first and second characters define the vertical and horizontal bars, respectively, which are also used in drawing the steps of the Kaplan-Meier, Breslow, or Fleming-Harrington survival curve. The third character defines the tick mark for the axes, and the fourth character defines the lower left corner of the plot. The default is FORMCHAR(1,2,7,9)='|-+-'. Any character or hexadecimal string can be used to customize the plot appearance. If you use hexadecimals, you must put an x after the closing quote. For example, to send the plot output to a printer with the IBM graphics character set (1 or 2), specify the following:

formchar(1,2,7,9)='B3C4C5C0'x

See the chapter titled “The PLOT Procedure” in the Base SAS Procedures Guide for further information.

specifies the graphics catalog for saving traditional graphics output from PROC LIFETEST. The default is Work.Gseg. The GOUT= option cannot be used if the LINEPRINTER option is specified or if ODS Graphics is enabled. For more information, see the chapter titled “The GREPLAY Procedure” in SAS/GRAPH: Reference.

specifies an input data set that contains variables for local annotation of traditional graphics. You can use the LANNOTATE= option to specify a different annotation for each BY group, in which case the BY variables must be included in the LANNOTATE= data set. The LANNOTATE= option cannot be used if the LINEPRINTER option is specified or if ODS Graphics is enabled. The data set specified must be an ANNOTATE= type data set, as described in SAS/GRAPH: Reference.

If there is no BY-group processing, the ANNOTATE= and LANNOTATE= options have the same effects.

specifies that plots are produced by a line printer instead of by a graphical device.

specifies the maximum value of the time variable allowed on the plots so that outlying points do not determine the scale of the time axis of the plots. This option affects only the displayed plots and has no effect on any calculations.

requests that the plot of censored observations be suppressed when the LINEPRINTER and PLOTS= options are specified. This option is not needed when the life-table method is used to compute the survival estimates, because the plot of censored observations is not produced.

controls the line printer plots produced. You must also specify the LINEPRINTER option to obtain line printer plots. When you specify only one plot-request, you can omit the parentheses around the plot-request. Here are some examples:

 plots=s
 plots=(s ls lls)

The plot-requests include the following:

controls plots produced in traditional graphics. To obtain traditional graphics, you must neither enable ODS Graphics nor specify the LINEPRINTER option. For each plot-request, you can use the NAME= option to specify a name to identify the plot. The name can be specified as a SAS name or as a quoted string of up to 256 characters. Only the first eight characters are used as the entry name in the GOUT= catalog. The plot-requests include the following:

When you specify only one plot-request, you can omit the parentheses around the plot-request. Here are some examples:

 plots=s
 plots=(s(name=Surv2), h(name=Haz2))

The latter requests a plot of the estimated survivor function versus time and a plot of the estimated hazard function versus time, with Surv2 and Haz2 as their names in the GOUT= catalog, respectively.