Developing Web Presentations with the JAVAIMG and ACTXIMG Device Drivers

The JAVAIMG and ACTXIMG device drivers enable you to generate Web presentations that display one or more graphs in PNG format. The resulting PNG files can be viewed in any browser ” neither Java nor ActiveX is required to view them.

The PNG files are identical in appearance to the graphs created with DEVICE=JAVA or DEVICE=ACTIVEX as they are initially displayed in a browser by a SAS Java applet or SAS ActiveX Control respectively. However, unlike these latter graphs which are interactive and can be manipulated by a user viewing them in a browser, PNG files are static and their appearance can not be changed after they are created.

When you run a program that specifies the ACTXIMG device driver, the ActiveX Control runs in the background to generate the PNG image files. Your computer must therefore be running in the Windows 32-bit operating environment with the ActiveX Control installed in advance. For installation information, see Installing the ActiveX Control on page 389. SAS/GRAPH procedures that can be used with the ACTXIMG device driver are the same as those that can be used with the ActiveX Control, as listed in Table 10.1 on page 388. The procedures that can be used with the JAVAIMG device driver are listed in Graph, Map, and Contour Applets on page 372.

Use ODS to specify graph styles for charts and to format the HTML output file when you specify either DEVICE=JAVAIMG or ACTXIMG. For an example that uses the ACTXIMG device driver, see Using ODS with the ACTXIMG Device Driver on page 447.

Note that using PROC GMAP to generate a highly detailed map might create a large HTML output file, which might cause problems on certain browsers. Running PROC GREDUCE may help to remove some of the complexity and produce a more usable map.

Using JAVAIMG in z/OS

If you are running SAS in the z/OS operating environment with DEVICE=JAVAIMG, then you must specify filesystem=HFS because HFS file space is needed to write the image files. You may also need to increase the amount of memory that is allotted for your session so that SAS can run Java in the background. The suggested region size is 200 megabytes. For a batch job, add either REGION=200M or REGION=204800K to the JOB card. For a TSO session, specify SIZE (204800). For more information, refer to your JCL reference manual.

When to Use the JAVAIMG or ACTXIMG Device Driver

The PNG images that are generated by the ACTXIMG and JAVAIMG device drivers can differ in appearance from those that are generated by the GIF, JPEG, and PNG drivers. (Although it also creates a PNG file, the PNG driver does not use the ActiveX or Java routines that the ACTXIMG and JAVAIMG device drivers use.) Colors, fonts, shading, and lines are visibly different. Specifying one of the graph styles in ODS results in further differences because colors, fonts, and images have been coordinated in advance.

If you don t need interactivity such as zoom, the JAVAIMG and ACTXIMG device drivers provide several advantages over the interactive presentations that are generated with JAVA and ACTIVEX. Because PNG image files are generated, the Web clients are not required to access the Java run-time environment or install the ActiveX Control to display the graphs. Also, Web performance improves because the PNG image files are smaller in size than the HTML files that run an applet or the ActiveX Control.

Note: The ACTXIMG device cannot be used with the ODS PDF, PCL, PS, or PRINTER destinations on 64-bit machines. SAS uses the JAVAIMG device instead.

Note: When SAS is installed on a server, the ACTXIMG and JAVAIMG drivers are limited by the display capabilities of the server on which they run ”for example, the number of colors that the server is capable of. Consequently, the PNG output might not look as good as what you get from the client-side drivers (JAVA and ACTIVEX). Thus, it is better to use JAVA/ACTIVEX if the server s display settings are less than optimal.