What can TPL Tables do that Proc Tabulate cannot?

In particular, what, if any, are the substantial changes or extensions in the programming language that gives it functionality beyond PROC TABULATE?

Or is it the case that the programming languages in Proc Tabulate and TPL Tables ( from QQQ Software ) are pretty close to the same?

I was really surprised to hear about TPL Tables, and it's predecessor, 开发者_如何学Cthe Table Producing Language from the US Department of Labor in the 1970s. After all these years, I had never heard of it. Turns out, two commercial descendants of the Table Producing Language are the SAS PROC and TPL Tables.

Has anyone worked with both? Why are TPL Tables so unknown?

Robert

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You are correct, both TABULATE and QQQ TPL Tables are descendants of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics TPL. According to this thread, the developers of TPL/PCL at the Bureau of Labor Statistics eventually left BLS and started QQQ.

This SAS article is a good read regarding TABULATE. According to the article, TABULATE, which was introduced in the 80s, originally borrowed much of its syntax and features from BLS TPL while addressing some of its shortcomings, though the specific shortcomings addressed are not mentioned.

What, if any, are the substantial changes or extensions in the programming language that give it functionality beyond PROC TABULATE?

The features of QQQ TPL Tables have evolved over time, as have the features of TABULATE. I've found no information to suggest that ongoing TABULATE development kept abreast of QQQ TPL features, so the two systems are now likely too different to compare effectively. As a SAS product, TABULATE is intended to integrate with other SAS technologies, such as ODS. TPL probably integrates with other QQQ technologies.

Although, just based on documentation, something that TPL (v7+) can do that TABULATE (as of v9.4) cannot is perform statistical hypothesis tests, e.g. t-tests, chi-squared tests, and ANOVA. But in SAS you have other, likely more flexible, options to get these.

If you're looking to integrate one or the other into your development cycle, I recommend choosing the one that best fits your current system. If you're already using SAS, stick with TABULATE.

Why is TPL Tables so unknown?

Who knows. It's still in use by the BLS and a few others, apparently. But SAS is such a giant in the field that it tends to overshadow its competition.