When using SAS^® Enterprise Miner™ nodes or procedures, you might encounter messages such as these:

These errors might occur when the MEMSIZE setting is too small. But the errors might also occur when you already have a reasonably large MEMSIZE. This SAS KB article tells how to check the MEMSIZE and other settings that might be related to the cause.

 

•  Check the MEMSIZE setting.

If you are working with an Enterprise Miner diagram, then follow these steps.

1. Add a SAS Code node to your diagram, before the node that has the problem.

2. Change the Rerun property of the SAS Code node from No to Yes.

3. Select the Code Editor ... (ellipsis) property.

4. In the "Training Code - Code Node" window, enter this code:

Close the window. Run the node. View the results.  

5. In the Results window, select View ► SAS Results ► Log.

6. In the log, look for the MEMSIZE information in the PROC OPTIONS results.

Example:

MEMSIZE=8589934592
                   Specifies the limit on the amount of virtual memory that can be used during a SAS session.

Convert the number from bytes to gigabytes (GB). If the value is smaller than 8 GB, then increase the MEMSIZE setting in the configuration file to a value that is at least 8 GB. 

Example:

After increasing, run the node again to verify that the new setting is at least 8 GB.

 

If you are running Enterprise Miner procedures directly, then add the PROC OPTIONS code before your procedure code.

Optional: See the Full Code tab in this note for a DATA-step alternative to running PROC OPTIONS and performing the manual conversion to GB.

 

•   Check whether the model uses nominal inputs that have too many levels.

If you are working with an Enterprise Miner diagram, then follow these steps.

1. Go to the Input Data node(s) in your diagram.

2. Select the Variables ... property, or right-click the node and select Edit Variables.

3. Click the Level column heading so that the variables are sorted according to the level.

4. Examine each nominal variable.  Are there any Input Nominal variables that should be changed to ID Nominal? Are there any Input Nominal variables that should be changed to Input Interval? Use your knowledge about the data to make any corrections to the settings. Select OK when finished.

 

If you are running Enterprise Miner procedures directly, then examine your code regarding the questions asked in Step 4 above.

 

•  Check whether you are creating too many interactions. 

Regression models that include interaction terms that involve nominal inputs can generate a large number of parameters. If you are creating interactions, then make sure that you are not inadvertently creating more parameters than you need.  

 

•  Check whether you are trying to use a small-data-algorithm on a large data-set. 

Consult the documentation for the node or procedure that you are using, and look for any comments about what is practical.

Example from documentation for the HPSVM procedure:  

The active-set method is supported only for single-machine mode. Unlike the interior-point method, the active-set method supports only relatively small data set problems. For example, when the number of observations is greater than 20,000, the memory requirement can be dramatically increased.

 

Most customer problems that are related to memory can be resolved by addressing one or more of the concepts above.