SAS/ACCESS Interface to SYSTEM 2000 Data Management Software: Reference

Reviewing Variables

If you want to use SYSTEM 2000 data described by a view descriptor in your SAS program but cannot remember the variable names or formats and informats, you can use the CONTENTS or DATASETS procedures to display this information.

This example uses the DATASETS procedure to give you information on the view descriptor VLIB.EMPPOS, which you created in Defining SAS/ACCESS Descriptor Files.

    proc datasets library=vlib memtype=view;
       contents data=emppos(s2kpw=demo);
    run;

Using the DATASETS Procedure with a View Descriptor shows the information for this example.

Using the DATASETS Procedure with a View Descriptor

The SAS System 1 DATASETS PROCEDURE Data Set Name: VLIB.EMPPOS Observations: 887 Member Type: VIEW Variables: 5 Engine: SASIOS2K Indexes: 0 Created: 03NOV89:16:17:59 Observation Length: 53 Last Modified: 07SEP89:14:15:58 Deleted Observations: 0 Data Set Type: Compressed: NO Label: -----Alphabetic List of Variables and Attributes----- # Variable Type Len Pos Format Informat Label --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 DEPARTME Char 14 36 $14. $14. DEPARTMENT 2 FIRSTNME Char 10 10 $10. $10. FORENAME 1 LASTNAME Char 10 0 $10. $10. LAST NAME 5 MANAGER Char 3 50 $3. $3. MANAGER 3 POSITION Char 16 20 $16. $16. POSITION TITLE

Note the following points about Using the DATASETS Procedure with a View Descriptor:

You cannot change a view descriptor's variable labels using the DATASETS procedure. The labels are generated to be the complete SYSTEM 2000 item name when the view descriptor is created, and they cannot be overridden.
The Created date is when the access descriptor for this view descriptor was created.
The Last Modified date is the last time the SYSTEM 2000 database was updated.
The Observations number shown is the highest number of schema records that has ever occurred in the database. This number of observations does not correspond to the number of observations that the view descriptor accesses.

For more information on the DATASETS procedure, see the SAS Procedures Guide.

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