SAS/ACCESS Software for Relational Databases: Reference

Data Object Naming Conventions

Teradata Conventions

The data objects that you can name in Teradata include tables, views, columns, indexes and macros. When naming a Teradata object, use the following conventions:

A name must start with a letter unless you enclose it in double quotation marks.
A name must be from 1 to 30 characters long.
A name can contain the letters A through Z, the digits 0 through 9, the underscore (_), $, and #. A name in double quotation marks can contain any characters except double quotation marks.
A name, even when enclosed in double quotation marks, is not case sensitive. For example, CUSTOMER is the same as customer.
A name cannot be a Teradata reserved word.
The name must be unique between objects. That is, a view and table in the same database cannot have the identical name.

SAS Naming Conventions

When naming a SAS object use the following conventions:

A name must start with a letter or underscore.
A name cannot be enclosed in double quotation marks.
A name must be from 1 to 32 characters long.
A name can contain the letters A through Z, the digits 0 through 9, and the underscore (_).
A name is not case sensitive. For example, CUSTOMER is the same as customer.
A name need not be unique between object types.

Naming Objects to Meet Teradata and SAS Conventions

To share objects easily between the DBMS and SAS, create names that meet both SAS and Teradata naming conventions. Make the name

start with a letter
include only letters, digits, and underscores
have a length of 1 to 30 characters.

Accessing Teradata Objects That Do Not Meet SAS Naming Conventions

The following are SAS/ACCESS code examples to help you access Teradata objects (existing Teradata DBMS tables and columns) that have names that do not follow SAS naming conventions.

Example 1: Unusual Teradata Table Name

libname unusual teradata user=kamdar password=ellis;
proc sql dquote=ansi;
  create view myview as
  select * from unusual."More names";
proc print data=myview;run;

Example 2: Unusual Teradata Column Names

SAS/ACCESS automatically converts Teradata column names that are invalid for SAS, mapping any invalid characters to underscores. It also appends numeric suffixes to identical names to ensure that column names are unique.

create table unusual_names( Name$ char(20), Name# char(20),
                             "Other strange name" char(20))

In Example 2, SAS/ACCESS converts the spaces found in the Teradata column name, OTHER STRANGE NAME, to Other_strange_name. After the automatic conversion, SAS programs can then reference the table as usual, for example:

libname unusual teradata user=kamdar password=ellis;
proc print data=unusual.unusual_names; run;

PROC PRINT Display

Name_ Name_0 Other_strange_name

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