SAS/ACCESS Interface to ADABAS Software

Reviewing Variables

If you want to use ADABAS 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.

The following examples use the DATASETS procedure to give you information on the view descriptor VLIB.CUSPHON, which references the NATURAL DDM named CUSTOMERS.

proc datasets library=vlib memtype=view;
   contents data=cusphon;
quit;

Using the DATASETS Procedure with a View Descriptor shows the information for this example. The data described by VLIB.CUSPHON are shown in Data Described by the View Descriptor VLIB.CUSPHON.

Using the DATASETS Procedure with a View Descriptor

The SAS System DATASETS PROCEDURE Data Set Name: VLIB.CUSPHON Observations: . Member Type: VIEW Variables: 3 Engine: SASIOADB Indexes: 0 Created: 14:09 Friday, October 5, 1990 Observation Length: 80 Last Modified: 14:33 Friday, October 5, 1990 Deleted Observations: 0 Data Set Type: Compressed: NO Label: -----Engine/Host Dependent Information----- -----Alphabetic List of Variables and Attributes----- # Variable Type Len Pos Format Informat Label ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 CUSTNUM Char 8 0 $8. $8. CUSTOMER 3 NAME Char 60 20 $60. $60. NAME 2 PHONE Char 12 8 $12. $12. TELEPHONE

Note the following points about this output:

You cannot change a view descriptor's variable labels using the DATASETS procedure. The labels are generated to be the complete ADABAS data field name when the view descriptor is created and therefore cannot be overwritten.
The Created date is the date the access descriptor for this view descriptor was created.
The Last Modified date is the last time the view descriptor was updated.
The Observations number field contains a null value.

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

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