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SAS Companion for the OS/390 Environment

Glossary

appropriate privilege the state whereby a given user has sufficient authorization and permissions, both withing SAS and in the operating environment, to perform a given operation.
autocall library a source partitioned data set containing SAS macros.
autoexec file a file containing SAS statements that are executed automatically when SAS is invoked. The autoexec file is usually used to specify SAS system options and to assign librefs and filerefs that are commonly used.
base SAS software software that includes a programming language that manages your data, procedures for data analysis and reporting, a macro facility, help menus, and a windowing environment for text editing and file management.
batch job a job submitted to the operating environment for batch processing. The job begins with a JCL JOB statement and ends with a JCL null (//) statement.
batch mode a method of running jobs where jobs are submitted, but not processed immediately. You can use batch mode on mainframes and minicomputers as a method of running SAS programs in which you prepare a file containing SAS statements and any necessary operating environment control statements. You then submit the file to the operating environment. Unlike interactive mode, batch mode does not require intervention by the user. Execution is completely separate from other operations at your terminal. Batch mode is sometimes referred to as running in the background.
block a unit of physical storage on DASD or tape that OS/390 and SAS transfer when reading or writing a data set. Blocks are separated from each other by spaces called interblock gaps. The format of the data stored in a block depends on the access method and on the application that created the data.
block size the number of bytes in a block. See also block.
blocking factor the number of logical records that fit in one block. See also block.
BMDP the SAS engine used for read-only access to BMDP files.
buffer a temporary storage area reserved for holding data after they are read or before they are written.
carriage-control character a specific symbol that tells the printer how many lines to advance the paper, when to begin a new page, when to skip a line, and when to hold the current line for overprint.
catalog See SAS catalog.
catalog entry See entry type.
cataloged procedure See SAS cataloged procedure.
CLIST a command list composed of a planned, executable sequence of TSO commands, subcommands, and command procedure statements that control various system and program operations.
configuration file an external file containing SAS system options. The options in the file are put into effect when SAS is invoked. There may be a user configuration file as well as a system configuration file. Either configuration file can be a sequential data set or a member of a partitioned data set.
data control block (DCB) the OS/390 control block that contains information about the physical characteristics of an physical file.
data set under OS/390, a collection of information that the operating environment can identify and manage as a unit. The term data set under OS/390 corresponds to file under other operating environments. In this book, the term physical file is used to distinguish an OS/390 data set from a SAS data set.

A SAS data library is an physical file whose internal structure has been specially formatted by SAS. See also partitioned data set (PDS), SAS data set, sequential data set, and VSAM data set.

data set label (1) in a SAS data set, a user-defined field that can consist of up to 40 characters. It can be used for purposes of documenting the SAS data set. (2) under OS/390, a format 1 data set control block (DSCB) for a disk data set or an IBM label for a tape data set.
data set option See SAS data set option.
DATA step a group of statements in a SAS program that begin with a DATA statement and end with a RUN statement, another DATA statement, a PROC statement, the end of the job, or the line after instream input data that contains one or four semicolon(s). The DATA step enables you to read raw data or other SAS data sets and use programming logic to create a SAS data set, write a report, or write to an external file.
DD statement a data definition statement that describes an physical file to the operating environment, including the resources needed for the data set. The way the program can use a data set depends on the parameters in the DD statement.
DDname a name defined by a JCL DD statement or a TSO ALLOCATE command. DDnames can contain one to eight characters; the first character must be a letter or national character. If you allocate a SAS data library externally using a DD statement, the first time you use the DDname as a libref, SAS assigns it to the library. Similarly, if you need to use an external file in a SAS program, you can allocate the file using a DD statement. In this case, the DDname corresponds to the fileref for the external file. See also libref and fileref.
dialog box a feature of the PMENU facility that appears in response to an action. The purpose of dialog boxes is to obtain information, which you supply by filling in a field or choosing a selection from a group of fields. You can execute the CANCEL command to exit the dialog box.
direct access storage device (DASD) a type of I/O device that does not require sequential access. With direct-access (or disk) storage, you can position anywhere in a file and read or write without requiring sequential I/O to locate data.
direct access bound library a random (as opposed to sequential) SAS data library stored as a regular OS/390 data set. The term "bound" emphasizes the fact that the library is physically implemented as a single physical file that contains all of the members of that library. This distinguises direct access bound libraries from HFS libraries and hiperspace libraries.
display manager See SAS Display Manager System and SAS Explorer.
EBCDIC collating sequence an ordering of characters in the Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) 8-bit character coding scheme. The following operating environments supported by SAS use the EBCDIC collating sequence: CMS, OS/390, and VSE.
engine a part of SAS that reads from or writes to a file. Each engine allows SAS to access files with a particular format.

There are several types of engines. Library engines control access at the SAS data library level and can be specified on the LIBNAME statement or LIBNAME function. Native library engines access SAS files created and maintained by SAS Institute Inc., while interface library engines support access to other vendors' files, for example, BMDP files.

View engines enable SAS to read SAS data views described by the SQL procedure (native view) or SAS/ACCESS software (interface view). You cannot specify a view engine in a LIBNAME statement or LIBNAME function. See also native engine.

engine/host option an option that is specified in a LIBNAME statement or LIBNAME function. Engine/host options specify attributes that apply to the SAS data library as a whole. See also data set option and SAS system option.
entry a unit of information stored in a SAS catalog.
entry type a part of the name for an entry in a SAS catalog that is assigned by SAS to identify what type of information is stored in the entry. For example, HELP is the entry type for an entry containing help information for applications developed with the BUILD procedure in SAS/AF software.
external file an physical file created and maintained by OS/390 from which you can read data or stored SAS programming statements or to which you can write procedure output or output created by PUT statements in a DATA step.
fileref the name used to identify an external file to SAS. You assign a fileref with a FILENAME statement, FILENAME function, or with operating environment control language. For example, under OS/390 one way to assign a fileref is through a DD statement.

Normally, a DDname and a fileref are the same. The DDname is how the operating environment references the file; the fileref is how SAS references the file. However, under some circumstances, the DDname used to assign a file is not the same as the name used within SAS.

format the instructions SAS uses to write each value of a variable. There are two types of formats: formats supplied by SAS Software and user-written formats created using the FORMAT procedure.
format library a collection of formats and informats. The format library can be either a FORMATS catalog or a load library containing SAS formats and informats in load module form. See also load library.
function key a keyboard key that can be defined to have a specific action in a specific software environment.
gigabyte 230 or 1,073,741,824 (approximately one billion) bytes. The available address space under OS/390/XA is 2 gigabytes. See also kilobyte, megabyte, and terabyte.
HFS obsolete IBM name for their heirarchical file system. The new IBM name is UNIX System Services.
HFS library A SAS HFS library is a directory in the heirarchical file system of UNIX System Services. Members of the HFS library are individual files in the HFS directory. This distinguishes the HFS library from the direct access bound library.-
hiperspace library A SAS hiperspace library is a collection of member files that are loaded into an OS/390 hiperspace, which consists of virtual storage backed by available expanded storage. The fact that a hiperspace library consists of a collection of member files distinguishes the hiperspace library from the single-file format of direct access bound libraries.
host the operating environment that provides facilities, computer services, and the environment for software applications.
index a feature of a SAS data set that enables SAS to directly and quickly access observations in the SAS data set. The purpose of SAS indexes is to optimize WHERE-clause processing and facilitate BY-group processing, without requiring that the data set first be sorted on the BY variables.
informat the instructions that specify how SAS reads raw data values to create variable values. There are two types of informats: informats supplied by SAS software and user-written informats created using the FORMAT procedure.
instream program a SAS program submitted in a job stream as part of a batch job.
interactive line mode a method of running SAS programs without using the SAS Display Manager System. You enter one line of a SAS program at a time. SAS processes each line immediately after you enter it.
interface engine See engine.
ISPF an interactive dialog that can be used to facilitate many programming tasks. The complete name is the Interactive System Productivity Facility/Program Development Facility.
job a unit of work performed by the host computer.
job control language (JCL) statements used to identify your job to the operating environment and inform the operating environment of the resources such as data sets, time, and memory that your job needs.
job stream the stream of JCL statements in a batch job. These statements identify physical files, execute programs, and provide data that are processed by the job. See also job control language (JCL).
kilobyte 210 or 1024 bytes. See also gigabyte, megabyte, and terabyte.
library engine See engine.
libref the name used to identify a SAS data library to SAS. You assign a libref with a LIBNAME statement or LIBNAME function. Also, you can use a TSO ALLOCATE statement or a JCL DD statement to allocate a data library externally. If you allocate a data library externally, when you reference the data library SAS normally assigns a libref that is the same as the DDname. The libref is the first-level name of a two-level name. For example, PERM is the libref in the two-level name PERM.CLASS. The default libref is WORK unless the USER libref is defined. See also DDname and USER library.
line mode See interactive line mode.
listing file See SAS procedure output file.
load library a partitioned data set that contains load modules. These may be modules supplied by SAS Institute or compiled and linked by other sources. See also format library.
load module a member of a partitioned data set that has been processed by the OS/390 linkage editor and is in a format that can be loaded by the system loader and then executed.
logical name a name associated with an physical file name. A logical name can be a DDname, fileref, or libref. An example is the logical name SASMSG, which is used in the SAS CLIST and cataloged procedure. See also the entries for DDname, fileref, and libref.
megabyte 220 or 1,048,576 (approximately 1 million) bytes. See also the entries for gigabyte, kilobyte, and terabyte.
member (1) a SAS file in a SAS data library. (2) a single element of a partitioned data set under the OS/390 operating environment.
member name (1) the name of a file in a SAS data library. When you reference a file with a two-level name, such as PERM.CLASS, the member name is the second part of the name (the libref is the first part). (2) the name of a single element of a partitioned data set under the OS/390 operating environment.
member type the classification of a file in a SAS data library that is assigned by SAS to identify what type of information is stored in the file. For example, CATALOG is the member type for SAS catalogs.
Multiple Engine Architecture (MEA) a feature of SAS that enables it to access a variety of file formats through sets of instructions called engines. See also engine.
multiprogramming system a system in which many programs can reside in the computer at the same time. Multiprogramming enables the operating environment to periodically interrupt an executing program in order for another program to continue.
multitasking the ability to execute more than one task running inside a single CPU.
native engine an engine that accesses forms of SAS files created and processed only by SAS. See also engine.
nibble half a byte.
noninteractive mode a method of running SAS programs in which you prepare a file of SAS statements and submit the program to the computer system. The program runs immediately and occupies your current terminal session.
observation a row in a SAS data set that contains the specific data values for an individual entity.
operating environment data set See data set.
OSIRIS engine the SAS engine used for read-only access to OSIRIS files.
page size (1) the size of the page of printed output. (2) the number of bytes of data that SAS moves between external storage and memory in one logical input/output operation.
partitioned data set (PDS) a form of data set organization. An OS/390 partitioned data set consists of one or more separate units of information called members, plus a directory. Each member has a unique name entered in the PDS directory. Partitioned data sets must reside on disk. See also the entries for data set, member, sequential data set, and VSAM data set.
PDS See partitioned data set (PDS).
permanent SAS data library a library that is not deleted when the SAS session terminates; it is available for subsequent SAS sessions. Unless the USER libref is defined, you normally use a two-level name to access a file in a permanent library. The first-level name is the libref, and the second-level name is the member name. See also USER library.
permanent SAS file a SAS file in a SAS data library that is not deleted when the SAS session or job terminates.
PF key See function key.
physical filename the name the operating environment uses to identify a file. In this book, physical filename is synonymous with physical file name.
PMENU facility a menuing system in SAS that is used instead of the command line as a way to execute commands.
portable describes a computer application that can execute on more than one operating environment.
print file an external file containing carriage-control (printer-control) information. See also carriage-control character.
PROFILE catalog a SAS catalog in a special SAS data library that contains information used by SAS to control various aspects of your SAS display manager session. See also the entry for SASUSER library.
program function key See function key.
pull-down menu the list of choices that appears when you choose an item from an action bar or from another pull-down menu in the PMENU facility. The choices in the list are called items.
random access the ability to retrieve specific records in a file without reading previous records.
raw data (1) data stored in an external file that have not been read into a SAS data set. (2) in statistical analysis, data (including SAS data sets) that have not had a particular operation, such as standardization, performed on them.
record under OS/390, a logical unit of related data that can be fixed, variable, or undefined in length.
requestor window (1) a window that SAS displays that enables you to confirm, cancel, or modify an action. (2) a window that provides information.
return code a code passed to the operating environment that indicates whether the execution of a command or job step completed successfully.
SAS catalog a SAS file that stores many different kinds of information in smaller units called entries. Some catalog entries contain system information such as key definitions. Other catalog entries contain application information such as window definitions, help windows, formats, informats, macros, or graphics output.
SAS cataloged procedure a cataloged procedure supplied with base SAS software. A cataloged procedure is a group of JCL statements used to execute a program. It is packaged so all the JCL statements can be invoked with a single EXEC statement.
SAS command a command that invokes SAS. This command may vary depending on operating environment and site.
SAS data file a SAS data set that stores descriptor information and observations in the same location.
SAS data library an physical file with an internal format defined by SAS. The internal format subdivides the DASD space allocated to the physical file into space for each SAS file stored in the library. Each file is a member of the library.
SAS data set descriptor information and its related data values organized as a table of observations and variables that can be processed by SAS. A SAS data set can be either a SAS data file or a SAS data view.
SAS data set option an option that appears in parentheses after a SAS data set name. Data set options specify actions that are applicable only to the processing of that SAS data set. See also SAS system option and engine/host option.
SAS data view a SAS data set in which the descriptor information and the observations are stored in separate locations. SAS data views store the information required to retrieve data values that are stored in other files.
SAS Display Manager System a windowing environment supported in SAS versions 5 and 6 in which actions are performed with a series of commands or function keys. It can be used to prepare and submit SAS programs, view and print the results, and debug and resubmit the programs. In SAS Version 7, the SAS Display Manager System was replaced with the windows of the SAS Explorer.
SAS Explorer a windowing environment supported initially in SAS Version 7 that can be used to prepare and submit SAS programs, view and print the results, and debug and resubmit SAS programs. The SAS Explorer replaced the SAS Display Manager System last distributed in SAS Version 6.
SAS file a specially structured file that is created, organized, and maintained by SAS. SAS files reside in SAS data libraries. Examples of SAS files include a SAS data set, a SAS catalog, a stored program, or an access descriptor.
SAS invocation the process of initializing a SAS session.
SAS log a file that contains the SAS statements you have submitted and messages about the execution of your program.
SAS procedure output file a file that contains the result of the analysis or the report produced. Most procedures write output to the procedure output file by default. DATA step reports that contain the FILE statement with the PRINT destination also go to this file.
SAS system option an option that affects the appearance of SAS output, the handling of some of the files used by SAS, the use of system variables, the processing of observations in SAS data sets, the features of SAS System initialization, SAS's interface with your computer hardware, and SAS's interface with the operating environment.
SASHELP library a SAS data library supplied by SAS software that stores the text for HELP windows, default function key and window definitions, and menus.
SASUSER library the SAS data library that contains a profile catalog that stores the tailoring features you specify for SAS.
sequential access a method of file access in which the records are read or written one after the other.
sequential data set a form of data set organization. A sequential data set consists of blocks of data only. The data set does not contain any internal information about how the operating environment is to process the data. Sequential data sets can exist on disk or tape. Under OS/390, sequential-format SAS data libraries are sequential data sets. See also data set, partitioned data set (PDS), and VSAM data set.
Session Manager an IBM product that enhances TSO on IBM 3270-series and compatible terminals. Session Manager works by dividing the communication between the terminal and the host computer into streams. All communications of a particular type belong to the same stream. For example, all TSO commands, SAS statements, and so on that you direct toward the computer by pressing ENTER form the TSOIN stream. All communications from the computer to you including TSO messages, the display of TSO commands after you enter them, and so on, form the TSOOUT stream. The division between TSOIN and TSOOUT streams affects the appearance of interactive SAS sessions under Session Manager.
site number the number used by SAS Institute to identify the site to which SAS is licensed. The site number appears near the top of the log in every SAS session.
SPSS the engine for read-only access to SPSS files.
statement option an option specified in a given SAS statement that affects only that statement.
System Management Facility (SMF) an OS/390 facility that gives information on the resources the operating environment utilizes when it runs a job.
task a logical process within SAS. A task can be a procedure or a DATA step, a window, or a supervisor process.
temporary SAS data library a library that exists only for the current SAS session or job. The most common temporary library is the WORK library. See also WORK data library.
temporary SAS file a SAS file in a SAS data library (usually the WORK data library) that is deleted at the end of the SAS session or job.
terabyte 240 or 1,099,511,627,776 (approximately 1.1 trillion) bytes. See also gigabyte, kilobyte, and megabyte.
transport file a sequential file containing a SAS data library, a SAS catalog, or a SAS data set in transport format as produced by the CPORT procedure or as written by the XPORT engine. The format of the transport file produced by the CPORT procedure is different from the format of the transport file written by the XPORT engine. You can use transport files to move SAS data libraries, SAS catalogs, and SAS data sets from one operating environment or host to another.
UNIX System Services An IBM term used to describe the directory-based hierarchical file system available under OS/390.
USER data library a SAS data library associated with the libref USER. When the libref USER is defined, SAS uses it as the default libref for one-level names.
view engine See engine.
VSAM data set a classification that indicates the way the records in a data set are organized. VSAM stands for Virtual Storage Access Method and is an IBM data access method that provides three ways to organize records in a disk file: Entry-Sequenced Data Set (ESDS), Key-Sequenced Data Set (KSDS), and Relative Record Data Set (RRDS). VSAM allows three types of access to records in VSAM files: sequential, direct, and skip sequential. See also the entries for data set, partitioned data set (PDS), and sequential data set.
VTOC the volume table of contents for a disk. The VTOC contains the name and location of physical files and, if the VTOC is not indexed, it contains unused space on the disk. The VTOC also contains other information about the data sets, such as date of creation and size.
windowing environment See SAS Explorer.
WORK data library the temporary SAS data library automatically defined by SAS at the beginning of each SAS session or job to store temporary SAS files. When the libref USER is not defined, SAS uses WORK as the default library for one-level names.


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