The DATASETS Procedure

INDEX DELETE Statement

Deletes one or more indexes associated with the data set specified in the MODIFY statement.

Restriction: Must appear in a MODIFY RUN group

INDEX DELETE index(s) | _ALL_;

Required Arguments

index(s)

names one or more indexes to delete. The indexes must be on variables in the data set that is named in the preceding MODIFY statement. You can delete simple and composite indexes.

_ALL_

deletes all indexes, except for indexes that are owned by an integrity constraint.

The SAS System uses indexes in the following situations:

when a user adds a primary key value. SAS must ensure that there are no duplicate values in the data set.
when a user adds a foreign key value. SAS must ensure that a matching primary key value exists.
when a user updates or deletes a primary key value. SAS must locate all of the matching foreign key values.
when a user specifies unique and primary key integrity constraints. SAS must ensure that duplicate values for the specified variables do not exist in the data set.

When an index is created, it is marked as "owned" by the user, by an integrity constraint, or by both. If an index is owned by both a user and an integrity constraint, the index is not deleted until both an IC DELETE statement and an INDEX DELETE statement are processed.

Note: You can use the CONTENTS statement to produce a list of all indexes for a data set. [cautionend]

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