The DATASETS Procedure

PROC DATASETS Statement

PROC DATASETS <option(s)>;

To do this Use this option

Specify the procedure input library LIBRARY=

Provide alter access to any alter-protected SAS file in the SAS data library ALTER=

Include information in the output about the number of observations, number of variables, and data set labels DETAILS|NODETAILS

Force a RUN group to execute even when there are errors FORCE

Force an append operation FORCE

Delete SAS files KILL

Restrict processing to a certain type of SAS file MEMTYPE=

Suppress the printing of the directory NOLIST

Suppress error processing NOWARN

Provide read, write, or alter access PW=

Provide read access READ=

To do this	Use this option
Specify the procedure input library	LIBRARY=
Provide alter access to any alter-protected SAS file in the SAS data library	ALTER=
Include information in the output about the number of observations, number of variables, and data set labels	DETAILS\|NODETAILS
Force a RUN group to execute even when there are errors	FORCE
Force an append operation	FORCE
Delete SAS files	KILL
Restrict processing to a certain type of SAS file	MEMTYPE=
Suppress the printing of the directory	NOLIST
Suppress error processing	NOWARN
Provide read, write, or alter access	PW=
Provide read access	READ=

Options

ALTER=alter-password

provides the alter password for any alter-protected SAS files in the SAS data library.

DETAILS|NODETAILS

determines whether the output includes the following columns:

Obs or Entries: gives the number of observations for SAS files of type DATA and VIEW and the number of entries for type CATALOG. If the SAS System cannot determine the number of observations in a SAS data set, the value in this column is a period (.). The value for type CATALOG is the total number of entries. For other types, this column is blank.
Vars: gives the number of variables for types DATA and VIEW. If the SAS System cannot determine the number of variables in the SAS data set, the value in this column is a period (.). For other types, this column is blank.
Label: contains the label associated with the SAS data set. This column prints a label only for the type DATA.

The DETAILS option requires read access to all read-protected SAS files in the SAS data library. If you do not supply the read password, the directory listing contains missing values for the columns produced by the DETAILS option.

Default: DETAILS system option setting
Tip: If you are using the SAS windowing environment and specify the DETAILS option for a library that contains read-protected SAS files, a requestor window prompts you for each read password that you do not specify in the PROC DATASETS statement. Therefore, you may want to assign the same read password to all SAS files in the same SAS data library.
Featured in: Manipulating SAS Files

FORCE

performs two separate actions:

forces a RUN group to execute even if errors are present in one or more statements in the RUN group. See Procedure Execution for a discussion of RUN-group processing and error handling.
forces all APPEND statements to concatenate two data sets even when the variables in the data sets are not exactly the same. The APPEND statement drops the extra variables and issues a warning message. Without the FORCE option, the procedure issues an error message and stops processing if you try to perform an append operation with two SAS data sets whose variables are not exactly the same. Refer to APPEND Statement for more information on the FORCE option.

KILL

deletes all SAS files in the SAS data library that are available for processing. The MEMTYPE= option subsets the member types that the statement deletes.

CAUTION:: The KILL option deletes the SAS files immediately after you submit the statement.

LIBRARY=libref

names the library that the procedure processes. This library is the procedure input library.

Aliases:	DDNAME=, DD=, LIB=
Default:	WORK or USER. See Temporary and Permanent SAS Data Sets for more information on the WORK and USER libraries.
Restriction:	A SAS library that is accessed via a sequential engine (such as a tape format engine) cannot be specified as the value of the LIBRARY= option.
Featured in:	Manipulating SAS Files

MEMTYPE=(mtype(s))

restricts processing to one or more member types and restricts the listing of the data library directory to SAS files of the specified member types. For example, the following PROC DATASETS statement limits processing to SAS data sets in the default data library and limits the directory listing in the SAS log to SAS files of member type DATA:

   proc datasets memtype=data;

Aliases:	MTYPE=, MT=
Default:	ALL
See also:	Restricting Member Types Available for Processing

NODETAILS

See the description of DETAILS .

NOLIST

suppresses in the SAS log the printing of the directory of the SAS files that are available for processing.

Featured in:

Modifying SAS Data Sets

NOWARN

suppresses the error processing that occurs when a SAS file that is specified in a SAVE, CHANGE, EXCHANGE, or COPY statement or listed as the first SAS file in an AGE statement is not in the procedure input library. When an error occurs and the NOWARN option is in effect, PROC DATASETS continues processing that RUN group. If NOWARN is not in effect, PROC DATASETS stops processing that RUN group.

PW= password

provides the password for any protected SAS files in the SAS data library. PW= can act as an alias for READ=, WRITE=, or ALTER=.

READ=read-password

provides the read-password for any read-protected SAS files in the SAS data library.

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Default:	DETAILS system option setting
Tip:	If you are using the SAS windowing environment and specify the DETAILS option for a library that contains read-protected SAS files, a requestor window prompts you for each read password that you do not specify in the PROC DATASETS statement. Therefore, you may want to assign the same read password to all SAS files in the same SAS data library.
Featured in:	Manipulating SAS Files