The DATASETS Procedure

Overview

The DATASETS procedure is a utility procedure that manages your SAS files.

With PROC DATASETS, you can

copy SAS files from one SAS library to another
rename SAS files
repair SAS files
delete SAS files
list the SAS files that are contained in a SAS library
list the attributes of a SAS data set, information such as the date the data were last modified, whether the data are compressed, whether the data are indexed, and so on
manipulate passwords on SAS files
append SAS data sets
modify attributes of SAS data sets and variables within the data sets
create and delete indexes on SAS data sets
create and delete integrity constraints on SAS data sets.

The following PROC DATASETS step

copies all data sets from the CONTROL library to the HEALTH library
lists the contents of the HEALTH library
deletes the SYNDROME data set from the HEALTH library
changes the name of the PRENAT data set to INFANT.

The SAS log is shown in Log of PROC DATASETS Activity (UNIX Environment) .

libname control 'SAS-data-library-1';
libname health 'SAS-data-library-2';

proc datasets memtype=data;
   copy in=control out=health;
run;

proc datasets library=health details;
   delete syndrome;
   change prenat=infant;
run;
quit;

Log of PROC DATASETS Activity (UNIX Environment)

16 proc datasets library=health details; -----Directory----- Libref: HEALTH Engine: V7 Filefmt: 7 Physical Name: external-file File Name: external-file Inode Number: 718930053 Access Permission: rwxr-xr-x Owner Name: UNIX-userid File Size (bytes): 2048 Obs, Entries File # Name Memtype or Indexes Vars Label size Last modified --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 ALL DATA 23 17 17408 Thu Aug 28 15:53:10 1997 2 BODYFAT DATA 1 2 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:10 1997 3 CONFOUND DATA 8 4 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:10 1997 4 CORONARY DATA 39 4 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:10 1997 5 DRUG1 DATA 6 2 JAN95 Data 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:10 1997 6 DRUG2 DATA 13 2 MAY95 Data 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:11 1997 7 DRUG3 DATA 11 2 JUL95 Data 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:11 1997 8 DRUG4 DATA 7 2 JAN92 Data 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:11 1997 9 DRUG5 DATA 1 2 JUL92 Data 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:11 1997 10 GROUP DATA 148 11 32768 Thu Aug 28 15:53:12 1997 11 MLSCL DATA 32 4 Multiple Sclerosis Data 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:12 1997 12 NAMES DATA 7 4 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:12 1997 13 OXYGEN DATA 31 7 13312 Thu Aug 28 15:53:13 1997 14 PERSONL DATA 148 11 32768 Thu Aug 28 15:53:13 1997 15 PHARM DATA 6 3 Sugar Study 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:13 1997 16 POINTS DATA 6 6 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:13 1997 17 PRENAT DATA 149 6 23552 Thu Aug 28 15:53:14 1997 18 RESULTS DATA 10 5 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:14 1997 19 SLEEP DATA 108 6 16384 Thu Aug 28 15:53:14 1997 20 SYNDROME DATA 46 8 16384 Thu Aug 28 15:53:15 1997 21 TENSION DATA 4 3 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:15 1997 22 TEST2 DATA 15 5 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:15 1997 23 TRAIN DATA 7 2 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:15 1997 24 VISION DATA 16 3 12288 Thu Aug 28 15:53:16 1997 25 WEIGHT DATA 83 13 California Results 26624 Thu Aug 28 15:53:16 1997 26 WGHT DATA 83 13 California Results 26624 Thu Aug 28 15:53:16 1997 17 delete syndrome; 18 change prenat=infant; 19 run; NOTE: Deleting HEALTH.SYNDROME (memtype=DATA). NOTE: Changing the name HEALTH.PRENAT to HEALTH.INFANT (memtype=DATA). 20 quit;

Notes

Although the DATASETS procedure can perform some operations on catalogs, generally the CATALOG procedure is the best utility to use for managing catalogs. For documentation of PROC CATALOG, see The CATALOG Procedure . See Statements with the Same Function in Multiple Procedures for details. You can also use any global statements as well. See Global Statements for a list. .
The term member often appears as a synonym for SAS file. In addition, if you are unfamiliar with SAS files and SAS libraries, see the chapter on SAS files in SAS Language Reference: Concepts.
PROC DATASETS cannot work with sequential data libraries.

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