SAS 9.4 Language Reference, 6th Edition

Figure 2.1 SAS Processing

Raw Data:

External Files

Instream Data

Remote access through:

Catalog

FTP

TCP/IP socket

URL

SAS

Data Set

SAS Data Sets:

SAS Data Files

SAS Data Views:

PROC SQL Views (native)

DATA Step Views (native)

SAS/ACCESS Views (interface)

DATA

Step

PROC

Step

External Files:

SAS Log

Reports

External Data Files

SAS

Data Set

Report

SAS

Log

You can use different types of data as input to a DATA step. The DATA step includes

SAS statements that you write, which contain instructions for processing the data. As

each DATA step in a SAS program is compiling or executing, SAS generates a log that

contains processing messages and error messages. These messages can help you debug a

SAS program.

Types of Input to a SAS Program

You can use different sources of input data in your SAS program:

SAS data sets

can be one of two types:

SAS

data

files

store actual data values. A SAS data file consists of a descriptor

portion that describes the data in the file, and a data portion.

SAS

views

contain references to data stored elsewhere. A SAS view uses

descriptor information and data from other files. It enables you to

dynamically combine data from various sources, without using

storage space to create a new data set. SAS views consist of DATA

step views, PROC SQL views, and SAS/ACCESS views. In most

cases, you can use a SAS view as if it were a SAS data file.

For more information, see Chapter 28, “SAS Data Files,” on page 615 and Chapter

29, “SAS Views,” on page 675.

Raw data

specifies unprocessed data that have not been read into a SAS data set. You can read

raw data from two sources:

External

files

contain records comprised of formatted data (data is arranged in

columns) or free-formatted data (data that are not arranged in

columns).

14 Chapter 2 • SAS Processing

Instream

data

is data included in your program. You use the DATALINES

statement at the beginning of your data to identify the instream

data.

For more information about raw data, see Chapter 21, “Reading Raw Data,” on page

439.

Remote access

enables you to read input data from nontraditional sources such as a TCP/IP socket

or a URL. SAS treats this data as if it were coming from an external file. SAS

enables you to access your input data remotely in the following ways:

SAS catalog specifies the access method that enables you to reference a SAS

catalog as an external file.

Clipboard specifies the access method that enables you to read or write

text data to the clipboard on the host computer.

DATAURL specifies the access method that enables you to access remote

files by using the DATAURL access method.

FTP specifies the access method that enables you to use File

Transfer Protocol (FTP) to read from or write to a file from any

host computer that is connected to a network with an FTP

server running.

Hadoop specifies the access method that enables you to access files on a

Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) whose location is

specified in a configuration file.

SFTP specifies the access method that enables you to use Secure File

Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to read from or write to a file from

any host computer that is connected to a network with an Open

SSH SSHD server running.

TCP/IP

socket

specifies the access method that enables you to read from or

write to a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

(TCP/IP) socket.

URL specifies the access method that enables you to use the uniform

resource locator (URL) to read from and write to a file from

any host computer that is connected to a network with a URL

server running.

WebDAV specifies the access method that enables you to use the

WebDAV protocol to read from or write to a file from any host

computer that is connected to a network with a WebDAV server

running.

ZIP specifies the access method that enables you to access ZIP files

by using zlib services.

For more information about accessing data remotely, see the following topics:

• “FILENAME Statement, CLIPBOARD Access Method” in SAS Global

Statements: Reference

• “FILENAME Statement, CATALOG Access Method” in SAS Global Statements:

Reference

• “FILENAME Statement, DATAURL Access Method” in SAS Global Statements:

Reference

Types of Input to a SAS Program 15