SAS 9.4 Language Reference, 6th Edition

If the SORTVALIDATE system option is set and the data set sort indicator was set by a

user, the SORT procedure performs a sequence check on each observation to ensure that

the data set is sorted according to the variables in the BY statement. If the data set is not

sorted correctly, SAS sorts the data set.

At the end of a successful sequence check or at the end of a sort, the SORT procedure

sets the sort indicator Validated sort information to YES. If a sort is performed, the

SORT procedure also updates the sort indicator Sortedby sort information to the

variables in the BY statement. If an output data set is specified, the sort indicator

Validated sort information in the output data set is set to YES. If no sort is necessary, the

data set is copied to the output data set. For more information about validated data sets,

see the “SORTVALIDATE System Option” in SAS System Options: Reference.

Tools for Managing Data Sets

To copy, rename, delete, or obtain information about the contents of SAS data sets, use

the same windows, procedures, functions, and options that you do for SAS libraries. For

a list of those windows and procedures, see Chapter 26, “SAS Libraries,” on page 585.

There are also functions available that enable you to work with your SAS data set. See

each individual function for more complete information.

Viewing and Editing SAS Data Sets

The VIEWTABLE window enables you to browse, edit, or create data sets. This window

provides two viewing modes:

Table View

uses a tabular format to display multiple observations in the data set.

Form View

displays data one observation at a time in a form layout.

You can customize your view of a data set (for example, by sorting your data, changing

the color and fonts of columns, displaying variable labels instead of variable names, or

removing or adding variables). You can also load an existing DATAFORM catalog entry

in order to apply a previously defined variable, data set, and viewer attributes.

To view a data set, select the following: Tools ð Table Editor. This action brings up

VIEWTABLE or FSVIEW (z/OS). You can also double-click on the data set in the

Explorer window.

The following SAS files are supported within the VIEWTABLE window:

• SAS data files

• SAS views

• MDDB files

For more information, see the SAS System Help for the VIEWTABLE window in Base

SAS.

614 Chapter 27 • SAS Data Sets