SAS 9.4 Language Reference, 6th Edition

Engine Name UNIX Windows z/OS

*

V9 .sas7bdat .sas7bdat .sas7bdat

*

Applies to SAS data sets that reside in the hierarchical file system of UNIX System Services.

Operating Environment Information

For a complete list of SAS member types and extensions, see the SAS

documentation for your operating environment.

Using SAS Library Engines

In order to access a SAS library, SAS needs a libref and a library engine name. For

example, you assign a libref to the SAS library with the LIBNAME statement or the

New Library window, but usually you do not have to specify an engine name because

SAS automatically selects the appropriate engine.

If you do not specify an engine, SAS automatically assigns one based on the contents of

the SAS library. For example, SAS is able to differentiate between a SAS 6 library and a

SAS 9 library. Note that in SAS 9, a SAS library containing SAS 7 and SAS 8 files is the

same as a SAS 9 library, because the engine that creates a SAS file determines its

format, and the file format for SAS 7, SAS 8, and SAS 9 is the same.

For example, in a SAS 9 session, if you issue the following LIBNAME statement to

assign a libref to a SAS library containing SAS 8 files, SAS automatically uses the SAS

9 engine:

libname mylib 'v8-SAS-library';

In a SAS 9 session, if you issue the following LIBNAME statement to assign a libref to

a SAS library that contains only SAS 6 files, SAS automatically uses the SAS 6

compatibility engine:

libname mylib 'v6-SAS-library';

SAS automatically assigns an engine based on the contents of the SAS library as shown

in the following table:

Table 35.2 Default Library Engine Assignment in SAS 9

Engine Assignment SAS Library Contents

V9 No SAS files; the library is empty

V9 Only SAS 9 SAS files

V9 Only SAS 8 SAS files

V9 Only SAS 7 SAS files

V6 Only SAS 6 SAS files

V9 Both SAS 9 SAS files and SAS files from earlier releases

Using SAS Library Engines 727

Note: Even though SAS automatically assigns an engine based on the library contents, it

is more efficient for you to specify the engine. For example, specifying the engine

name in the following LIBNAME statement saves SAS from determining which

engine to use:

libname mylib v6 'v6-SAS-library';

For more information about SAS engines, see Chapter 37, “SAS Engines,” on page

745.

728 Chapter 35 • SAS 9.4 Compatibility with SAS Files from Earlier Releases