Glossary

access descriptor

a SAS/ACCESS file that describes data that is managed by SAS, by a database management system, or by a PC-based software application such as Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, or dBASE. After creating an access descriptor, you can use it as the basis for creating one or more view descriptors. See also view descriptor.

batch mode

a noninteractive method of running SAS programs by which a file (containing SAS statements along with any necessary operating system commands) is submitted to the batch queue of the operating environment for execution.

CA-DATADICTIONARY database

a collection of CA-Datacom/DB tables that have been organized within certain CA-Datacom/DB areas and files. The records in each table contain one or more FIELD entity-occurrences.

column

a vertical component of a table. Each column has a unique name, contains data of a specific type, and has particular attributes. A column is analogous to a variable in SAS terminology.

column format

See SAS column format.

column informat

a pattern or set of instructions that SAS uses to determine how data values in an input file should be interpreted. SAS provides a set of standard informats and also enables you to define your own informats.

compound field

a field that contains two or more simple fields or compound fields that are contiguous. A compound field can contain data of different types and lengths. Compound fields can also be repeated or can be contained by other fields. See also simple field.

data set

See SAS data set.

data type (type)

an attribute of every column in a table or database, indicating the type of data in the column and how much physical storage it occupies.

data value

a unit of character, numeric, or alphanumeric information that is stored as a single item in a data record.

data view

See SAS data view.

database

an organized collection of related data. A database usually contains named files, named objects, or other named entities such as tables, views, and indexes.

database management system (DBMS)

a software application that enables you to create and manipulate data that is stored in the form of databases.

DBMS

See database management system.

descriptor file

a type of SAS/ACCESS file that is used to establish a connection between SAS and files that are created and maintained by other software applications. Descriptor files describe data to SAS. To create descriptor files, you use the ACCESS procedure. There are two types of descriptor files: access descriptors and view descriptors.

element

a CA-Datacom/DB unit of transfer between application programs and CA-Datacom/DB. An element consists of one or more contiguous CA-Datacom/DB fields.

engine (SAS engine)

a component of SAS software that reads from or writes to a file. Various engines enable SAS to access different types of file formats.

entity-occurrence

an instance of a particular entity-type. For example, defining a database involves storing information about the database in a DATABASE occurrence. Each database is listed by its unique name as an occurrence of the DATABASE entity.

entity-type structure

any of the following data structures in which CA-Datacom/DB data can be stored: databases, areas, fields, records, and elements.

field

the vertical component of a CA-Datacom/DB table, which is sometimes referred to as a column or as a variable. There are four types of fields: key field, simple field, compound field, and repeating field. Each field has a name as well as specific attributes such as data type and length.

index

See SAS index.

interactive line mode (line mode)

a method of running SAS programs in which you enter one line of a SAS program at a time at the SAS session prompt. SAS processes each line immediately after you press the ENTER or RETURN key. Procedure output and informative messages are returned directly to your display device.

interface view engine

a type of SAS engine that SAS/ACCESS software uses to retrieve data from files that have been formatted by another vendor's software. Each SAS/ACCESS interface has its own interface view engine, which reads the interface product data and returns the data in a form that SAS can understand (that is, in a SAS data set). See also engine.

key

See lookup key.

library member

any of several types of SAS file in a SAS library. A library member can be a data set, a view, a catalog, a stored program, or an access descriptor.

library reference

See libref.

libref (library reference)

a SAS name that is associated with the location of a SAS library. For example, in the name MYLIB.MYFILE, MYLIB is the libref, and MYFILE is a file in the SAS library. See also SAS library.

line mode

See interactive line mode.

lookup key (key)

a value that uniquely identifies a specific record and its order among other records in a database or table. See also Native Key, Master Key.

Master Key

a field that enables you to prevent values in a key field from being duplicated and to prevent values in that key from being changed. Each record must have one Master Key. The Master Key can also be the Native Key.

member name

a name that is assigned to a SAS file in a SAS library. See also member type.

member type

a SAS name that identifies the type of information that is stored in a SAS file. Member types include ACCESS, AUDIT, DMBD, DATA, CATALOG, FDB, INDEX, ITEMSTOR, MDDB, PROGRAM, UTILITY, and VIEW.

missing value

a type of value for a variable that contains no data for a particular row or column. By default, SAS writes a missing numeric value as a single period and a missing character value as a blank space.

multi-user environment

a data entry environment in which several users access a database at the same time, with queries and updates being handled simultaneously by a single copy of the software.

Native Key

a field that determines the order of the records in a CA-Datacom/DB table. Each table must have one Native Key. The Native Key can also be the Master Key.

repeating field

a simple field or compound field that can occur more than once. Repeating fields can also be nested within other repeating fields.

SAS column format (column format)

a pattern or set of instructions that SAS uses to determine how the values of a variable (or column) should be written or displayed. SAS provides a set of standard formats and also enables you to define your own formats.

SAS data file

a type of SAS data set that contains data values as well as descriptor information that is associated with the data. The descriptor information includes information such as the data types and lengths of the variables, as well as the name of the engine that was used to create the data. See also SAS data set, SAS data view.

SAS data set (data set)

a file whose contents are in one of the native SAS file formats. There are two types of SAS data sets: SAS data files and SAS data views.

SAS data view (data view)

a type of SAS data set that retrieves data values from other files. A SAS data view contains only descriptor information such as the data types and lengths of the variables (columns) plus other information that is required for retrieving data values from other SAS data sets or from files that are stored in other software vendors' file formats.

SAS engine

See engine.

SAS file

a specially structured file that is created, organized, and maintained by SAS. A SAS file can be a SAS data set, a catalog, a stored program, an access descriptor, a utility file, a multidimensional database file, a financial database file, a data mining database file, or an item store file.

SAS index (index)

a component of a SAS data set that enables SAS to access observations in the SAS data set quickly and efficiently. The purpose of SAS indexes is to optimize WHERE-clause processing and to facilitate BY-group processing.

SAS library

one or more files that are defined, recognized, and accessible by SAS, and that are referenced and stored as a unit. Each file is a member of the library.

SAS variable (variable)

a column in a SAS data set or in a SAS data view. The data values for each variable describe a single characteristic for all observations (rows).

simple field

a single CA-Datacom/DB field. See also compound field.

type

See data type.

URT

See User Requirements Table.

User Requirements Table (URT)

a load module that is required by CA-Datacom/DB. The URT is loaded by the interface view engine and is passed to CA-Datacom/DB when a table is opened. It contains information about how the table is to be accessed. Various values in the URT, such as the number and size of buffers, can affect performance.

variable

See SAS variable.

view

a definition of a virtual data set that is named and stored for later use. A view contains no data; it merely describes or defines data that is stored elsewhere.

view descriptor

a SAS/ACCESS file that defines part or all of the DBMS data that is described by an access descriptor. See also access descriptor.