The ACCESS Procedure for Relational Databases

RENAME Statement

Modifies the SAS variable name

Applies to:	access descriptor or view descriptor
Interaction:	ASSIGN, RESET

RENAME <'>column-identifier-1<'> <=> SAS-variable-name-1 <...<'>column-identifier-n<'> <=> SAS-variable-name-n>;

column-identifier: specifies the DBMS column name or the positional equivalent from the LIST statement, which is the number that represents the column's place in the descriptor. If the column name contains lowercase characters, special characters, or national characters, enclose the name in quotation marks. The equal sign (=) is optional.
SAS-variable-name: specifies a SAS variable name.

Details

The RENAME statement sets or modifies the SAS variable name that is associated with a DBMS column.

Two factors affect the use of the RENAME statement: whether you specify the ASSIGN statement when you are creating an access descriptor, and the type of descriptor you are creating.

If you omit the ASSIGN statement or specify it with a NO value, the renamed SAS variable names that you specify in the access descriptor are retained when an ACCESS procedure executes. For example, if you rename the CUSTOMER column to CUSTNUM when you create an access descriptor, the column is still named CUSTNUM when you select it in a view descriptor unless you specify another RESET or RENAME statement.

When you create a view descriptor that is based on this access descriptor, you can specify the RESET statement or another RENAME statement to rename the variable. However, the new name applies only in that view. When you create other view descriptors, the SAS variable names are derived from the access descriptor.
If you specify the YES value in the ASSIGN statement, you can use the RENAME statement to change SAS variable names only while creating an access descriptor. As described earlier in the ASSIGN statement, SAS variable names and formats that are saved in an access descriptor are always used when creating view descriptors that are based on the access descriptor.

For example, to rename the SAS variable names that are associated with the seventh column and the nine-character FIRSTNAME column in a descriptor, submit this statement:

rename
7 birthdy  'firstname'=fname;

When you are creating a view descriptor, the RENAME statement automatically selects the renamed column for the view. That is, if you rename the SAS variable associated with a DBMS column, you do not have to issue a SELECT statement for that column.

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