Sorting Output

In addition to selecting specific data, SYSTEM 2000 enables you to specify the output order for data through the use of a SYSTEM 2000 ordering-clause, which consists of sort keys that are separated by commas. A sort key can be a schema item or a schema record. For each sort key, you can specify whether the output is to be sorted in ascending or descending order. For example, the output produced by the following ordering-clause is first sorted by LAST NAME (C2) in ascending order (the default) and then by YEARS OF EXPERIENCE (C203) in descending order (due to the HIGH specification):

    OB C2, HIGH C203

For the SAS/ACCESS interface to SYSTEM 2000, you can specify data sorting by including a SYSTEM 2000 ordering-clause when you create a view descriptor. In addition, you can specify data sorting in a SAS program using a BY clause.