The
UNIQUE statement specifies whether the
SAS/ACCESS interface should generate unique
SAS variable names for items for which SAS
variable names or variable attributes have not been specified.
You cannot use the UNIQUE statement when creating a
view descriptor if ASSIGN=YES is specified in the
access descriptor from which this
view is derived. The YES value causes SAS to generate unique names, so the UNIQUE statement
is not necessary.
If you omit the ASSIGN
statement or specify ASSIGN=NO, the
SAS/ACCESS interface continues to let duplicate SAS variable names exist. However, you must
resolve any duplicate SAS variable names before saving (and thereby creating) the
view descriptor. You can use the UNIQUE statement to automatically generate unique
names, or you
can use the RENAME statement to resolve duplicate names. For more information, see
the
RENAME Statement (Optional).If duplicate SAS variable names exist in the access descriptor from which this view
is derived, you can specify the UNIQUE statement to resolve the duplication. Specify
UNIQUE=YES to cause the SAS/ACCESS interface to append numbers to any duplicate SAS variable names, thereby making each
variable name unique.
If you are running your
SAS/ACCESS job in non-interactive or
batch mode, it is recommended that you use the UNIQUE statement. If you do not use the UNIQUE
statement and SAS encounters duplicate SAS variable names in a view descriptor, the
job fails.