How Do the Different Platform Clients Assign Libraries?

By default, newly created libraries are not pre-assigned. When a library is not pre-assigned, the library is accessed using the SAS engine that is most appropriate for the client application and its intended user base. For example, if you do not pre-assign the library, SAS Data Integration Studio creates a libref that uses the native engine that is specified in metadata, such as BASE. This approach is a best practice, because it is assumed that in most cases SAS Data Integration Studio developers are building processes that create or update tables. In this case, the native engine is the only engine that should be used for data-populating tasks.

When libraries are not pre-assigned, each SAS platform client accesses data with the SAS engine that makes the most sense for the client. Allowing each client to choose the SAS engine that it deems appropriate for its user base results in a security model that might match data access requirements. The clients that are typically used for data building use the native engine. The clients that are typically used for queries and reporting are designed to use the metadata engine. An example of such an environment is one with clients running at least SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS Data Integration Studio. In this environment, SAS Data Integration Studio processes update tables that are in turn used in ad hoc analysis within SAS Enterprise Guide. The SAS Data Integration Studio processes need to specify tables in the library as target tables (output), whereas the SAS Enterprise Guide user's activities largely involve querying and analyzing chunks of data (input).

Because SAS Data Integration Studio processes typically update or create target tables, it is designed to use the native engine instead of the metadata engine. It accesses the tables using the engine that is specified in metadata for the library. Because SAS Data Integration Studio works with tables that are registered in the metadata repository, you can control access to tables by granting ReadMetadata, WriteMetadata, and CheckInMetadata permissions on the library and table metadata objects.

On the other hand, the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office and SAS Enterprise Guide use the metadata engine by default. For these clients, the data-level authorizations of Read, Write, Create, and Delete, which are specified in metadata, are enforced.

If defining libraries so that they are not pre-assigned seems like a potential option for your environment, then you should also learn how to ensure that these libraries are available to server processes that do not receive direct requests from client applications. For example, you need to know how to assign the library in server processes such as the stored process server and DATA Step Batch Server (if present). For more information, see Considerations for SAS Stored Process and SAS Pooled Workspace Servers.