Working with SAS Folders

Best Practices for Maintaining Associations Among Objects in SAS Folders

To ensure that associations among objects are maintained, follow these best practices when interacting with folders and with objects that are stored in SAS folders.

Use available tools to identify associations among objects.

Effective with the November 2010 release, you can use the BI Lineage plug-in for SAS Management Console to identify objects that are associated with information maps and reports. For details, see Using the BI Lineage Plug-in.

To determine associations and dependencies for other objects, you can right-click the object and select Export SAS Package. On the second wizard page, highlight the object, and then use the Dependencies and Used by tabs to see the object's associations. Click Cancel to exit the wizard.

Use the appropriate SAS applications to interact with metadata objects.

To interact with objects that are stored in SAS folders, users should use the specific SAS application that creates and manages those objects. For example:

Use SAS Data Integration Studio to interact with jobs.
Use SAS Information Map Studio to interact with information maps.
Use SAS Web Report Studio to interact with reports.

Certain administrative tasks are exceptions. For example, administrators can use the Folders tab of SAS Management Console to perform the following tasks:

manage permissions on folders (and, if necessary, on individual objects)
use the Export SAS Package and Import SAS Package wizards to promote objects or groups of objects (and their associated physical data) from one metadata server to another
use the Copy and Paste Special functions to copy objects or groups of objects (and their associated physical data) from one folder to another

Use caution when renaming folders and when moving objects from one folder to another.

Renaming folders, or moving objects from one folder to another, can affect associations and references to objects that are contained in a folder or its subfolders, as follows:

Some types of objects are referenced using folder pathnames. Associations to these types of objects can break if you rename a folder that is part of the object's path or if you move the object to a different folder. For example:
- Reports use folder paths to locate information maps. If the location of an information map changes, then you might need to edit associated reports to point to the new information map location.
- Information maps and reports use folder paths to locate objects such as cubes, prompts, and stored processes. If the location of one of these objects changes, then you might need to edit associated reports and information maps to point to the new location. In SAS Information Map Studio, you can use the Resource Replacement feature to change the location for some types of objects.
- Some prompts (including library prompts, data source prompts, and prompts that use dynamically generated data values) use folder paths to locate libraries, tables, and information maps. If the location of a library, table, or information map changes, you might need to edit the affected prompts to point to the new location.
If you move a table or a library, or if you rename a folder that is in the path for a library or table, most associations to the library or folder will continue to work. Client applications will still be able to locate the library or table. Jobs, information maps, and reports that use the library or table will continue to function. The only exceptions are some types of prompts, as described in the preceding paragraph.
Renaming folders and moving objects can affect the following SAS Information Delivery Portal content:
- information maps that are displayed in information map viewer portlets
- links to detailed data (for example, reports or stored processes) that are coded in portlets
- report references that have been published to WebDAV

Use caution when renaming objects in SAS Management Console.

If you rename an object that is associated with other objects, then associated objects can malfunction. For example, if you rename a library or table that is used by an information map, then you will need to use the Resource Replacement feature of SAS Information Map Studio to specify the new library or table name.

Note: For information about renaming objects and folders in client applications other than SAS Management Console, see the documentation for that application. [cautionend]

If you need to move content from one folder location to another (for example, from a user's personal folder to a shared folder), then use either Export SAS Package and Import SAS Package or Copy and Paste Special. Content movement should be carefully planned and executed so that metadata associations are maintained.

Correct use of Export SAS Package and Import SAS Package or Copy and Paste Special will maintain associations among objects as well as relationships between metadata and physical data.

For example, if you use one of these methods to move an information map that is associated with a report, then the association will be maintained. If you move the information map using a different procedure, then the report will no longer work.

For instructions for using Export SAS Package and Import SAS Package, see Using the Promotion Tools.

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