Special Topic: Comparing the Metadata Defined in a Define-XML File with the Metadata from the SAS Version 5 XPORT Transport Files

When you receive a Define-XML file combined with a folder of SAS Version 5 XPORT SAS transport files or a library of SAS data sets, it is important to ensure that the Define-XML file accurately defines the data in the SAS Version 5 XPORT transport files or SAS data sets.

The %CSTUTILCOMPAREMETADATASASDEFINE macro compares the metadata in the SAS Version 5 XPORT transport files or in the SAS data sets with the metadata in the Define-XML file. This macro supports both CRT-DDS 1.0 and Define-XML 2.0.

Before you can use the %CSTUTILCOMPAREMETADATASASDEFINE macro, convert the metadata in the Define-XML file into a SAS representation. For more information about this process, see Reading CDISC CRT-DDS 1.0 or Define-XML 2.0 define.xml Files: %CRTDDS_READ and %DEFINE_READ Macros.

The %CSTUTILCOMPAREMETADATASASDEFINE macro compares metadata between two different sources:

Metadata extracted from the SAS representation of a CRT-DDS 1.0 or Define-XML 2.0 file. This metadata must be created using either the %CRTDDS_READ or %DEFINE_READ macro to import a define.xml file.
Metadata extracted from a folder of XPORT files or a library of SAS data sets.

The results of the comparison are presented in a SAS data set that contains the columns shown in the following table:

SAS Data Set Columns Created by the %CSTUTILCOMPAREMETADATASASDEFINE Macro
Column Name	Column Description
StandardName	Standard Name
StandardVersion	Standard Version
MetadataLib	Metadata Library
DataLib	Data Library
XPTFolder	XPORT Folder
Table	Table
Column	Column
Issue	Issue
define_value	Define Value
data_value	SAS Value
Comment	Comment

The Issue column summarizes issues that are found. The issue is identified by a keyword.

The following table shows the Issue column keywords and their meanings:

Issue Column Keywords
Issue Column Keyword	Meaning
DSLABEL	The data set label does not match the data set description in the Define-XML metadata.
LABEL	The variable label does not match the variable description in the Define-XML metadata.
DEFINE_COLUMN	The Define-XML metadata defines a variable that is not in the data set.
DATA_COLUMN	A data set column does not have a definition in the Define-XML metadata.
LENGTH	Inconsistencies exist between the length of the SAS variable and the length defined in the Define-XML metadata. Note: This check is performed only for SAS character variables because the definition of the length of a numerical variable is not compatible between SAS and Define-XML.
TYPE	Inconsistencies exist between the type of the SAS variable and the DataType defined in the Define-XML metadata.

Here is an example of the code to check the metadata for a CRT-DDS 1.0 file:

%cst_setStandardProperties(_cstStandard=CST-FRAMEWORK,_cstSubType=initialize);
%cstutil_setcstsroot;

%let studyRootPath=&_cstSRoot/cdisc-crtdds-1.0-&_cstVersion;
%let studyOutputPath=&_cstSRoot/cdisc-crtdds-1.0-&_cstVersion;

filename srcdata "&studyRootPath/transport";
libname srcmeta "&studyRootPath/data";
libname results "&studyOutputPath/results";

%cstutilcomparemetadatasasdefine(
  _cstSourceXPTFolder=%sysfunc(pathname(srcdata)),
  _cstSourceMetadataLibrary=srcmeta,
  _cstRptDS=results.compare_metadata_results
  );

This example is located here:

sample study library directory\cdisc-crtdds-1.0-1.7\programs\compare_metadata_sascrtdds_xpt.sas

The Results data set indicates no issues.

Results Data Set Indicates No Issues

Here is an example of the code to check the metadata for a Define-XML 2.0 file:

%cst_setStandardProperties(_cstStandard=CST-FRAMEWORK,_cstSubType=initialize);
%cstutil_setcstsroot;

%let studyRootPath=&_cstSRoot/cdisc-crtdds-1.0-&_cstVersion;
%let studyOutputPath=&_cstSRoot/cdisc-crtdds-1.0-&_cstVersion;

filename srcdata "&studyRootPath/transport";
libname srcmeta "&studyRootPath/data";
libname results "&studyOutputPath/results";

%cstutilcomparemetadatasasdefine(
  _cstSourceXPTFolder=%sysfunc(pathname(srcdata)),
  _cstSourceMetadataLibrary=srcmeta,
  _cstRptDS=results.compare_metadata_results
  );

Instead of specifying a folder that contains XPORT files in the _cstSourceXPTFolder parameter, you can specify a library with SAS data sets in the _cstSourceDataLibrary parameter. This example is located here:

sample study library directorycdisc-definexml-2.0.0-1.7\programs\compare_metadata_sasdefine_xpt.sas

The Results data set indicates several issues.

Results Data Set Indicates Several Issues