Glossary

administrator

the person who is responsible for maintaining the technical attributes of an object such as a table or a library. For example, an administrator might specify where a table is stored and who can access the table. See also owner.

alternate key

another term for unique key. See also unique key.

analysis data set

in SAS data quality, a SAS output data set that provides information on the degree of divergence in specified character values.

business key

one or more columns in a dimension table that comprise the primary key in a source table in an operational system.

CDC

See change data capture.

change analysis

the process of comparing one set of metadata to another set of metadata and identifying the differences between the two sets of metadata. For example, in SAS Data Integration Studio, you have the option of performing change analysis on imported metadata. Imported metadata is compared to existing metadata. You can view any changes in the Differences window and choose which changes to apply. To help you understand the impact of a given change, you can run impact analysis or reverse impact analysis on tables and columns in the Differences window.

change data capture

the process of capturing changes that are made to data, and making these changes available in a machine-readable format. By capturing only the changes in the data, CDC reduces the volume of information that is required for data integration. Short form: CDC.

change management

in the SAS Open Metadata Architecture, a facility for metadata source control, metadata promotion, and metadata replication.

channel

a virtual communication path for distributing information. In SAS, a channel is identified with a particular topic (just as a television channel is identified with a particular radio frequency). Using the features of the Publishing Framework, authorized users or applications can publish digital content to the channel, and authorized users and applications can subscribe to the channel in order to receive the content. See also publish and subscribe.

cluster

in SAS data quality, a set of character values that have the same match code.

comparison result

the output of change analysis. For example, in SAS Data Integration Studio, the metadata for a comparison result can be selected, and the results of that comparison can be viewed in a Differences window and applied to a metadata repository. See also change analysis.

cross-reference table

a table that contains only the current rows of a larger dimension table. Columns generally include all business key columns and a digest column. The business key column is used to determine if source rows are new dimensions or updates to existing dimensions. The digest column is used to detect changes in source rows that might update an existing dimension. During updates of the fact table that is associated with the dimension table, the cross-reference table can provide generated keys that replace the business key in new fact table rows.

custom repository

an optional metadata store for a SAS Metadata Server that can be configured in addition to the foundation repository. Custom repositories are useful for physically segregating metadata for storage or security purposes.

data analysis

in SAS data quality, the process of evaluating input data sets in order to determine whether data cleansing is needed.

data cleansing

the process of eliminating inaccuracies, irregularities, and discrepancies from data.

data integration

the process of consolidating data from a variety of sources in order to produce a unified view of the data.

data lineage

a search that seeks to identify the tables, columns, and transformations that have an impact on a selected table or column. See also impact analysis, reverse impact analysis, and transformation.

data store

a table, view, or file that is registered in a data warehouse environment. Data stores can contain either individual data items or summary data that is derived from the data in a database.

data transformation

in SAS data quality, a cleansing process that applies a scheme to a specified character variable. The scheme creates match codes internally to create clusters. All values in each cluster are then transformed to the standardization value that is specified in the scheme for each cluster.

database library

a collection of one or more database management system files that are recognized by SAS and that are referenced and stored as a unit. Each file is a member of the library.

database server

a server that provides relational database services to a client. Oracle, DB/2 and Teradata are examples of relational databases.

delimiter

a character that separates words or phrases in a text string.

delivery transport

in the Publishing Framework, the method of delivering a package to the consumer. Supported transports include e-mail, message queue, and WebDAV. Although not a true transport, a channel also functions as a delivery mechanism. See also e-mail, message queue, WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning), and channel.

derived mapping

a mapping between a source column and a target column in which the value of the target column is a function of the value of the source column. For example, if two tables contain a Price column, the value of the target table's Price column might be equal to the value of the source table's Price column multiplied by 0.8.

digest column

a column in a cross-reference table that contains a concatenation of encrypted values for specified columns in a target table. If a source row has a digest value that differs from the digest value for that dimension, then changes are detected and the source row becomes the new current row in the target. The old target row is closed out and receives a new value in the end date/time column.

dimension

a category of contextual data or detail data that is implemented in a data model such as a star schema. For example, in a star schema, a dimension named Customers might associate customer data with transaction identifiers and transaction amounts in a fact table.

dimension table

in a star schema or snowflake schema, a table that contains data about a particular dimension. A primary key connects a dimension table to a related fact table. For example, if a dimension table named Customers has a primary key column named Customer ID, then a fact table named Customer Sales might specify the Customer ID column as a foreign key.

dynamic cluster table

two or more SAS SPD Server tables that are virtually concatenated into a single entity, using metadata that is managed by the SAS SPD Server.

e-mail

a system for transmitting messages electronically, usually between two computers. See also delivery transport.

fact table

the central table in a star schema or snowflake schema. A fact table typically contains numerical measurements or amounts and is supplemented by contextual information in dimension tables. For example, a fact table might include transaction identifiers and transaction amounts. Dimension tables could add contextual information about customers, products, and salespersons. Fact tables are associated with dimension tables via key columns. Foreign key columns in the fact table contain the same values as the primary key columns in the dimension tables.

foreign key

a column or combination of columns in one table that references the corresponding primary key in another table. A foreign key must have the same attributes as the primary key that it references.

foundation repository

the required metadata store for a SAS Metadata Server. Each SAS Metadata Server has one foundation repository that is created by default when the metadata server is configured.

generated key

a column in a dimension table that contains values that are sequentially generated using a specified expression. Generated keys are used to implement surrogate keys and retained keys.

generated transformation

in SAS Data Integration Studio, a transformation that is created with the Transformation Generator wizard, which helps you specify SAS code for the transformation. See also transformation.

global resource

an object, such as a server or a library, that is shared on a network.

impact analysis

a search that seeks to identify the tables, columns, and transformations that would be affected by a change in a selected table or column. See also transformation and data lineage.

Integrated Object Model server

a SAS object server that is launched in order to fulfill client requests for IOM services. Short form: IOM server.

intersection table

a table that describes the relationships between two or more tables. For example, an intersection table could describe the many-to-many relationships between a table of users and a table of groups.

IOM server

See Integrated Object Model server.

iterative job

a job with a control loop in which one or more processes are executed multiple times. Iterative jobs can be executed in parallel. See also job.

iterative processing

a method of processing in which a control loop executes one or more processes multiple times.

job

a collection of SAS tasks that create output.

locale

a value that reflects the language, local conventions, and culture for a geographic region. Local conventions can include specific formatting rules for dates, times, and numbers, and a currency symbol for the country or region. Collating sequences, paper sizes, and conventions for postal addresses and telephone numbers are also typically specified for each locale. Some examples of locale values are French_Canada, Portuguese_Brazil, and English_USA.

lookup standardization

a process that applies a scheme to a data set for the purpose of data analysis or data cleansing.

match code

an encoded version of a character value that is created as a basis for data analysis and data cleansing. Match codes are used to cluster and compare character values. See also sensitivity.

message queue

in application messaging, a place where one program can send messages that will be retrieved by another program. The two programs communicate asynchronously. Neither program needs to know the location of the other program nor whether the other program is running. See also delivery transport.

metadata administrator

a person who defines the metadata for servers, metadata repositories, users, and other global resources.

metadata model

a definition of the metadata for a set of objects. The model describes the attributes for each object, as well as the relationships between objects within the model.

metadata object

a set of attributes that describe a table, a server, a user, or another resource on a network. The specific attributes that a metadata object includes vary depending on which metadata model is being used.

metadata repository

a collection of related metadata objects, such as the metadata for a set of tables and columns that are maintained by an application. A SAS Metadata Repository is an example.

metadata server

a server that provides metadata management services to one or more client applications. A SAS Metadata Server is an example.

operational data

data that is captured by one of more applications in an operational system. For example, an application might capture and manage information about customers, products, or sales. See also operational system.

operational system

one or more applications that capture and manage data for an organization. For example, a business might have a set of applications that manage information about customers, products, and sales.

owner

the person who is responsible for the contents of an object such as a table or a library. See also administrator.

parameterized job

a job that specifies its inputs and outputs as parameters. See also job.

parameterized table

a table whose metadata specifies some attributes as variables rather than as literal values. For example, the input to an iterative job could be a parameterized table whose metadata specifies its physical pathname as a variable. See also iterative job.

PFD

See process flow diagram.

primary key

a column or combination of columns that uniquely identifies a row in a table.

process flow diagram

a diagram that specifies the sequence of each source, target, and process in a job. In the diagram, each source, target, and process has its own metadata object. Each process in the diagram is specified by a metadata object called a transformation. Short form: PFD.

project repository

a metadata repository that serves as an individual work area or playpen. Project repositories are available for SAS Data Integration Studio only. In general, each user who participates in change management has his or her own project repository.

publish

to deliver electronic information, such as SAS files (including SAS data sets, SAS catalogs, and SAS data views), other digital content, and system-generated events to one or more destinations. These destinations can include e-mail addresses, message queues, publication channels and subscribers, WebDAV-compliant servers, and archive locations.

Quality Knowledge Base

a collection of locales and other information that is referenced during data analysis and data cleansing. For example, to create match codes for a data set that contains street addresses in Great Britain, you would reference the ADDRESS match definition in the ENGBR locale in the Quality Knowledge Base.

register

to save metadata about an object to a metadata repository. For example, if you register a table, you save metadata about that table to a metadata repository.

retained key

a numeric column in a dimension table that is combined with a begin-date column to make up the primary key. During the update of a dimensional target table, source rows that contain a new business key are added to the target. A key value is generated and added to the retained key column and a date is added to the begin-date column. When a source row has the same business key as a row in the target, the source row is added to the target, including a new begin-date value. The retained key of the new column is copied from the target row.

reverse impact analysis

See data lineage.

SAS Application Server

in the SAS Intelligence Platform, a logical entity that represents the SAS server tier. This logical entity contains specific servers (for example, a SAS Workspace Server and a SAS Stored Process Server) that execute SAS code. A SAS Application Server has relationships with other metadata objects. For example, a SAS library can be assigned to a SAS Application Server. When a client application needs to access that library, the client submits code to the SAS Application Server to which the library is assigned.

SAS Management Console

a Java application that provides a single user interface for performing SAS administrative tasks.

SAS metadata

metadata that is created by SAS software. Metadata that is in SAS Open Metadata Architecture format is one example.

SAS OLAP Server

a SAS server that provides access to multidimensional data. The data is queried using the multidimensional expressions (MDX) language.

SAS Open Metadata Architecture

a general-purpose metadata management facility that provides metadata services to SAS applications. The SAS Open Metadata Architecture enables applications to exchange metadata, which makes it easier for these applications to work together.

SAS Stored Process Server

a SAS IOM server that is launched in order to fulfill client requests for SAS Stored Processes. See also IOM server.

SAS task

a logical process that is executed by a SAS session. A task can be a procedure, a DATA step, a window, or a supervisor process.

SAS XML library

a library that uses the SAS XML LIBNAME engine to access an XML file.

SAS/CONNECT server

a server that provides SAS/CONNECT services to a client. When SAS Data Integration Studio generates code for a job, it uses SAS/CONNECT software to submit code to remote computers. SAS Data Integration Studio can also use SAS/CONNECT software for interactive access to remote libraries.

SAS/SHARE library

a SAS library for which input and output requests are controlled and executed by a SAS/SHARE server.

SAS/SHARE server

the result of an execution of the SERVER procedure, which is part of SAS/SHARE software. A server runs in a separate SAS session that services users' SAS sessions by controlling and executing input and output requests to one or more SAS libraries.

scheme

a lookup table or data set of character variables that contains variations of data items and specifies the preferred variation form or standard. When these schemes are applied to the data, the data is transformed or analyzed according to the predefined rules to produce standardized values.

sensitivity

in SAS data quality, a value that specifies the amount of information in match codes. Greater sensitivity values result in match codes that contain greater amounts of information. As sensitivity values increase, character values must be increasingly similar to generate the same match codes.

server administrator

a person who installs and maintains server hardware or software. See also metadata administrator.

server component

in SAS Management Console, a metadata object that specifies information about how to connect to a particular kind of SAS server on a particular computer.

slowly changing dimensions

a technique for tracking changes to dimension table values in order to analyze trends. For example, a dimension table named Customers might have columns for Customer ID, Home Address, Age, and Income. Each time the address or income changes for a customer, a new row could be created for that customer in the dimension table, and the old row could be retained. This historical record of changes could be combined with purchasing information to forecast buying trends and to direct customer marketing campaigns.

snowflake schema

tables in a database in which a single fact table is connected to multiple dimension tables. The dimension tables are structured to minimize update anomalies and to address single themes. This structure is visually represented in a snowflake pattern. See also star schema.

source

an input to an operation.

star schema

tables in a database in which a single fact table is connected to multiple dimension tables. This is visually represented in a star pattern. SAS OLAP cubes can be created from a star schema.

subscribe

to sign up to receive electronic content that is published to a SAS publication channel.

surrogate key

a numeric column in a dimension table that is the primary key of that table. The surrogate key column contains unique integer values that are generated sequentially when rows are added and updated. In the associated fact table, the surrogate key is included as a foreign key in order to connect to specific dimensions.

target

an output of an operation.

transformation

a SAS task that extracts data, transforms data, or loads data into data stores.

unique key

one or more columns that can be used to uniquely identify a row in a table. A table can have one or more unique keys.

Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning

an emerging industry standard, based on extensions to HTTP 1.1, that enables users to collaborate in the development of files and collections of files on remote Web servers. Short form: WebDAV. See also delivery transport.

Web service

a programming interface that enables distributed applications to communicate even if the applications are written in different programming languages or are running on different operating systems.

WebDAV

See Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning.