EXTENDOBSCOUNTER= Table Option

Specifies whether to extend the maximum observation count in a new output SAS data set.

Valid in: CREATE TABLE statement
Category: Table Control
Alias: EOC=
Default: YES
Data source: SAS data set

Syntax

EXTENDOBSCOUNTER=YES | NO

Arguments

YES

requests an enhanced file format in a newly created SAS data set that counts observations beyond the 32-bit limitation. Although this SAS data set is created for an operating environment that stores the number of observations with a 32-bit integer, the data set behaves like a 64-bit file with respect to counters. This is the default value.

Restrictions EXTENDOBSCOUNTER=YES is valid only for an output SAS data set whose internal data representation stores the observation count as a 32-bit integer. EXTENDOBSCOUNTER= is ignored for SAS data sets with a 64-bit integer.
A SAS data set that is created with an extended observation count is incompatible with releases prior to SAS 9.3.

NO

specifies that the maximum observation count in a newly created SAS data file is determined by the long integer size for the operating environment. In operating environments with a 32-bit integer, the maximum number is 2**31-1 or approximately two billion observations (2,147,483,647). In operating environments with a 64-bit integer, the maximum number is 2**63-1 or approximately 9.2 quintillion observations.

Details

Historically, Base SAS had a limitation in which up to approximately two billion observations could be counted and fully supported for operating environments with a 32-bit long integer. The EXTENDOBSCOUNTER= table option extends the limit to match that of operating environments with a 64-bit long integer. EXTENDOBSCOUNTER=NO is provided for backward compatibility.