Getting Started with SAS under OpenVMS

Techniques for Customizing Your SAS Session under OpenVMS

No matter which mode of operation you use for running SAS, you might want to customize certain aspects of SAS. For example, you might want to change the line size or page size for your output, or you might want to see performance statistics for your SAS programs.

Under OpenVMS, you can customize SAS for your session in the following ways:

Specify SAS system options when you invoke SAS with the SAS command. This method is usually used for one-time overrides of the system option settings that would otherwise be in effect for your SAS session. See Specifying System Options in the SAS Command.
Specify SAS system options in a configuration file. This method is useful if you, as an individual user, always want to override the values of system options that are specified in your site's system configuration file, or if you always want particular system options to be in effect for a particular job. See Configuration Files.
Execute SAS statements (such as OPTIONS, LIBNAME, and FILENAME statements) in an autoexec file. This method is most useful for specifying options and files that pertain to a particular SAS application. See Autoexec Files.
Execute an OPTIONS statement in a SAS program. See Specifying System Options in the OPTIONS Statement.
If you are using the SAS windowing environment, change SAS system option settings from within the System Options window. See System Options Window.
If you are using the SAS windowing environment, specify a SASUSER library that contains a user Profile catalog. See The Sasuser Library.
Define or redefine OpenVMS logical names that SAS uses. See Customizing Your SAS Session Using OpenVMS Logical Names.
Specify SAS system options using the VMS_SAS_OPTIONS DCL symbol. See Specifying SAS Options in the VMS_SAS_OPTIONS DCL Symbol.

Note: For information about customizing your SAS windowing environment, see Customizing the SAS Windowing Environment. [cautionend]

If no system options are specified in the SAS command, a configuration file, or an autoexec file, then the default system options that are provided with SAS are in effect. However, your system manager might have overridden those default options. Ask your system manager for information about the default system options at your site.

For more information about SAS system options, see System Options under OpenVMS and SAS Language Reference: Dictionary.

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