SAS System Options under Windows

SAS system options control many aspects of your SAS session, including output destinations, the efficiency of program execution, and the attributes of SAS files and data libraries. System options can be specified various ways: in the SAS command, in a SAS configuration file, using PROC OPTLOAD or the DMOPTLOAD command (PROC OPTLOAD and the DMOPTLOAD command load options settings that were previously saved in a SAS data set). in an OPTIONS statement (either in a SAS program or in a SAS autoexec file), in the System Options window, or in SCL programs. Summary of System Options for Windows gives specific information about where each SAS system option can be specified.

Once a system option is set, it affects all subsequent DATA and PROC steps in a program or SAS session until it is respecified. For example, the CENTER system option affects all subsequent output from a program, regardless of the number of steps in the program.

Some SAS system options have the same effect (and usually the same name) as data set or statement options. For example, the BUFSIZE system option is analogous to the BUFSIZE= data set option. In the case of overlapping options, SAS uses the following rules of precedence:

Restricted options are system options whose values are determined by the site administrator and cannot be overridden. The site administrator can create a restricted options table that specifies the option values that are restricted when SAS starts. Any attempt to modify a system option that is listed in the restricted options table results in a message to the SAS log indicating that the system option has been restricted by the site administrator and cannot be updated. For more information about restricted options, see Restricted Options in SAS System Options: Reference.