UTILLOC= System Option

Specifies one or more file system locations in which enabled threaded applications can store utility files.
Valid in: configuration file and SAS invocation
Category: Files: SAS Files
PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES
Note: This option can be restricted by a site administrator. For more information, see Restricted Options.
See: UTILLOC= System Option: z/OS in SAS Companion for z/OS

Syntax

Syntax Description

WORK
specifies that SAS creates utility files in the same directory as the Work library.
This is the default.
location
specifies the location of an existing directory for utility files that are created by applications. Enclose location in single or double quotation marks when the location contains spaces.
z/OS specifics:On z/OS each location is a list of DCB and SMS options to be used when creating utility files.
(location-1 ... location-n)
specifies a list of existing directories that can be accessed in parallel for utility files that are created by applications. A single utility file cannot span locations. Enclose a location in single or double quotation marks when the location contains spaces. Any location that does not exist is deleted from the value of the UTILLOC= system option.
Requirement:If you have more than one location, then you must enclose the list of locations in parentheses.
z/OS specifics:On z/OS, each location is a list of DCB and SMS options to be used when creating utility files.

Details

The UTILLOC option specifies one or more locations for a type of utility file that is introduced as part of the SAS 9 architecture. These utility files are comparable to SAS files with a type of UTILITY, but they are not members of the Work library or any other SAS library. UTILLOC utility files are primarily used by applications that are enabled for multiple threads of execution.
Each location that is specified for the UTILLOC option identifies a single place at which utility files can be created. If multiple locations are specified, then the locations are used on a rotating basis by SAS applications as utility files are required.
For applications that use multiple utility files at the same time, specifying multiple locations that correspond to separate physical I/O devices might improve performance by reducing competition for device resources.
For the SORT procedure, the UTILLOC= system option affects the placement of the utility files only if the multi-threaded SAS sort is used. The multi-threaded SAS sort can be invoked when the THREAD system option is specified and the value of the CPUCOUNT= system option is greater than 1. The multi-threaded SAS sort can also be invoked when you specify the THREADS option in the PROC SORT statement. The multi-threaded sort stores all temporary data in a single utility file within one of the locations that are specified by the UTILLOC= system option. The size of this utility file is proportional to the amount of data that is read from the input data set. A second utility file of the same size can be created in another of these locations when the amount of data that is read from the input data set is large or the amount of memory that is available to the SORT procedure is small.

See Also

Support for Parallel Processing in SAS Language Reference: Concepts
Procedures:
SORT Procedure in Base SAS Procedures Guide