Glossary: Glossary

Glossary

access control template: a reusable named authorization pattern that you can apply to multiple resources. An access control template consists of a list of users and groups and indicates, for each user or group, whether permissions are granted or denied. Short form: ACT.
ACT: See access control template.
ARM (Application Response Measurement): an application programming interface that was developed by an industry partnership and which is used to monitor the availability and performance of software applications. ARM monitors the application tasks that are important to a particular business.
attribute: a characteristic that is part of the standard metadata for an object. Examples of attributes include the object's name, creation date, and modification date.
authentication: the process of verifying the identity of a person or process within the guidelines of a specific authorization policy.
authorization: the process of determining which users have which permissions for which resources. The outcome of the authorization process is an authorization decision that either permits or denies a specific action on a specific resource, based on the requesting user's identity and group memberships.
batch mode: a method of running SAS programs in which you prepare a file that contains SAS statements plus any necessary operating system control statements and submit the file to the operating system. Execution is completely separate from other operations at your terminal. Batch mode is sometimes referred to as running in the background.
column: in relational databases, a vertical component of a table. Each column has a unique name, contains data of a specific type, and has certain attributes. A column is analogous to a variable in SAS terminology.
database management system: a software application that enables you to create and manipulate data that is stored in the form of databases. Short form: DBMS.
DBMS: See database management system.
encryption: the act or process of converting data to a form that only the intended recipient can read or use.
engine: a component of SAS software that reads from or writes to a file. Each engine enables SAS to access files that are in a particular file format.
job: a metadata object that specifies processes that create output.
libref: a short name for the full physical name of a SAS library. In the context of the SAS Metadata Repository, a libref is associated with a SAS library when the library is defined in the metadata repository.
localhost: a keyword that is used to specify the machine on which a program is executing. If a client specifies localhost as the server address, the client connects to a server that runs on the same machine.
metadata: data about data. For example, metadata typically describes resources that are shared by multiple applications within an organization. These resources can include software, servers, data sources, network connections, and so on. Metadata can also be used to define application users and to manage users' access to resources. Maintaining metadata in a central location is more efficient than specifying and maintaining the same information separately for each application.
metadata LIBNAME engine: the SAS engine that processes and augments data that is identified by metadata. The metadata engine retrieves information about a target SAS library from metadata objects in a specified metadata repository.
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.
observation: a row in a SAS data set. All of the data values in an observation are associated with a single entity such as a customer or a state. Each observation contains either one data value or a missing-value indicator for each variable.
row: in relational database management systems, the horizontal component of a table. A row is analogous to a SAS observation.
SAS data file: a type of SAS data set that contains data values as well as descriptor information that is associated with the data. The descriptor information includes information such as the data types and lengths of the variables, as well as the name of the engine that was used to create the data. See also SAS data set and SAS data view.
SAS data set: a file whose contents are in one of the native SAS file formats. There are two types of SAS data sets: SAS data files and SAS data views. SAS data files contain data values in addition to descriptor information that is associated with the data. SAS data views contain only the descriptor information plus other information that is required for retrieving data values from other SAS data sets or from files that are stored in other software vendors' file formats.
SAS data set option: an option that appears in parentheses after a SAS data set name. Data set options specify actions that apply only to the processing of that SAS data set.
SAS data view: a type of SAS data set that retrieves data values from other files. A SAS data view contains only descriptor information such as the data types and lengths of the variables (columns) plus other information that is required for retrieving data values from other SAS data sets or from files that are stored in other software vendors' file formats. SAS data views can be created by the SAS DATA step and by the SAS SQL procedure.
SAS library: a collection of one or more files that are recognized by SAS and that are referenced and stored as a unit. SAS libraries can be defined in a SAS Metadata Repository to provide centralized definitions for SAS applications.
SAS Management Console: a Java application that provides a single user interface for performing SAS administrative tasks.
SAS Metadata Model: a collection of metadata types that are used for saving information about application elements.
SAS Metadata Repository: one or more files that store metadata about application elements. Users connect to a SAS Metadata Server and use the SAS Open Metadata Interface to read metadata from or write metadata to one or more SAS Metadata Repositories. The metadata types in a SAS Metadata Repository are defined by the SAS Metadata Model.
SAS Metadata Server: a multi-user server that enables users to read metadata from or write metadata to one or more SAS Metadata Repositories. The SAS Metadata Server uses the Integrated Object Model (IOM), which is provided with SAS Integration Technologies, to communicate with clients and with other servers.
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 table: another term for SAS data set. See also SAS data set.
SAS/ACCESS software: a group of software interfaces, each of which makes data from a particular external database management system (DBMS) directly available to SAS, as well as making SAS data directly available to the DBMS.
statement option: a word that you specify in a particular SAS statement and which affects only the processing that that statement performs.
transformation: in SAS Data Integration Studio, a metadata object that specifies how to extract data, transform data, or load data into data stores. Each transformation that you specify in a process flow diagram generates or retrieves SAS code. You can specify user-written code in the metadata for any transformation in a process flow diagram.
variable: a column in a SAS data set or in a SAS data view. The data values for each variable describe a single characteristic for all observations.

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