Glossary

access descriptor

a SAS/ACCESS file that describes data that is managed by SAS, by a database management system, or by a PC-based software application such as Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, or dBASE. After creating an access descriptor, you can use it as the basis for creating one or more view descriptors. See also SAS/ACCESS view and view descriptor.

access method

the communications protocol that the SAS ODBC driver uses to exchange data with a SAS server. The driver currently supports the use of TCP/IP and Network DDE for remote data exchange, and DDE for local data exchange.

API

See application programming interface.

application programming interface

a set of software functions that facilitate communication between applications and other kinds of programs or services. Short form: API.

data source name

a name that is associated with a data source definition. The data source definition specifies how to locate and access a data source, including any authentication (such as a user name and password) that a user must supply in order to access the data. Short form: DSN.

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.

DDE

See Dynamic Data Exchange.

DSN

See data source name.

Dynamic Data Exchange

a standard mechanism in the PC environment for sharing data among applications. Short form: DDE.

file DSN

a data source name that is stored completely within a file (unlike a user DSN or a system DSN, which are stored in the Windows registry).

ODBC

See Open Database Connectivity.

ODBC driver

a loadable library module that provides a standardized interface for accessing, manipulating, and updating data that is created and maintained by a particular vendor's data management software. For example, the SAS ODBC Driver enables you to access, manipulate, and update SAS data sources from any application that conforms to the ODBC standard. See also Open Database Connectivity.

Open Database Connectivity

an interface standard that provides a common application programming interface (API) for accessing data. Many software products that run in the Windows operating environment adhere to this standard so that you can access data that was created using other software products. Short form: ODBC.

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/ACCESS view

a type of file that retrieves data values from files that are stored in other software vendors' file formats. You use the ACCESS procedure of SAS/ACCESS software to create SAS/ACCESS views. See also view descriptor.

SPD Server

a SAS Scalable Performance Data Server. An SPD Server restructures data in order to enable multiple threads, running in parallel, to read and write massive amounts of data efficiently.

system DSN

a data source name that can be accessed by any user of the system on which the data source is stored. System DSNs are stored in the Windows registry.

user DSN

a data source name that can be accessed only by the user who created it. User DSNs are stored in the Windows registry.

view descriptor

a file created by SAS/ACCESS software that defines part or all of the database management system (DBMS) data or PC file data that is described by an access descriptor. The access descriptor describes the data in a single DBMS table, DBMS view, or PC file. See also access descriptor.