Using the Libraries Tab

Purpose of the Libraries Tab

Each DSN is associated with a server, and a server can access multiple data libraries. Therefore, you provide information about each data library that you want to access from a server.

This tab has the following fields:

Libraries

provides a list of libraries that are associated with a DSN.

Name

identifies the name for an existing physical SAS library that you want to access. (If you are familiar with SAS, this field corresponds to the libref in the SAS LIBNAME statement.) The name can be up to eight characters. The first character must be a letter or an underscore. Subsequent characters can be letters, numeric digits, or underscores. Blank spaces and special characters are not allowed. For example, you might use the name cost to designate a library of cost accounting data.

Host file

identifies the pathname of the library. For example, c:\data\costacct, d:\data, or \\acctsrv\customers. If you connect to a SAS/SHARE server, then identify the pathname of the library on the machine that is hosting the SAS/SHARE server.

Description

identifies a description of the library. Providing this value is optional.

Engine

identifies the name of the SAS engine that is required for writing to and reading from this library. This setting is necessary only if you do not want to use the V9 engine, which is the default for SAS 9.2. For information about other engines that might be available, see the description of the LIBNAME statement in the SAS Companion for Windows. Providing this value is optional.

Options

identifies options for the library that you are defining, such as ACCESS=READONLY.

Defining Libraries at Server Start-Up Time

Server administrators might prefer to define SAS libraries at server start-up time, rather than defining them through the SAS ODBC Driver dialog boxes. Defining libraries at server start-up time can make opening the data source faster. It enables you to avoid hardcoding the physical names of your libraries in your SAS ODBC data source definitions.

In SAS Servers, the SAS ODBC Driver uses a SAS/SHARE server (invoked by PROC SERVER) to access remote data. It uses a SAS ODBC server (invoked by PROC ODBCSERV) to access local data. To define a data library at server start-up time, you precede the PROC SERVER or PROC ODBCSERV statement with a SAS LIBNAME statement. For example, you could define a library of cost accounting data to a SAS/SHARE server as follows:

libname cost 'c:\data\costacct';
proc server id=acctserv authenticate=optional;
run;

Note: Depending on whether the server is running in secured mode, the authenticate=optional option might not be needed.

To define this library to a SAS ODBC server, you would add only the previous LIBNAME statement to the !SASROOT\core\sasmacro\sasodbc.sas file.

When a user requests access to a SAS ODBC data source from an ODBC client application, the server automatically makes the library available, along with any libraries that were defined on the Libraries tab.

For more information about the LIBNAME statement, see the SAS Companion for the operating system under which your data library is stored.

Deleting a Data Library Definition

To delete a defined data library, complete these steps:

Select the library name from the Libraries on the Libraries page.
Click Remove.

Modifying a Data Library Definition

To change the information for a defined library, complete these steps:

Select the library name from the Libraries list on the Libraries page.
Make changes to the Host File, Description, Engine, and Options fields.
Click Update to save your changes.