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Dictionary of ODS Language Statements

ODS PATH Statement


Specifies locations to write to or read from when creating or using PROC TEMPLATE definitions and the order in which to search for them.
Valid: anywhere
Category: ODS: Output Control
Tip: This statement overrides the ODS PATH statement for the duration of a PROC TEMPLATE step.
Tip: You can use the SYSODSPATH automatic macro variable to store the current ODS path. For information on the SYSODSPATH macro variable, see SAS Macro Language: Reference.
Syntax
Required Arguments
Options

Syntax

PATH <(APPEND) | (PREPEND) | (REMOVE) > location(s);
PATH path-argument;


Required Arguments

location(s)

specifies one or more locations to write to or read from when creating or using PROC TEMPLATE definitions and the order in which to search for them. ODS searches the locations in the order that they appear on the statement. It uses the first definition that it finds that has the appropriate access mode (read, write, or update) set.

Each location has the following form:

<libref.>item-store <(READ | UPDATE | WRITE)>

<libref.>item-store

identifies an item store to read from, to write to, or to update. If an item store does not already exist, then the ODS PATH statement will create it.

(READ | UPDATE | WRITE)

specifies the access mode for the definition. The access mode is one of the following:

READ

provides read-only access.

WRITE

provides Write access (always creating a new template store) as well as Read access.

UPDATE

provides Update access (creating a new template store only if the specified one does not exist) as well as Read access.

Default: READ
Default: The general default path is:

SASUSER.TEMPLAT (UPDATE)

SASHELP.TMPLMST (READ)

Note:   SAS stores all the definitions that it provides in SASHELP.TMPLMST.  [cautionend]

If you have the RSASUSER SAS system option specified, the default path is:

WORK.TEMPLAT(UPDATE)

SASUSER.TEMPLAT (READ)

SASHELP.TMPLMST (READ)

Note:   See the RSASUSER SAS system option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary for more information.  [cautionend]
Interaction: You can use the PATH statement in a PROC TEMPLATE step to temporarily override the ODS PATH statement (see PATH Statement in PROC TEMPLATE).
Tip: If you want to be able to ignore all definitions that you create, then keep them in their own item stores so that you can leave them out of the list of item stores that ODS searches.
path-argument

specifies the setting or displaying of the ODS path.

path-argument can be one of the following:

RESET

sets the ODS path to the default settings SASUSER.TEMPLAT (UPDATE) and SASHELP.TMPLMST (READ).

SHOW

displays the current ODS path.

VERIFY

sets the ODS path to include only templates supplied by SAS. VERIFY is the same as specifying ODS PATH SASHELP.TMPLMST (READ).


Options

(APPEND | PREPEND | REMOVE )

adds or removes one or more locations to a path.

APPEND

adds one or more locations to the end of a path. When you append a location to a path, all duplicate instances (same name and same permissions) of that item store are removed from the path. Only the last item store with the same name and permissions are kept.

PREPEND

adds one or more locations to the beginning of a path. When you prepend a location with update permissions to a path, all duplicate instances (same name and same permissions) of that item store are removed from the path. Only the first item store with the same name and permissions are kept.

REMOVE

removes one or more locations from a path.

Default: If you do not specify an APPEND, PREPEND, or REMOVE option, then the ODS PATH statement overwrites the complete path.

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