Glossary

ActiveX Data Objects

a simplified programming interface to OLE DB. Both ADO and OLE DB have been developed by Microsoft. Short form: ADO.

ActiveX Data Objects (Multidimensional)

an extension to the ADO programming interface that enables users to read multidimensional schema, to query cubes, and to retrieve the results. ADO MD accesses data through a multidimensional data provider such as the IOM Data Provider. ADO MD has been developed by Microsoft.

ActiveX Data Objects Extension for Data Definition Language and Security

an extension to the ADO programming interface that enables users to create, modify, and delete database objects such as tables. This extension, which is commonly referred to as ADOX, can also be used to manage user permissions and group permissions on database objects. Short form: ADOX.

ADO

See ActiveX Data Objects.

ADO MD

See ActiveX Data Objects (Multidimensional).

ADOX

See ActiveX Data Objects Extension for Data Definition Language and Security.

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.

authentication domain

a SAS internal category that pairs logins with the servers for which they are valid. For example, an Oracle server and the SAS copies of Oracle credentials might all be classified as belonging to an OracleAuth authentication domain.

bit mask

a string of bits that has a specific pattern of binary 0s and 1s that you use to compare with other values.

cube

See OLAP cube.

data provider

software that makes data available through the OLE DB interfaces to a consumer such as an ADO application.

data set

See SAS data set.

database management system

See

DBMS

See

DNS name

a name that is meaningful to people and that corresponds to the numeric TCP/IP address of a computer on the Internet. For example, www.alphaliteairways.com might be the DNS name for an Alphalite Airways Web server whose TCP/IP address is 192.168.145.6.

fatal error

an error that causes a program to end abnormally or that prevents the program from starting.

informat

See SAS informat.

Integrated Object Model server

See IOM server.

Internet Protocol Version 4

See IPv4.

Internet Protocol Version 6

See IPv6.

IOM server

a SAS object server that is launched in order to fulfill client requests for IOM services. Short form: IOM server.

IPv4

a protocol that specifies the format for network addresses for all computers that are connected to the Internet. This protocol, which is the predecessor of Internet Protocol Version 6, uses dot-decimal notation to represent 32-bit address spaces. An example of an Internet Protocol Version 4 address is 10.23.2.3. Short form: IPv4.

IPv6

a protocol that specifies the format for network addresses for all computers that are connected to the Internet. This protocol, which is the successor of Internet Protocol Version 4, uses hexadecimal notation to represent 128-bit address spaces. The format can consist of up to eight groups of four hexadecimal characters, delimited by colons, as in FE80:0000:0000:0000:0202:B3FF:FE1E:8329. As an alternative, a group of consecutive zeros could be replaced with two colons, as in FE80::0202:B3FF:FE1E:8329. Short form: IPv6

library reference

See libref.

libref

a SAS name that is associated with the location of a SAS library. For example, in the name MYLIB.MYFILE, MYLIB is the libref, and MYFILE is a file in the SAS library.

member-level access

a type of access to a SAS library that permits only one user to use a member (such as a SAS data set) at a time.

member-level locking

a method of restricting access to a library member by providing exclusive access to the user who owns the lock.

metadata

descriptive data about data that is stored and managed in a database, in order to facilitate access to captured and archived data for further use.

Object Linking and Embedding

See OLE.

ODBC

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.

OLAP cube

a logical set of data that is organized and structured in a hierarchical, multidimensional arrangement to enable quick analysis of data. A cube includes measures, and it can have numerous dimensions and levels of data.

OLE

a method of interprocess communication supported by Windows that involves a client/server architecture. OLE enables an object that was created by one application to be embedded in or linked to another application. Short form: OLE.

OLE DB

an open specification that has been developed by Microsoft for accessing both relational and nonrelational data. OLE DB interfaces can provide much of the same functionality that is provided by database management systems. OLE DB evolved from the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) application programming interface.

Open Database Connectivity

See ODBC.

padding a value with blanks

in SAS software, a process in which the software adds blanks to the end of a character value that is shorter than the length of the variable.

persisted information

information such as formatting that remains associated with a data source element such as a column even after the program that created or accessed the data has been terminated. Persisted information can be retrieved programmatically at any time.

record-level access

a type of access to a SAS data set or other file that permits more than one user to access the SAS data set or file at a time. Only one user can use a single observation or record of the file at a time, but other users can access other observations or records in the same file.

recordset

an ADO object that contains tabular (rows and columns) data. A recordset can be returned as a result of a query or an executed command.

result set

the set of rows or records that a server or other application returns in response to a query.

SAS catalog

a SAS file that stores many different kinds of information in smaller units called catalog entries. A single SAS catalog can contain different types of catalog entries.

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 whose contents are in other software vendors' file formats.

SAS informat

a type of SAS language element that applies a pattern to or executes instructions for a data value to be read as input. Types of informats correspond to the data's type: numeric, character, date, time, or timestamp. The ability to create user-defined informats is also supported. Examples of SAS informats are BINARY and DATE. Short form: informat.

SAS IOM workspace

in the IOM object hierarchy for a SAS Workspace Server, an object that represents a single session in SAS.

SAS Metadata Server

a multi-user server that enables users to read metadata from or write metadata to one or more SAS Metadata Repositories.

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 session

the activity between invoking and exiting a specific SAS software product.

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.

SAS/SHARE server

the result of an execution of the SERVER procedure, which is part of SAS/SHARE software. A server runs in a separate SAS session that services users' SAS sessions by controlling and executing input and output requests to one or more SAS libraries.

Sashelp library

a SAS library supplied by SAS software that stores the text for Help windows, default function-key definitions and window definitions, and menus.

sasroot

a representation of the name for the directory or folder in which SAS is installed at a site or a computer.

SASROOT

a term that represents the name of the directory or folder in which SAS is installed at your site or on your computer.

TCP/IP

an abbreviation for a pair of networking protocols. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a standard protocol for transferring information on local area networks such as Ethernets. TCP ensures that process-to-process information is delivered in the appropriate order. Internet Protocol (IP) is a protocol for managing connections between operating environments. IP routes information through the network to a particular operating environment and fragments and reassembles information in transfers.

WHERE expression

defines the criteria for selecting observations.

Work library

a temporary SAS library that is automatically defined by SAS at the beginning of each SAS session or SAS job. Unless you have specified a User library, any newly created SAS file that has a one- level name will be placed in the Work library by default and will be deleted at the end of the current SAS session or job.

workspace

See SAS IOM workspace.