The SAS Package Reader application
enables you to retrieve the contents of a SAS package as an archive
file from an archival location or from an e-mail attachment without
having to run SAS. An archive is denoted by a .spk file extension,
which is an abbreviation for SAS Package.
A read-only tool, SAS
Package Reader is useful for viewing individual package entries and
saving them to local files. SAS Package Reader launches an appropriate
viewer to enable you to see the content of the package entry. For
SAS data sets, it starts a built-in data set viewer; for all other
viewable data, it starts the Web browser that is already configured
on your system.
Note: Some entry types cannot
be viewed. Examples include viewer files, SAS catalogs, and SAS databases
(MDDB and DMDB files). If the selected entry type is not viewable,
then the View icon does not appear in the toolbar. In addition, if
you try to view a SAS data set that is password-protected, a message
is displayed saying that the data set cannot be accessed.
What you do with a package
corresponds to the type of consumer that you are and the type of information
that is contained in the package. Packages are created for specific
target consumers for definite purposes.
Because you do not need
SAS running in order to use SAS Package Reader, you do not need additional
SAS software licensed in order to retrieve packages.
For more information
about SAS Package Reader, see the product Help.