It is
a suggested practice (but not a requirement) to match or closely match
the LIBNAME, pathname, and other optional pathnames for consistency.
The following examples illustrate a domain declaration that is easy
to follow, and a domain declaration that requires more concentration
to follow.
Example
of intuitive names in a libnames.parm file:
LIBNAME=SPDS123 PATHNAME=c:\data\spds123
OPTIONS="
DATAPATH=('d:\data\spds123'
'e:\data\spds123')
INDEXPATH=('f:\idx\spds123')";
In the
previous example, the declared domain name, pathname, data pathname,
and index pathname are all "spds123".
Example
of non-intuitive names in a libnames.parm file:
LIBNAME=BADEXAMPL PATHNAME=c:\data\myspds
OPTIONS="
DATAPATH=('d:\data\datapath1'
'e:\data\datapath2')
INDEXPATH=('f:\idx\index')" ;
The non-intuitive
names example uses different names for the declared domain name, pathname,
data pathname, and index pathname. The structure is technically valid,
but is also unnecessarily complex.
In summary,
it is a good idea to use the same name that is declared as a LIBNAME
domain as the destination directory name for pathname, data path,
and index path specifications.
The directories
that are specified in domain pathname, data path, and index path statements
should correspond to one and only one domain. In the intuitive names
example, the pathname, data path, and index path specifications point
to separate, unique paths that end with the directory name pds123,
which corresponds to the domain spds123. If a domain spds456 exists,
it should have its own unique domain pathname, data path, and index
path specifications, and share no specified path with spds123 or any
other domain.