Common Terminology for Software Updates

These terms are used throughout this document, and so are defined here so you can understand how these terms are used in conjunction with SAS products.

maintenance release

software updates that you apply to the installed software at your site. Maintenance releases are cumulative. For example, the third maintenance release contains all of the new features and enhancements for the first, second, and third maintenance releases. If you choose not to install a maintenance release, then you automatically receive all of the content in that maintenance release when you next upgrade your version of SAS. For example, if you decide not to install the second maintenance release, then when you install the third maintenance release, you will get the software updates from the second and third maintenance releases.

In general, hot fixes are included in each maintenance release. However, additional hot fixes might be released after the maintenance release has shipped. To verify that you have the latest hot fixes for the products at your site, see Technical Support Hot Fixes at http://ftp.sas.com/techsup/download/hotfix/hotfix.html.

product-specific maintenance releases

a maintenance release for a specific product, such as the first maintenance release for SAS Forecast Server. This type of maintenance release includes software changes for a single SAS product.

SAS maintenance release

a maintenance release for SAS Foundation. This type of maintenance release includes software changes for multiple SAS products, such as Base SAS, SAS/GRAPH.

software updates

any update that can be made to your existing software. Upgrading to a new product release or applying a maintenance release are types of software updates.