What's New

What's New in the SAS 9.2 XML LIBNAME Engine

SAS 9.2 provides two versions for XML LIBNAME engine functionality.

By specifying the engine nickname XML, you access the SAS 9.1.3 XML engine functionality.
By specifying the engine nickname XML92, you access the new SAS 9.2 XML engine functionality with enhancements and changes.

Note: In the third maintenance release for SAS 9.2, XML92 functionality is production, except for the WSDL markup type, which is preproduction.

Note: In the z/OS environment, XML92 functionality is preproduction.

The XML92 engine nickname provides the following enhancements and changes:

an enhanced LIBNAME statement
new XMLMap functionality
diagnostics of obsolete syntax

See Understanding the XML LIBNAME Engine Versions: XML and XML92.

The LIBNAME Statement Syntax has the following enhancements for the XML92 engine nickname. Some functionality is for SAS 9.2 Phase 2 and later, and some functionality is for the third maintenance release for SAS 9.2.

In addition to assigning a libref to a specific XML document, you can assign a libref to the physical location of a SAS library in a directory-based environment.
The XMLTYPE= option now supports the XMLMAP markup type. The XMLMAP markup type specifies that the XML markup is determined by an XMLMap, which tells the XML engine how to interpret an XML document that is being imported or a SAS data set that is being exported.
For SAS 9.2 Phase 2 and later, the XMLTYPE= option supports the WSDL markup type. The WSDL markup type supports the markup standards of the Web Services Description Language (WSDL). Specifying the WSDL markup type enables the XML engine to invoke a Web service and import the Web service results. The PARMS= data set option is provided to specify the input parameters SAS data set when importing Web service results. See Importing Web Service Results Using the WSDL Markup Type (Preproduction) and PARMS= Data Set Option.
For the third maintenance release for SAS 9.2, there are several new options for the WSDL markup type. For a list of the new options, see LIBNAME Statement Options.

For both the XML and XML92 engine nicknames, the value RELAX for the XMLPROCESS= option has changed to PERMIT. XMLPROCESS=PERMIT accepts character data that does not conform to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications. Use XMLPROCESS=PERMIT cautiously; this value is provided as a convenience. If an XML document has non-escaped characters, the content is not standard XML construction.

New XMLMap Functionality

XMLMap functionality has the following enhancements for the XML92 engine nickname:

You can now export an XML document from a SAS data set using the XMLMap that was created to import the XML document. The XMLMap tells the XML engine how to map the SAS format (variables and observations) into the specific XML document structure. See Exporting XML Documents Using an XMLMap.
The XMLMap Syntax Version 1.9 has the following enhancements:
- The new OUTPUT, HEADING, ATTRIBUTE, and TABLEREF elements enable you to include file attribute information in the exported XML document.
- The COLUMN element now supports the replace= attribute, which controls concatenation of data. The COLUMN element also supports the class= attribute, which determines the type of generated variable.
- The new DECREMENT-PATH element defines when to decrement the accumulated value for a counter variable.

Obsolete Syntax

For the XML92 engine nickname, the following syntax is obsolete:

The OIMDBM and HTML markup types for the XMLTYPE= option in the LIBNAME statement are obsolete.
The OIMSTART= option in the LIBNAME statement is obsolete.
You can no longer specify the XMLMAP= option as a data set option. You must specify the XMLMap in the LIBNAME statement for the XML engine.