Package Retrieval

After a package is created, the transport, or destination, and other properties control how the package is delivered to the consumer.

Packages can be retrieved from these destinations:

• Archive
• E-mail
• Message Queue
• WebDAV-Compliant Server

Archive

An archive is a single binary collection of all the items in a package. An archived package is also referred to as an SPK (SAS Package) file. Depending on your needs and on whether you have SAS installed, you can choose from the following products to access an archived package:

• You can use the stand-alone product SAS Package Reader to uncompress, or unzip, and use SPK files. SAS Package Reader can be used to read packages whether or not the consumer has SAS installed.

• The consumer can use SAS Package Retriever to access an archived package and to store it elsewhere for continued use. SAS must be installed in order to use the SAS Package Retriever.

• If SAS is installed, then you can also use the Publish Package CALL routines in order to write SAS programs, including stored processes, that create, populate, publish, and retrieve packages.

• If SAS is not installed, then you can use third-party client software in order to write a third-party client application that uses SAS Integration Technologies to access Integrated Object Model (IOM) servers. The Integrated Object Model provides distributed object interfaces for conventional SAS features. This enables you to develop component-based applications that integrate SAS features into the enterprise application.

For more information about configuring and publishing to an archive, see Archived Packages.

E-mail

When the publisher publishes a package via e-mail, the package is delivered to a list of recipients which is submitted to SAS software for processing. Choosing e-mail gives the publisher authority over who receives the package. The recipient, however, requires no knowledge about the publishing environment from which the package was sent, nor must the recipient subscribe to a delivery channel. Also, recipients do not have to be SAS users. A recipient who has not installed SAS can use SAS Package Reader or a Web browser in order to read the package.

Message Queue

A message queue is a named location to which the publisher can publish a package for subsequent retrieval and continued processing. Although e-mail is suited for delivering reports and views of data to a limited audience, a message queue is best used for collecting package data entries for continued processing and publishing in time-critical environments. Publishing to a queue, and retrieval from a queue, are entirely independent activities. The publishing software (SAS Publisher or programmatic software) and the retrieval software (SAS Package Retriever or programmatic software) communicate asynchronously without any knowledge of the location of the other software, or even whether the other software is running.

You can use the following products to access a package on a message queue:

• The consumer can use SAS Package Retriever to access a package on the queue and to store it elsewhere for continued use. SAS must be installed in order to use the SAS Package Retriever.

• If SAS is installed, then you can also use the Publish Package CALL routines in order to write SAS programs, including stored processes, that create, populate, publish, and retrieve packages.

• If SAS is not installed, then you can use third-party client software in order to write a third-party client application that uses SAS Integration Technologies to access Integrated Object Model (IOM) servers. The Integrated Object Model provides distributed object interfaces for conventional SAS features. This enables you to develop component-based applications that integrate SAS features into the enterprise application.

WebDAV-Compliant Server

Whereas the traditional transports (archive, channel, e-mail, and message queue) are repositories for published package data that can be retrieved and reprocessed in a synchronous fashion, package delivery to a WebDAV-compliant server facilitates concurrent access to and update of package data on the Internet.

WebDAV is an acronym for Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning. WebDAV is not only a delivery mechanism, but also a core technology that extends the HTTP network protocol, enabling distributed Web authoring tools to be broadly interoperable. WebDAV extends the capability of the Web from that of a primarily read-only service, to a writable, collaborative medium.

You can use the following products to access a package on a WebDAV server:

• The consumer can use SAS Package Retriever to access a package on the WebDAV server and to store it elsewhere for continued use. SAS must be installed in order to use the SAS Package Retriever.

• If SAS is installed, then you can also use the Publish Package CALL routines in order to write SAS programs, including stored processes, that create, populate, publish, and retrieve packages.

• If SAS is not installed, then you can use third-party client software in order to write a third-party client application that uses SAS Integration Technologies to access Integrated Object Model (IOM) servers. The Integrated Object Model provides distributed object interfaces for conventional SAS features. This enables you to develop component-based applications that integrate SAS features into the enterprise application.