The Four Types of Programs

There are four types of Dispatcher programs:

• SAS Programs
• Source Entries
• SCL Entries
• Macro Entries

The input component of the Dispatcher application must pass a special variable named _PROGRAM. This variable names the program to run and also specifies the program type. The value for _PROGRAM is a three- or four-level name delimited by periods(.). The first level in the name indicates the Dispatcher program library where the program is stored. The last level in the name must be sas, source, scl, or macro.

SAS Programs

SAS programs are stored in external files, and these files must

• have a .sas filename extension on directory-based platforms. The filename must match the combined second and third levels in the value of _PROGRAM.
• be contained in a partitioned data set (PDS) on OS/390 systems. The PDS member name must match the second level in the value of _PROGRAM.

SAS programs can contain a DATA step, procedures, and macro code. This is the only program type not stored in a SAS catalog. The program name is case sensitive if the Application Server platform is case sensitive. The proper query string syntax for specifying a SAS program is

   _program=library.program.sas

Source Entries

Source entries are stored in SAS catalog entries with an entry type of SOURCE. They can contain the same code as SAS programs. The program names for source entries are not case sensitive. The proper query string syntax for specifying a program of this type is

   _program=library.catalog.program.source

SCL Entries

SCL entries are stored in SAS catalog entries with an entry type of SCL. They contain SCL code that must be compiled. Because SCL is a language that is most often used when programming full-screen applications, there are many functions, objects, and routines in SCL that require a full-screen environment. The Application Server is not a full-screen environment. This means that you must restrict your use of the SCL language to those functions, objects, and routines that are non-visual. Using full-screen components within the Dispatcher environment can produce unpredictable results and is not supported. The program names for SCL entries are not case sensitive. The proper query string syntax for specifying an SCL entry program is

   _program=library.catalog.program.scl

Macro Entries

Macro entries are stored in SAS catalog entries with an entry type of MACRO. They consist of compiled SAS macro language statements. These programs can be created with the STORE option in the %macro statement along with the SAS option SASMSTORE= to indicate a library. Using macro entries can speed up the execution of macro code when compared to SAS programs or source entries. Because the macro code contained within macro entries is stored in compiled form, there is a performance improvement. Names for macro entries are not case sensitive. The proper query string syntax for specifying a macro entry program is

   _program=library.catalog.program.macro

SAS software automatically creates stored compiled macros in a catalog named SASMACR. The Dispatcher allows you to copy these macro entries to any catalog name and run them. They do not have to be in a catalog named SASMACR for the Dispatcher to access them.