Overview of the SAS/ACCESS Interface to CA-Datacom/DB

Purpose of the SAS/ACCESS Interface to CA-Datacom/DB

SAS/ACCESS software provides an interface between SAS and the CA-Datacom/DB database management system (DBMS). You can perform the following tasks with this SAS/ACCESS interface:

Create SAS/ACCESS descriptor files using the ACCESS procedure.
Directly access data in CA-Datacom/DB tables from within a SAS program, using the descriptor files created with the ACCESS procedure.
Extract CA-Datacom/DB data and place it in a SAS data file using the ACCESS procedure or the DATA step.
Update data in CA-Datacom/DB tables using the SQL procedure, the APPEND procedure, SAS/FSP software, or SAS/AF software.

This SAS/ACCESS interface consists of two parts:

the ACCESS procedure, which you use to define the SAS/ACCESS descriptor files
the interface view engine, which enables you to use CA-Datacom/DB data in SAS programs in much the same way as you use SAS data files

The ACCESS procedure enables you to describe CA-Datacom/DB data to SAS. You store the description in SAS/ACCESS descriptor files, which you can use in SAS programs much as you would use SAS data files. You can print, plot, and chart the data described by the descriptor files, use it to create other SAS data files, and so on. Using CA-Datacom/DB Data in SAS Programs presents several examples of using CA-Datacom/DB data in SAS programs. Browsing and Updating CA-Datacom/DB Data shows you how to use descriptor files to update CA-Datacom/DB data from within a SAS program.

The interface view engine is an integral part of the SAS/ACCESS interface, but you do not have to deal directly with the engine. SAS automatically interacts with the engine when you use view descriptors in your SAS programs, so you can simply use CA-Datacom/DB data just as you would use SAS data.

You can combine data from several CA-Datacom/DB tables. Such combinations are not only possible but easy to do. SAS can distinguish among SAS data files, SAS/ACCESS descriptor files, and other types of SAS files, and the software will use the appropriate access method. See Updating a SAS Data File with CA-Datacom/DB Data for an example.

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