ACCESS Procedure Reference

UNIQUE Statement (Optional)

Generates unique SAS names based on item names.

Applies to:

view descriptors only

Syntax

UNIQUE= YES|NO|Y|N;

Details

The UNIQUE statement specifies whether the SAS/ACCESS interface should generate unique SAS variable names for items for which SAS variable names or variable attributes have not been specified.

You cannot use the UNIQUE statement when creating a view descriptor if ASSIGN=YES is specified in the access descriptor from which this view is derived. The YES value causes SAS to generate unique names, so the UNIQUE statement is not necessary.

If you omit the ASSIGN statement or specify ASSIGN=NO, the SAS/ACCESS interface continues to let duplicate SAS variable names exist. However, you must resolve any duplicate SAS variable names before saving (and thereby creating) the view descriptor. You can use the UNIQUE statement to automatically generate unique names, or you can use the RENAME statement to resolve duplicate names. For more information, see the RENAME Statement (Optional).

If duplicate SAS variable names exist in the access descriptor from which this view is derived, you can specify the UNIQUE statement to resolve the duplication. Specify UNIQUE=YES to cause the SAS/ACCESS interface to append numbers to any duplicate SAS variable names, thereby making each variable name unique.

If you are running your SAS/ACCESS job in noninteractive or batch mode, it is recommended that you use the UNIQUE statement. If you do not use the UNIQUE statement and SAS encounters duplicate SAS variable names in a view descriptor, the job will fail. UN is the alias.

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