Use the TYPE= data set option in a DATA step to create a special data set in the proper
format. In a procedure
statement, use the option to identify the special type of the data set.
You can use the CONTENTS procedure to determine the type of a data set.
Most data sets do not have a specified type. However, there are several specially
structured SAS data sets that are used by some
SAS/STAT procedures. These data
sets contain special columns and rows, and they are usually created
by SAS statistical procedures. Because most of the special data sets
are used with SAS/STAT software, they are described in SAS/STAT
User’s Guide.
Other values are available
in other SAS software products and are described in the appropriate
documentation.
Note: If you use a DATA step with
a SET statement to modify a special SAS data set, you must specify
the TYPE= option in the DATA statement. The data-set-type is
not automatically copied to the data set that is created.