INFOMAPS Procedure

NEW INFOMAP Statement

Creates a new information map.

Syntax

NEW INFOMAP "information-map-name" <options>;

Summary of Optional Arguments

AUTO_REPLACE=YES | NO

indicates whether the specified information map is automatically replaced if it already exists.

CREATE_TARGET_FOLDER=YES | NO

specifies whether to automatically create a folder when inserting all data items from a data source.

CUSTOM_PROPERTIES=(custom-properties-list)

specifies additional properties for an information map.

DESCRIPTION="descriptive-text"

specifies the description of the information map that is created.

INIT_CAP=YES | NO

specifies whether to capitalize the first letter of each word in the data item name.

JOIN_MODEL=BASIC | ADVANCED

specifies the join strategy that is used during query generation.

MAPPATH="location" </CREATE>

specifies the location within the SAS folders tree for the new information map.

REPLACE_UNDERSCORES=YES | NO

specifies whether to replace each underscore (_) character in the data item name with a blank space.

USE_LABELS=YES | NO

specifies whether to create the data item name using the column label (if available) instead of the column name.

VERIFY=YES | NO

specifies whether the INFOMAPS procedure verifies the validity of data items, filters, and relationships in subsequent Insert or Update operations.

Required Argument

"information-map-name"

specifies the name of the new information map.

Restrictions:The following characters are not valid in information map names:

null characters
non-blank nonprintable characters

An information map name can contain blank spaces, but it cannot contain leading or trailing blank spaces and cannot consist of only blank spaces.

Information map names can be up to 60 characters long. However, if you plan to access the information map in SAS programs using the Information Maps engine, then you should specify a name with no more than 32 characters, which is the maximum length for SAS names.

Optional Arguments

AUTO_REPLACE=YES | NO: indicates whether the specified information map is automatically replaced if it already exists. If the AUTO_REPLACE= option is set to YES and the information map already exists, then the existing information map is replaced with a new empty information map. If the AUTO_REPLACE= option is set to NO and the information map already exists, then an error occurs.

Default:NO

Note:The information map is not replaced until you successfully save the map.

CREATE_TARGET_FOLDER=YES | NO: specifies whether to automatically create a folder when inserting all data items from a data source. Specifying YES automatically creates a folder when you subsequently insert data items using INSERT DATASOURCE statements that specifies the _ALL_ option. The ID of the data source is used as the name of the folder. All of the data items that are inserted as a result of the INSERT DATASOURCE statement are inserted into the folder that is created automatically.

Default:YES

CUSTOM_PROPERTIES=(custom-properties-list)

specifies additional properties for an information map. Custom properties are supported by specific SAS applications such as SAS Marketing Automation. The form of the custom-properties-list value is

("property-name-1" "property-value-1" <"description-1">)

...

("property-name-n" "property-value-n" <"description-n">)

where

property-name: specifies the name of the property.

Restriction:Property names cannot begin with an underscore (_) character.

Requirement:Property names must be unique. If a specified property name already exists for an information map, then the NEW INFOMAP statement will fail. Therefore, it is recommended that you add a prefix or suffix to the property name to ensure uniqueness.

property-value: specifies the value of the property.

description: specifies the description of the property. The description is optional.

DESCRIPTION="descriptive-text": specifies the description of the information map, which can be viewed by the information map consumer.

Alias:DESC=

INIT_CAP=YES | NO: specifies whether to capitalize the first letter of each word in the data item name. Specifying YES capitalizes the first letter of each word in the names of data items that you insert subsequently using INSERT DATASOURCE statements with either the _ALL_ or the COLUMNS= option specified or INSERT DATAITEM statements with the COLUMN= option specified.

Default:YES

Tip:When you specify INIT_CAP=YES, the option replaces multiple consecutive blank spaces within a data item name with a single blank space, and it removes trailing blank spaces.

JOIN_MODEL=BASIC | ADVANCED: specifies the join strategy that is used during query generation. By default, the INFOMAPS procedure applies a basic join strategy that is appropriate when the information map is based on a simple star schema (a single fact table with multiple dimensions). Specify JOIN_MODEL=ADVANCED if your information map contains more than one measure data item that is derived from more than one data source (multiple fact tables). The advanced join model prevents inflated query results when there is a MANY-to-MANY cardinality between selected measures that exist in two or more tables.

Default:BASIC

MAPPATH="location" </CREATE>

specifies the location within the SAS folders tree for the new information map. The location is required unless a location has been specified in the PROC INFOMAPS statement.

/CREATE: specifies that the location is created automatically, if it does not already exist.

Alias:LOCATION=

Interaction:The location from the NEW INFOMAP statement overrides the location from the PROC INFOMAPS statement.

REPLACE_UNDERSCORES=YES | NO: specifies whether to replace each underscore (_) character in the data item name with a blank space. Specifying YES replaces underscores in the names of data items that you insert subsequently using INSERT DATASOURCE statements with either the _ALL_ or the COLUMNS= option specified or INSERT DATAITEM statements with the COLUMN= option specified.

Default:YES

USE_LABELS=YES | NO: specifies whether to create the data item name using the column label (if available) instead of the column name. Specifying YES uses the column label instead of the column name for data items that you insert subsequently using INSERT DATASOURCE statements with either the _ALL_ or the COLUMNS= option specified or INSERT DATAITEM statements with the COLUMN= option specified.

Default:YES

Restriction:This option applies only to a relational data source.

VERIFY=YES | NO: specifies whether the INFOMAPS procedure verifies the validity of data items, filters, and relationships in subsequent Insert or Update operations. Setting the VERIFY option to NO improves performance, but doing so introduces the risk that invalid data items, filters, or relationships could get saved into an information map.

Default:YES

Details

The NEW INFOMAP statement creates a new information map. When you open an information map that does not yet exist, the INFOMAPS procedure allocates space in memory for its creation. After that, you can start inserting business data into the copy of the information map in memory. Save the information map with a SAVE statement to write the in-memory copy to the SAS folders tree.

Only one information map can be created at a time. If you submit one NEW INFOMAP statement, you must save the new information map with a SAVE statement before submitting another NEW INFOMAP, UPDATE INFOMAP, or IMPORT statement. If you do not save the in-memory copy, it is not written to the SAS folders tree and is simply lost.

Example

new infomap "my testmap"
      mappath="/Users/myUserID/My Folder"
      verify=no
      description="Map for Domestic Customers";