National Language
Support (NLS) is a set of features that enable a software product
to function properly in every global market in which the product is
sold. Typically, software that is written in the English language
works well for users who use English and use data that is formatted
using the conventions that are observed in the United States. However,
without NLS, these products might not work well for users in other
regions of the world. NLS in SAS enables users in regions, such as
Asia and Europe to process data successfully in their native languages
and environments.
SAS IT Resource Management
uses NLS formats for dates and numbers in template table columns,
staged table columns, and aggregation table columns. If a column uses
NLS formatting, the value in the
Format column
of the table begins with “NL”, such as
NLNUM16.0. These
NLS values in the
Format column of the tables
use the following naming convention:
-
NLNUM indicates
that the data value is numeric.
-
NLDATE indicates
that the data value is a date (without the time component).
-
NLDATM indicates
that the data value is a date (with the time component).
-
The number before the period indicates
the maximum number of characters (including numerals, commas, and
dots) that the data value can have.
-
The number following the period
indicates the number of decimal places that the data value can have.
For example, if a table
column has the value NLNUM16.2 in the Format column
of the table, then you know that the data value is numeric, it has
a maximum of 16 characters (including numerals, commas, and dots),
and it has two decimal places. In this case, NLS enables the same
data value to be presented in different ways. For example, a data
value, such as 1,000,000,123.75 in the United States might be rendered
as 1.000.000.123,75 in some European regions based on the system locale.
Dates and times have
many representations also, depending on the conventions that are accepted
in a culture. The month might be represented as a number or as a name.
The name might be fully spelled or abbreviated. The order of the month,
day, and year might differ according to locale. Likewise, time can
be represented in one English-speaking country or region by using
the 12-hour notation. However, other English speakers might expect
time values to be formatted using the 24-hour notation.
In order to have
NLS present data in the format that represents the traditional form
that your users might expect, you can specify the locale setting when
invoking SAS. A locale reflects the language, local conventions, such
as data formatting, and culture for a geographical region. Local conventions
might include specific formatting rules for dates, times, and numbers,
and a currency symbol for the country or region. You can use the LOCALE=
system option to specify the locale of the SAS session at SAS invocation.
Note: For more information about
how to set the locale for your system, see the SAS National
Language Support (NLS): User's Guide.