are files that are
managed and maintained by your operating system, not by SAS. They
contain data or text or are files in which you want to store data
or text. They can also be SAS catalogs or output devices. Every SAS
job creates at least one external file, the SAS log. Most SAS jobs
create external files in the form of procedure output or output created
by a DATA step.
External files used
in a SAS session can store input for your SAS job as:
-
records of raw data that you want
to use as input to a DATA step
-
SAS programming statements that
you want to submit to the system for execution.
External files can
also store output from your SAS job as:
-
a SAS log (a record of your SAS
job)
-
a report written by a DATA step.
-
procedure output created by SAS
procedures, including regular list output, and, beginning in Version
7, HTML and PostScript output from the Output Delivery System (ODS).
The
PRINTTO procedure also enables you to direct procedure output to an
external file. For more information, see the PRINTO procedure in the
Base SAS Procedures Guide. See
SAS Output for more information about ODS.
Note: Database management system
(DBMS) files are a special category of files that can be read with
SAS/ACCESS software. For more information about DBMS files, see
About SAS/ACCESS Software and the
SAS/ACCESS documentation for your DBMS.
Operating Environment Information: Using external files with your SAS jobs entails significant operating-environment-specific
information. Refer to the SAS documentation for your operating environment
for more information.