Optional Arguments

ALTER=alter-password

provides the Alter password for any alter-protected SAS files named in the CHANGE statement. Because a CHANGE statement changes the names of SAS files, you need Alter access to use the CHANGE statement for new-name. You can use the option either in parentheses after the name of each SAS file or after a forward slash.

See:Using Passwords with the DATASETS Procedure

GENNUM=ALL | integer

restricts processing for generation data sets. You can use the option either in parentheses after the name of each SAS file or after a forward slash. The following list shows valid values:

ALL | 0

refers to the base version and all historical versions of a generation group.

integer

refers to a specific version from a generation group. Specifying a positive number is an absolute reference to a specific generation number that is appended to a data set's name (that is, gennum=2 specifies MYDATA#002). Specifying a negative number is a relative reference to a historical version in relation to the base version, from the youngest to the oldest (that is, gennum=-1 refers to the youngest historical version).

For example, the following statements change the name of version A#003 to base B:

proc datasets;    
   change A=B / gennum=3;  

proc datasets;    
   change A(gennum=3)=B;

The following CHANGE statement produces an error:

proc datasets;    
   change A(gennum=3)=B(gennum=3);

See:Restricting Processing for Generation Data Sets and Understanding Generation Data Sets in SAS Language Reference: Concepts

MEMTYPE=mtype

restricts processing to one member type. You can use the option either in parentheses after the name of each SAS file or after a forward slash.

Alias:MTYPE=, MT=

Default:If you do not specify MEMTYPE= in the PROC DATASETS statement, the default is MEMTYPE=ALL.

See:Restricting Member Types for Processing