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Assigning a Libref to Use with the IOM Provider

In this recipe, you learn two ways to assign a libref when you use the IOM Data Provider to open or create a table.

Applies to:	SAS IOM Data Provider
Implement using:	ADO or OLE DB

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Overview

A SAS libref is a label, or an alias, that is temporarily assigned to a folder so that the storage location (the full path, including drive and folder) is in a form that is recognized by SAS. You must use a libref whenever you use the IOM Data Provider to open or create a table. Following are two ways that you can assign a new libref:

• Method 1: Use ADO to Assign a Libref. Execute a LIBNAME statement through an ADO or OLE DB Command object.

• Method 2: Use the IOM DataService Class to Assign a Libref. Use the AssignLibref method from the IOM DataService class.

Both techniques assign a libref for the duration of the SAS session or until the libref is unassigned. When choosing between the two methods, consider the information in the following table:

If this is true	then it might be best to use
You are comfortable using the SAS LIBNAME statement	the first method
You are not using the SAS Workspace Manager to connect to your server	the first method, which eliminates the need for the SAS Workspace, Libref and Workspace Manager objects
You are using the Workspace Manager to connect to your server	the second method (For more information about connecting to an IOM server see Connecting to a Remote IOM Server.)
You want to know if the LIBNAME statement was successful	the first method, because the AssignLibref method has a return code
You want to take advantage of other methods and attributes on the Libref object	the second method

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Method 1: Using ADO to Assign a Libref

The following Visual Basic code fragment implements these three steps:

1. Sets the Command object's CommandText property to the LIBNAME statement.
2. Executes the Command object.
3. Uses the new LIBNAME in conjunction with a data set in the libref.

Note: For information about how to open a Connection object, see Opening an ADO Connection Object.

Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset
Dim cmd As ADODB.Command

Set rs = New ADODB.Recordset
Set cmd = New ADODB.Command

'Assume that obConnection is an opened ADO Connection object.
cmd.ActiveConnection = obConnection 

'Execute the Command object.
cmd.CommandType = adCmdText

'Assign a libref.
cmd.CommandText = "libname mylib 'c:\census\data'"
cmd.Execute

'Open a table in that libref.
rs.Open "mylib.cities", obConnection, adOpenStatic, adLockReadOnly, adCmdTableDirect    

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Method 2: Using the IOM DataService Class to Assign a Libref

The following Visual Basic code fragment implements these steps:

1. Uses the SAS Workspace Manager to establish a SAS workspace object.
2. From the SAS workspace object's DataService interface, calls the AssignLibref method.
3. Opens the connection.
4. Uses the new LIBNAME in conjunction with a data set in the libref.

Dim obSAS As SAS.Workspace
Dim obLibRef As SAS.Libref
Dim obWM As SASWorkspaceManager.WorkspaceManager
Dim obConnection As ADODB.Connection
Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset

Set obWM = New SASWorkspaceManager.WorkspaceManager
Set obConnection = New ADODB.Connection
Set rs = New ADODB.Recordset

' Establish a SAS workspace. 
Set obSAS = obWM.Workspaces.CreateWorkspaceByLogicalName("a", VisibilityProcess, "", "", s)

' Assign a libref.
Set obLibRef = obSAS.DataService.AssignLibref("mylib", "", "c:\census\data", "")

' Open a connection.
obConnection.Open "Provider=sas.IOMProvider.1;SAS Workspace ID=" & obSAS.UniqueIdentifier

' Open a table in that libref.
rs.Open "mylib.cities", obConnection, adOpenStatic, adLockReadOnly, adCmdTableDirect

obSAS, obLibRef and obWM are all SAS Integrated Object Model (IOM) objects. For more information about the SAS object hierarchy and how to instantiate workspace objects independently of the IOM provider, access the documentation for SAS Integration Technologies, which is located at support.sas.com/rnd/itech/library/library9.html. In the Developer's Guide under "Developing Windows Clients," see the section entitled "Class Documentation."