Package Retrieval

After a package is created, the transport, or destination, and other properties control how the package is delivered to the consumer.

Packages can be retrieved from these destinations:

• Archive
• Channel
• E-mail
• Message Queue
• WebDAV-Compliant Server

Archive

An archive is a single binary collection of all the items in a package. An archived package is also referred to as an SPK file, which is short for SAS Package. The consumer can use the stand-alone product SAS Package Reader to uncompress, or unzip, and use SPK files. The consumer can use SAS Package Retriever to access the package from the archive and to store it elsewhere.

If the consumer...		and the consumer wants to...			then use...
has not installed SAS		only read the package			SAS Package Reader
has installed SAS		save the package for continued use			SAS Package Retriever
has installed SAS		write a program using SAS software			Publish Package CALL routines
has not installed SAS		write a program using third-party software			third-party client software

For more information about configuring and publishing to an archive, see Archived Packages.

Channel

The publisher can use a subscriber-based channel to publish a package to a subscriber. However, the channel acts as a conduit through which the configured transport (either e-mail or message queue) actually delivers the package to the channel subscriber. The subscriber can define the preferred transport using personal subscription properties.

For example, whereas one subscriber to a channel might define personal package delivery via e-mail, another subscriber might define package delivery via a message queue.

For more information about configuring channels, subscribers, and subscriptions, see Subscription Channels.

E-mail

When the publisher publishes a package via e-mail, a package is delivered to a group of recipients who are listed and submitted to SAS software for processing. Choosing e-mail gives the publisher authority over who receives the package. The recipient, however, requires no knowledge about the publishing environment from which the package was sent, nor is the recipient responsible for subscribing to a delivery channel. Also, recipients do not have to be SAS users.

If the recipient...		and the recipient wants to...			then use...
has not installed SAS		only read the package			SAS Package Reader
has not installed SAS but has access to a Web browser		only read the package			a Web browser

Message Queue

A message queue is a named location to which the publisher can publish a package for subsequent retrieval and continued processing. Whereas e-mail is suited for delivering reports and views of data to a limited audience, a message queue is best used for collecting package data entries for continued processing and publishing in time-critical environments. Publishing to a queue and retrieval from a queue are entirely independent activities. The publishing software (SAS Publisher or programmatic) and the retrieval software (SAS Package Retriever or programmatic) communicate asynchronously without any knowledge of the location of the other software or even whether the other software is running.

If the consumer...		and the consumer wants to...			then use...
has installed SAS		save the package for continued use			SAS Package Retriever
has installed SAS		write a program using SAS software			Publish Package CALL routines
has not installed SAS		write a program using third-party software			third-party client software

WebDAV-Compliant Server

Whereas the traditional transports (archive, channel, e-mail, and message queue) are repositories for published package data that can be retrieved and reprocessed in a synchronous fashion, package delivery to a WebDAV-compliant server facilitates concurrent access to and update of package data on the Internet.

WebDAV is an acronym for Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning. Not limited as a delivery mechanism only, WebDAV is a core technology that extends the HTTP network protocol, enabling distributed Web authoring tools to be broadly interoperable. WebDAV extends the capability of the Web from that of a primarily read-only service. It provides an infrastructure that makes it a writeable, collaborative medium.

If the consumer...		and the consumer wants to...			then use...
has installed SAS		save the package for continued use			SAS Package Retriever
has installed SAS		write a program using SAS software			Publish Package CALL routines
has not installed SAS		write a program using third-party software			third-party client software