Interface Library Engines
An interface library engine is a SAS engine that accesses files formatted by other
software. Interface library engines are not transparent to the user and must be explicitly
specified (for example, in the LIBNAME statement).
The following are interface library engines:
SPSS
reads SPSS portable file format. This file format is analogous to the transport format
for SAS data sets. The SPSS portable files (also called an export file) must be
created by using the SPSS EXPORT command. Under z/OS, the SPSS engine also
reads SPSS Release 9 files and SPSS-X files in either compressed or uncompressed
format.
OSIRIS
reads OSIRIS data and dictionary files in EBCDIC format.
BMDP
reads BMDP save files.
In addition, a view engine is an interface library engine that is used by SAS/ACCESS
software in order to retrieve data from files formatted by another vendor's software.
These engines enable you to read and write data directly to and from files formatted by a
database management system (DBMS), such as DB2 and ORACLE.
View engines enable you to use SAS procedures and statements in order to process data
values stored in these files without the cost of converting and storing them in files
formatted by SAS. Contact your on-site SAS support personnel for a list of the
SAS/ACCESS interfaces available at your site. For more information about
SAS/ACCESS features, see Chapter 31, “About SAS/ACCESS Software,” on page 703
and the SAS/ACCESS documentation for your DBMS.
Operating Environment Information
The capabilities and support of these engines vary depending on your operating
environment. See the SAS documentation for your operating environment for more
complete information.
Special-Purpose Engines
Character Variable Padding (CVP) Engine
The character variable padding (CVP) engine expands character variable lengths, using a
specified expansion amount, so that character data truncation does not occur when a file
requires transcoding. Character data truncation can occur when the number of bytes for a
character in one encoding is different from the number of bytes for the same character in
another encoding, such as when a single-byte character set (SBCS) is transcoded to a
double-byte character set (DBCS) or a multi-byte character set (MBCS).
The CVP engine is a read-only engine for SAS data files only. You can request character
variable expansion by either of the following methods:
• You can explicitly specify the CVP engine (for example, with the LIBNAME
statement, and using the default expansion of 1.5 times the variable lengths).
746 Chapter 35 • SAS Engines
• You can implicitly specify the CVP engine with the LIBNAME statement options
CVPBYTES= or CVPMULTIPLIER=. The options specify the expansion amount. In
addition, you can use the CVPENGINE= option to specify the primary engine to use
for processing the SAS file; the default is the default Base SAS engine.
For more information about using the CVP engine to avoid character data truncation and
for details about the CVP engine options in the LIBNAME statement, see SAS National
Language Support (NLS): Reference Guide.
SAS Information Maps LIBNAME Engine
The new SAS Information Maps LIBNAME engine provides a read-only way to access
data generated from a SAS Information Map and to bring it into a SAS session. Once
you retrieve the data, you can run almost any SAS procedure against it.
To use the Information Maps engine, specify INFOMAPS as the engine name, along
with specific arguments and options in the LIBNAME statement.
For information about how to use the Information Maps engine, see Base SAS Guide to
Information Maps.
SAS JMP LIBNAME Engine
The SAS JMP LIBNAME engine enables you to read and write JMP files in a Base SAS
session. A JMP file is a file format that the JMP software program creates. JMP is an
interactive statistics package that is available for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. For
more information about a JMP concept or term, see the JMP documentation that is
packaged with your system.
To use the JMP engine, specify JMP as the engine name, along with the location of a
SAS library in the LIBNAME statement. For example, the following code reads and
prints five observations from the JMP file Baseball.jmp:
libname b jmp 'C:JMPSampleData';
proc print data=b.baseball (obs=5);
run;
For information about how to use the JMP engine, see “LIBNAME Statement for the
JMP Engine” in SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files: Reference.
SAS Metadata LIBNAME Engine
The metadata engine accesses metadata that is stored on the SAS Metadata Server within
a specific SAS Metadata Repository. The metadata is information about the structure and
content of data, and about the applications that process and manipulate that data. The
metadata contains details such as the location of the data and the SAS engine that is used
to process the data.
The metadata engine works in a similar way to other SAS engines. That is, you execute a
LIBNAME statement to assign a libref and specify an engine. You then use that libref
throughout the SAS session where a libref is valid. However, instead of the libref being
associated with the physical location of a SAS library, the metadata libref is associated
with specific metadata objects that are stored in a specific repository on the metadata
server. The metadata objects define the SAS engine and options that are necessary to
process a SAS library and its members.
Special-Purpose Engines 747
When you execute the LIBNAME statement for the metadata engine, the metadata
engine retrieves information about the target SAS library from the metadata. The
metadata engine uses this information in order to construct a LIBNAME statement for
the underlying engine and assigns it with the appropriate options. Then, when the
metadata engine needs to access your data, the metadata engine uses the underlying
engine to process the data.
You invoke the metadata engine by explicitly specifying the engine name META, along
with specific arguments and options for the metadata engine (for example, in the
LIBNAME statement or in the New Library window).
For information about how to use the metadata engine, see SAS Language Interfaces to
Metadata.
SAS XML LIBNAME Engine
The SAS XML LIBNAME engine imports an XML document as one or more SAS data
sets and exports a SAS data set as an XML document.
• The engine imports (reads from an input file) an external XML document by
translating the XML markup into SAS proprietary format.
• The engine exports (writes to an output file) an XML document from a SAS data set
by translating SAS proprietary format to XML markup.
To use the XML engine, specify either the XML or XMLV2 engine nickname, along with
specific arguments and options (for example, in the LIBNAME statement or in the
New
Library window).
For information about how to use the XML engine, see the SAS XML LIBNAME Engine:
User’s Guide.
748 Chapter 35 • SAS Engines
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.