C

cache

a small, fast memory area that holds recently accessed data. The cache is designed to speed up subsequent access to the same data.

catalog

See SAS catalog.

catalog entry

See SAS catalog entry.

character constant

one or more characters enclosed in quotation marks in a SAS statement (sometimes called a character literal). The maximum number of characters allowed is 200. See also character string.

character set

the set of characters and symbols that are used by a language or group of languages. A character set includes national-language characters (characters that are specific to a particular language or country), special characters (such as punctuation marks), the unaccented Latin characters A-Z, the digits 0-9, and control characters that are needed by the computer.

character string

one or more alphanumeric characters or other keyboard characters or both. See also character constant.

character value

a value that can contain alphabetic characters, the numeric characters 0 through 9, and other special characters.

class

in object-oriented programming, the template or model for an object. A class includes data that describes the object's characteristics (attributes or instance variables ) and the operations ( methods ) that the object can perform. See also subclassing, object.

client

(1) a computer or application that requests services, data, or other resources from a server. (2) in the context of named pipes and in DDE and OLE, an application that sends data to or receives data from an application that is acting as a server. See also server.

clipboard

a temporary storage place for data that is being passed from one application to another. For example, in Windows operating environments, you can use the clipboard to pass information between Excel and your SAS session.

COM (Component Object Model)

an object-oriented programming model that defines how software components interact within a single process or between processes. For example, COM includes standard rules of communication that enable a user -interface object to be dragged and dropped from one application window to another.

COM/DCOM client

a program that uses the Microsoft Component Object Model or Distributed Component Object Model to make requests to a server. COM/DCOM clients can be written in Visual Basic, C++, Perl, or other programming languages in the Windows environment. See also COM (Component Object Model), DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model).

command prompt

the symbol after which you enter operating system commands.

component

a self-contained, reusable programming object that provides some type of service to other components in an object-oriented programming environment.

CONFIG.SYS

a system file that contains DOS configuration commands that specify the properties of the operating system, including device drivers, file-handling elements, and memory-management options.

configuration file

(1) in SAS software, an external file that contains SAS system options. These system options take effect each time you invoke SAS. (2) under DOS, the CONFIG.SYS file that specifies the properties of the operating system. See also CONFIG.SYS.

Control Panel

under Windows, an application that enables you to specify characteristics of your Windows session, such as mouse tracking speed and the color of the title bar.

conventional memory

in servers that are running 32-bit operating systems, the first 4 gigabytes of main memory. In servers that are running 64-bit operating systems, all of the main memory is conventional memory.

CPU (central processing unit)

the main hardware component of a computer. The CPU executes program instructions and controls the operation of other parts of the computer.

CPU time

the amount of time it takes for the central processing unit of a computer system to perform the calculations or other operations that you request.

current folder

the folder to which commands and actions apply when you execute an application.