Dictionary

ALTLOG System Option

Specifies the destination for an alternate SAS log

Default: no alternate SAS log is made

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP = ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-ALTLOG destination -NOALTLOG

-ALTLOG destination

specifies the location where an alternate SAS log is to be sent. The destination argument can be any valid UNIX path to a directory, a filename, or an environment variable that is associated with a path. If you specify only the path to a directory, the SAS log is placed in a file in the specified directory. The name of the file will be filename .log, where filename is the name of your SAS job. If you are running SAS interactively and specify only the path to a directory, the log is written to a file named Sas.log within that path.

-NOALTLOG

causes any previous ALTLOG specifications to be ignored.

Details

All messages that are written to the SAS log are written to the location specified in destination . You can use this option to capture procedure output for printing.

Note	You can use the LOG option in the PRINTTO procedure to redirect any portion of the log to an external file. The code for PROC PRINTTO will not appear in the SAS log for the current session, but it will appear in the SAS log that you created with the ALTLOG system option.

ALTPRINT System Option

Specifies the destination for a copy of the SAS procedure output file

Default: no copy of SAS output is made

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-ALTPRINT destination -NOALTPRINT

-ALTPRINT destination

specifies the location where a copy of the procedure output is to be sent. The destination can be any valid UNIX path to a directory, a filename, or an environment variable that is associated with a path. If you specify only the path to a directory, the copy is place in a file in the specified directory. The file's name will be filename .lst, where filename is the name of your SAS job. If you are running SAS interactively and specify only the path to a directory, the filename is Sas.lst.

-NOALTPRINT

causes any previous ALTPRINT specifications to be ignored.

Details

All messages that are written to the SAS procedure output file are also written to the location specified in destination . You can use this option to capture the procedure output for printing.

APPEND System Option

Appends the specified pathname to the existing value of the specified system option

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-APPEND system-option new-pathname

system-option

can be HELPLOC, MAPS, MSG, SASAUTOS , SASHELP.

new-pathname

is the new pathname that you want to append to the current value of system-option .

Details

By default, if you specify the HELPLOC, MAPS, MSG, SASAUTOS, or SASHELP system option more than one time, the last value that is specified is the value that SAS uses. If you want to add additional pathnames to the pathnames already specified by one of these options, you must use the APPEND system option to add the new pathname. For example, if you entered the following SAS command, the only location that SAS will look for help files is /apps/help and the output of PROC OPTIONS will show only /apps/help :

 sas -helploc /sas/help -helploc /apps/help

If you want SAS to look in both locations for help files, you must use the APPEND option:

 sas -helploc /sas/help -append helploc /apps/help

For the value of the HELPLOC option, PROC OPTIONS will now show

 ('/sas/help' '/apps/help')

AUTOEXEC System Option

Specifies the autoexec file to be used

Default: autoexec.sas (see Details below)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-AUTOEXEC filename -NOAUTOEXEC

-AUTOEXEC filename

specifies the autoexec file to be used. The filename must resolve to a valid UNIX pathname.

-NOAUTOEXEC

specifies that SAS is not to process any autoexec files.

Details

The autoexec file contains SAS statements that are executed automatically when you invoke SAS or when you start another SAS process. The autoexec file can contain any SAS statements. For example, your autoexec file can contain LIBNAME statements for SAS data libraries that you access routinely in SAS sessions.

SAS looks for this option in the following order:

on the command line
in the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable
in the configuration file.

It uses the first AUTOEXEC option it encounters and ignores all others.

If neither AUTOEXEC nor NOAUTOEXEC is specified, SAS searches three directories for an autoexec.sas file in the following order:

your current directory
your home directory
the !SASROOT directory (see Appendix 1, "The !SASROOT Directory," on page 397).

SAS uses the first file it finds to initialize the session.

If you want to see the contents of the autoexec file for your session, use the ECHOAUTO system option when you invoke SAS.

AUTOSAVELOC System Option

Specifies the location of the Program Editor autosave file

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Environment control: Display

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVDISPLAY

UNIX specifics: valid values of pathname

Syntax

-AUTOSAVELOC fileref pathname

AUTOSAVELOC= fileref pathname

fileref

specifies a fileref to the location where the autosave file is saved.

pathname

specifies the pathname of the autosave file. The pathname must be a valid UNIX pathname.

Details

By default, SAS saves the Program Editor autosave file, pgm.asv, in the current folder. You can use the AUTOSAVELOC system option to specify a different location for the autosave file.

BATCH System Option

Specifies whether batch settings for LINESIZE, PAGESIZE, and SOURCE are in effect when SAS executes

Default: NOBATCH

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Initialization and operation

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= EXECMODES

UNIX specifics: default setting

See: BATCH System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-BATCH -NOBATCH

-BATCH

specifies that SAS use the batch settings of LINESIZE=132, PAGESIZE=60, and SOURCE. At the start of an interactive SAS session, you can use the BATCH setting to simulate the behavior of the system in batch mode.

-NOBATCH

specifies that SAS not use the batch settings for LINESIZE, PAGESIZE, and SOURCE. While in batch mode, you can specify NOBATCH to use the default (nonbatch) settings for the options LINESIZE, PAGESIZE, and NOSOURCE.

Details

The setting of the BATCH option does not specify the method of operation. BATCH only sets the appropriate batch settings for a collection of options that are in effect when SAS executes. The LINESIZE and PAGESIZE option values for batch mode can be dynamically set based on terminal characteristics when executing interactively.

In addition, the BATCH system option does not specify whether a terminal is present.

BUFNO System Option

Specifies the number of buffers to be allocated for processing SAS data sets

Default: 1

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Files: SAS Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES, PERFORMANCE

UNIX specifics: default value

See: BUFNO System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-BUFNO n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

BUFNO= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the number of buffers in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 buffers, a value of .782k specifies 801 buffers, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 buffers.

hex X

specifies the number of buffers as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx specifies 45 buffers.

MIN

sets the number of buffers to 0, and requires SAS to use the default value of 1.

MAX

sets the number of buffers to 2,147,483,647.

Details

The number of buffers is not a permanent attribute of the data set; it is valid only for the current SAS session or job.

BUFNO= applies to SAS data sets that are opened for input, output, or update.

Using BUFNO= can improve execution time by limiting the number of input/output operations that are required for a particular SAS data set. The improvement in execution time, however, comes at the expense of increased memory consumption.

Under UNIX, the maximum number of buffers that you can allocate is determined by the amount of memory available.

BUFSIZE System Option

Specifies the permanent buffer page size for output SAS data sets

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Files: SAS Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES, PERFORMANCE

UNIX specifics: valid range

See: BUFSIZE System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-BUFSIZE n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

BUFSIZE= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the buffer page size in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the buffer page size as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx sets the buffer page size to 45 bytes.

MIN

sets the buffer page size to 0. When the buffer size is 0, the BASE engine calculates a buffer size to optimize CPU and I/O use. This size is the smallest multiple of 8K that can hold 80 observations but is not larger than 64K.

MAX

sets the buffer page size to 2,147,483,647.

Details

The buffer page size can range from 1K to 2G-1.

If you specify a nonzero value when you create a SAS data set, the BASE engine uses that value. If that value cannot hold at least one observation or is not a multiple of 1K, the engine rounds the value up to a multiple of 1K.

CATCACHE System Option

Specifies the number of SAS catalogs to keep open

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Files: SAS Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES

UNIX specifics: Valid values for n

See: CATCACHE System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-CATCACHE n n K MIN MAX

n n K

specifies the number of open-file descriptors to keep in cache memory in multiples of 1( n ) or 1,024 ( n K). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 open-file descriptors, a value of .782k specifies 801 open-file descriptors, and a value of 3k specifies 3,072 open-file descriptors.

If n > 0, SAS places up to that number of open-file descriptors in cache memory instead of closing the catalogs.

MIN

sets the number of open-file descriptors that are kept in cache memory to 0.

MAX

sets the number of open-file descriptors that are kept in cache memory to 32,767.

Details

By using the CATCACHE system option to specify the number of SAS catalogs to keep open, you can avoid the repeated opening and closing of the same catalogs.

If SAS is running on an z/OS server and the MINSTG system option is in effect, SAS sets the value of CATCACHE to 0.

CLEANUP System Option

Specifies how to handle out-of-resource conditions

Default: CLEANUP for interactive modes; NOCLEANUP otherwise

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Error handling

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ERRORHANDLING

UNIX specifics: behavior when running in interactive line mode and batch mode

See: CLEANUP System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-CLEANUP -NOCLEANUP

CLEANUP NOCLEANUP

CLEANUP

specifies that during the entire session, SAS attempts to perform automatic, continuous clean up of resources that are not essential for execution. Nonessential resources include those that are not visible to the user (for example, cache memory) and those that are visible to the user (for example, the KEYS windows ).

CLEANUP does not prompt you before SAS attempts to clean up your disk. However, when an out-of-disk-space condition occurs and your display is attached to the process, you are prompted with a menu selection even if the CLEANUP option is on. If you do not want to be prompted for out-of-disk-space conditions, use the CLEANUP option in conjunction with the NOTERMINAL option.

When the CLEANUP option is on, SAS performs automatic continuous cleanup. If not enough resources are recovered, the request for the resource fails, and an appropriate error message is written to the SAS log.

CLEANUP is the default in batch mode because there is no display attached to the process to accommodate prompting.

NOCLEANUP

specifies that SAS allows the user to choose how to handle an out-of-resource condition. When NOCLEANUP is in effect and SAS cannot execute because of a lack of resources, SAS automatically attempts to clean up resources that are not visible to the user (for example, cache memory). However, resources that are visible to the user (for example, the KEYS windows) are not automatically cleaned up. Instead, SAS prompts you before attempting to clean up your disk.

Details

The CLEANUP system option indicates whether you should be prompted with a menu of items to be cleaned up when SAS encounters an out-of-resource condition. In batch mode, SAS ignores this option, and if an out-of-resource condition occurs, the SAS session terminates.

CONFIG System Option

Specifies the name of an alternative configuration file

Default: sasv9.cfg (see "Order of Precedence for SAS Configuration Files" on page 17)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable, SASV9_CONFIG environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-CONFIG filename -NOCONFIG

-CONFIG filename

specifies a configuration file to be read. The filename must resolve to a valid UNIX filename.

-NOCONFIG

specifies that any previous CONFIG specification should be ignored and that the default system options should be used.

Details

Configuration files contain system option specifications that execute automatically whenever SAS is invoked.

If you specify the CONFIG= system option in a configuration file, the option is ignored.

DBCS System Option

Recognizes double-byte character sets (DBCS)

Default: NODBCS

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: DBCS System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

DBCSLANG System Option

Specifies a double-byte character set (DBCS) language

Default: NONE

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: DBCSLANG System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

DBCSTYPE System Option

Specifies a double-byte character set (DBCS) encoding method

Default: Depends on UNIX environment

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: DBCSTYPE System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

DEVICE System Option

Specifies a device driver for graphics output for SAS/GRAPH software

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable, GOPTIONS statement

Category: Graphics: Driver settings

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= GRAPHICS

UNIX specifics: valid device drivers

See: DEVICE System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-DEVICE device-driver-name

DEVICE= device-driver-name

device-driver-name

specifies the name of a device driver for graphics output.

Details

To see the list of device drivers that are available under UNIX, you can use the GDEVICE procedure. If you are using the SAS windowing environment, submit the following statements:

 proc gdevice catalog=sashelp.devices;   run;

If you are running SAS in interactive line mode or batch mode, submit the following statements:

 proc gdevice catalog=sashelp.devices nofs;      list _all_;   run;

ECHO System Option

Specifies a message to be echoed to the computer

Default: NOECHO

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-ECHO " message " -NOECHO

ECHO " message "

specifies the text of the message to be echoed to the computer. The text must be enclosed in single or double quotation marks if the message is more than one word. Otherwise, the quotation marks are not needed.

NOECHO

specifies that no messages are to be echoed to the computer.

Details

Messages that result from errors in the autoexec file are printed in the SAS log regardless of how the ECHO system option is set.

You can specify multiple ECHO options. The strings are displayed in the order in which SAS encounters them. See "How SAS Processes System Options Set in Multiple Places" on page 20 for information on how that order is determined.

Example

For example, you can specify the following:

 -echo ''SAS 9.1 under UNIX is initializing.''

The message appears in the LOG window as SAS initializes.

EDITCMD System Option

Specifies the host editor to be used with the HOSTEDIT command

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Display

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVDISPLAY

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-EDITCMD " host-editor-pathname editor-options "

EDITCMD=" host-editor-pathname editor-options "

Details

The EDITCMD system option specifies the command that is issued to the operating environment. If you are using a terminal-based editor, such as vi, you must specify a command that runs the editor inside a terminal emulator window.

You can define the EDITCMD option using the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable as part of a configuration file or on the command line to make the definition available automatically to SAS. The option must be specified as a quoted string. You can use either single or double quotation marks. You can change the value for the EDITCMD option during a SAS session by issuing an OPTIONS statement.

The host editor that you specify is used when you issue the HOSTEDIT command. The HOSTEDIT command is valid only when you are running SAS in a windowing environment.

If you do not specify the full pathname, SAS searches the pathnames specified in the $PATH environment variable. Quotation marks are needed only when you specify editor options. If you are using a terminal-based editor, you must specify a command that runs the editor inside a terminal emulator window. For example, to use vi, you would specify

 sas -editcmd "/usr/bin/X11/xterm -e /usr/bin/vi"

EMAILSYS System Option

Specifies which email system to use for sending electronic mail from within SAS

Default: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Communications: Email

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= EMAIL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-EMAILSYS SMTP name-of-script

SMTP

specifies the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol electronic mail interface.

name-of-script

specifies which script to use for sending electronic mail from within SAS. Some external scripts do not support sending e-mail attachments. These scripts are not supported by SAS.

Details

The EMAILSYS system option specifies which e-mail system to use for sending electronic mail from within SAS. Specifying SMTP supports sending e-mail attachments on UNIX, but might require changing the values of the EMAILHOST= and EMAILPORT=, depending on your site configuration.

ENCODING System Option

Specifies the default character-set encoding for processing external data

Default: latin1

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: valid values

See: ENCODING= System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

ENGINE System Option

Specifies the default access method to use for SAS libraries

Default: V9

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Files: SAS Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES

UNIX specifics: valid values of engine-name

Syntax

-ENGINE engine-name

engine-name

can be one of the following under UNIX:
BASE V9
- specifies the default SAS engine for SAS 9 and SAS 9.1 files.
V8
- specifies the SAS engine for all SAS Version 8 files.
V7
- specifies the SAS engine for all Version 7 files.
V6
- specifies the SAS engine for Release 6.09 through Release 6.12. This engine is read-only.
TAPE V9TAPE
- specifies the default sequential engine for SAS 9 and SAS 9.1 files.
V8TAPE V7TAPE
- specifies the SAS sequential engine for all Version 8 and Version 7 files. These engines are identical to the V9TAPE engine.
V6TAPE
- specifies the SAS sequential engine for Version 6 files. This engine is read-only.

FILELOCKS System Option

Specifies whether file locking is on or off and what action should be taken if a file cannot be locked

Default: FAIL

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-FILELOCKS NONE FAIL CONTINUE

NONE

turns file locking off. SAS files are not protected from shared update access.

FAIL

turns file locking on. If a file cannot be locked, an attempt to open it fails.

CONTINUE

turns file locking on. If a file is already locked by someone else, an attempt to open it fails. If the file cannot be locked for some other reason, the file is opened and a warning message is sent to the log.

Details

When FILELOCKS is set to FAIL, SAS prevents these situations:

two SAS sessions simultaneously opening the same SAS file for update or output.
one SAS session reading a SAS file that another SAS session has open for update or output.
one SAS session writing to a file that another SAS session has open in read mode.

With file locking on, multiple SAS sessions will be able to simultaneously read the same SAS file.

For file locking to work on some hosts , you must have the host's file locking service running. This usually involves having a lock daemon (such as lockd ) and a stat daemon (such as statd ) running. You might also need to execute other commands. For specifics, refer to the man pages or system administration instructions for your host.

In addition, if you are working with NFS-mounted files, the "file locking service" must be running both on your local host and on the remote host.

To prevent data corruption, setting FILELOCKS to NONE or CONTINUE is not recommended.

FONTSLOC System Option

Specifies the directory that contains the SAS fonts that are loaded by some Universal Printer drivers

Default: !SASROOT/misc/font

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Display

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVDISPLAY

UNIX specifics: valid pathname

Syntax

FONTSLOC " directory-specification "

" directory-specification "

specifies the directory that contains the SAS fonts that are loaded during the SAS session. The directory-specification must be enclosed in double quotation marks.

Details

The directory must be a valid operating system path name.

FSDBTYPE System Option

Specifies full-screen double-byte character set (DBCS) encoding method

Default: DEFAULT

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: FSDBTYPE System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

FSIMM System Option

Specifies full-screen double-byte character set (DBCS) input method modules (IMMs)

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: FSIMM System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

FSIMMOPT System Option

Specifies options for full-screen double-byte character set (DBCS) input method modules

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: FSIMMOPT System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

FULLSTIMER System Option

Writes all available system performance statistics to the SAS log

Default: NOFULLSTIMER

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-FULLSTIMER -NOFULLSTIMER

FULLSTIMER NOFULLSTIMER

FULLSTIMER

writes to the SAS log a list of the host dependent resources that were used for each step and for the entire SAS session.

NOFULLSTIMER

does not write to the SAS log a complete list of resources.

Details

SAS calls the getrusage() and times() UNIX system calls for your operating environment to obtain the statistics presented with FULLSTIMER. The following is an example of FULLSTIMER output.

Output 17.2: FULLSTIMER Output

 real time       1.34 seconds user cpu time   0.04 seconds system cpu time 0.29 seconds Memory                          208k Page Faults                     116 Page Reclaims                   656 Page Swaps                      0 Voluntary Context Switches      601 Involuntary Context Switches    24 Block Input Operations          10 Block Output Operations         7

Note	If both FULLSTIMER and STIMER are set, the FULLSTIMER statistics are printed.

FULLSTIMER displays the following statistics:

Table 17.1: Description of FULLSTIMER Statistics
Statistic	Description
Real Time	the amount of time spent to process the SAS job. Real time is also referred to as elapsed time.
User CPU	the CPU time spent to execute your SAS code.
System CPU	the CPU time spent to perform system overhead tasks on behalf of the SAS process.
Memory	the amount of memory required to run a step.
Page Faults	the number of pages that SAS tried to access but were not in main memory and required I/O activity.
Page Reclaims	the number of pages that can be accessed without I/O activity.
Page Swaps	the number of times a process was swapped out of main memory.
Voluntary Context Switches	the number of times that the SAS process had to give up on the CPU because of a resource constraint such as a disk drive.
Involuntary Context Switches	the number of times that the operating system forced a process into an inactive state.
Block Input Operations	the number of I/O operations performed to read the data into memory.
Block Output Operations	the number of I/O operations performed to write the data to file.

For more information about these statistics, see the man pages for the getrusage() and times() UNIX system calls for your operating environment.

Note

Starting in SAS 9, some procedures use multiple threads. On computers with multiple CPUs, the operating system can run more than one thread simultaneously. Consequently, CPU time might exceed real time in your FULLSTIMER output.

For example, a SAS procedure could use two threads that run on two separate CPUs simultaneously. The value of CPU time would be calculated as the following:

 CPU1 time + CPU2 time = total CPU time   1 second + 1 second = 2 seconds

Since CPU1 can run a thread at the same time that CPU2 runs a separate thread for the same SAS process, you can theoretically consume 2 CPU seconds in 1 second of real time.

GISMAPS System Option

Specifies the location of the SAS data library that contains U.S. Census Tract maps supplied by SAS/GIS

Default: GISMAPS, if defined

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable, LIBNAME statement

Category: Graphics: Driver settings

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= GRAPHICS

UNIX specifics: valid values for library-specification and path-to-library

See: GISMAPS= System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

GISMAPS= library-specification path-to-library

library-specification path-to-library

specifies either a library or a physical path to a library that contains U.S. Census Tract maps supplied by SAS/GIS.

HELPINDEX System Option

Specifies one or more index files to be used by SAS Help and Documentation

Default: /help/common.hlp/index.txt , /help/common.hlp/keywords.htm , common.hhk

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Help

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= HELP

UNIX specifics: applet and HTML files must reside in the path specified by the HELPLOC option

Syntax

HELPINDEX = index-pathname-1 < index-pathname-2 < index-pathname-3 >>

index-pathname

specifies the partial pathname for the index that is to be used by SAS Help and Documentation. The index-pathname can be any or all of the following:
/help/ applet-index-filename
- specifies the partial pathname of the index file that is to be used by the SAS Documentation Java applet in a UNIX environment. applet-index-filename must have a file extension of .txt and it must reside in a path that is specified by the HELPLOC system option. The default is /help/common.hlp/index.txt .
  
  See the default index file for the format that is required for an index file.
/help/ accessible-index-filename
- specifies the partial pathname of an accessible index file that is to be used by SAS Help and Documentation in UNIX, OpenVMS, or z/OS environments. An accessible index file is an HTML file that can be used by Web browsers. accessible-index-filename must have a file extension of .htm and it must reside in a path that is specified by the HELPLOC system option. The default pathname is /help/common.hlp/keywords.htm .
  
  See the default index file for the format that is required for an index file.
HTML-Help-index-pathname
- specifies the pathname of the Microsoft HTML Help index that is to be used by SAS Help and Documentation in Windows environments. The default pathname is common.hhk . For information about creating an index for Microsoft HTML Help, see your Microsoft HTML Help documentation.

Details

Use the HELPINDEX option if you have a customized index that you want to use in place of the SAS-supplied index. If you use one configuration file to start SAS in more than one operating environment, you can specify all of the partial pathnames in the HELPINDEX option. The order of the pathnames is not important, although only one pathname of each type can be specified.

When the HELPINDEX option specifies a pathname for UNIX, OpenVMS, or z/OS operating environments, SAS determines the complete path by replacing /help/ in the partial pathname with the pathname specified in the HELPLOC option. If the HELPLOC option contains more than one pathname, SAS searches each path for the specified index.

For example, when the value of HELPINDEX is /help/common.hlp/myindex.htm and the value of HELPLOC is /u/myhome/myhelp , the complete path to the index is /u/myhome/myhelp/common.hlp/myindex.htm .

HELPLOC System Option

Specifies the location of the text and index files for the facility that is used to view SAS Help and Documentation

Default: !SASROOT/X11/native_help

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Help

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= HELP

UNIX specifics: default pathname

Syntax

-HELPLOC ( pathname <, pathname-2 ..., pathname-n >)

pathname

specifies one or more directory pathnames in which SAS Help and Documentation files are located.

Details

Specifying a value for the HELPLOC system option causes SAS to insert that value at the start of a list of concatenated values, the last of which is the default value. This enables you to access the help for your site without losing access to SAS Help and Documentation.

To insert or append pathnames by specifying an additional HELPLOC option, you must use the INSERT or APPEND system option.

Example

The following command contains two specifications of HELPLOC:

 sas -helploc /app1/help -helploc /app2/help

The value of the system option is the following:

 /app1/help, /app2/help, !SASROOT/X11/native_help

HELPTOC System Option

Specifies the table of contents files to be used by SAS Help and Documentation

Default: /help/helpnav.hlp/config.txt , /help/common.hlp/toc.htm , common.hhc

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Help

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= HELP

UNIX specifics: applet and HTML files must reside in the path specified by the HELPLOC option

Syntax

HELPTOC = TOC-pathname-1 < TOC-pathname-2 < TOC-pathname-3 >>

TOC-pathname

specifies a partial pathname for the table of contents that is to be used by SAS Help and Documentation. TOC-pathname can be any or all of the following:
/help/ applet-TOC-filename
- specifies the partial pathname of the table of contents file that is to be used by the SAS Documentation Java applet in a UNIX environment. The applet-TOC-filename must have a file extension of .txt and it must reside in a path that is specified by the HELPLOC system option. The default is /help/helpnav.hlp/config.txt .
  
  See the default table of contents file for the format that is required for an index file.
/help/ accessible-TOC-filename
- specifies the partial pathname of an accessible table of contents file that is to be used by SAS Help and Documentation in UNIX, OpenVMS, or z/OS environments. An accessible table of contents file is an HTML file that can be used by Web browsers. The accessible-TOC-filename have a file extension of .htm and it must reside in a path that is specified by the HELPLOC system option. The default pathname is /help/common.hlp/toc.htm .
  
  See the default table of contents file for the format that is required for a table of contents.
HTML-Help-TOC-pathname
- specifies the complete pathname to the Microsoft HTML Help table of contents that is to be used by SAS Help and Documentation in Windows environments. The default pathname is common.hhc . For information about creating an index for Microsoft HTML Help, see your Microsoft HTML Help documentation.

Details

Use the HELPTOC option if you have a customized table of contents that you want to use in place of the SAS supplied table of contents. If you use one configuration file to start SAS in more than one operating environment, you can specify all of the partial pathnames in the HELPTOC option. The order of the pathnames is not important, although only one pathname of each type can be specified.

When the HELPTOC option specifies the pathname for UNIX, OpenVMS, or z/OS operating environments, SAS determines the complete path by replacing /help/ in the partial pathname with the pathname specified in the HELPLOC option. If the HELPLOC option contains more than one pathname, SAS searches each path for the table of contents.

For example, when HELPTOC is /help/common.hlp/mytoc.htm and the value of HELPLOC is /u/myhome/myhelp , the complete path to the table of contents is /u/myhome/myhelp/common.hlp/mytoc.htm .

INSERT System Option

Inserts the specified pathname at the beginning of the value of the specified system option

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-INSERT system-option new-pathname

system-option

can be HELPLOC, MAPS, MSG, SASAUTOS, or SASHELP.

new-pathname

is the new pathname that you want to insert at the front of the current value of system-option .

Details

By default, if you specify the HELPLOC, MAPS, MSG, SASAUTOS, or SASHELP system option more than one time, the last specification is the one that SAS uses. If you want to insert additional pathnames to front of the search paths already specified by one of these options, you must use the INSERT system option to add the new pathname. For example, if you entered the following SAS command, the only location that SAS will look for help files is /apps/help and the output of PROC OPTIONS will show only /apps/help :

 sas -helploc /apps/help

If you want SAS to look in both the current path for help files and in /apps/help and if you want SAS to search /apps/help first, then you must use the INSERT option:

 sas -insert helploc /apps/help

If your current path for help files is !SASROOT/X11/native_help , then for the value of the HELPLOC option, PROC OPTIONS will now show

 ('/apps/help' '!SASROOT/X11/native_help')

JREOPTIONS System Option

Identifies Java Runtime Environment (JRE) options for SAS

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Initialization and operation

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= EXECMODES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-JREOPTIONS (- JRE-option-1 <- JRE-option-n >)

JREOPTIONS (- JRE-option-1 <- JRE-option-n >)

- JRE-option

specifies one or more Java Runtime Environment options. JRE options must begin with a hyphen (-). Use a space to separate multiple JRE options. Valid values for JRE-option depend on your installation's Java Runtime Environment. For information about JRE options, see your installation's Java documentation.

Details

The set of JRE options must be enclosed in parentheses. If you specify multiple JREOPTIONS system options, SAS appends JRE options to JRE options that are currently defined. Incorrect JRE options are ignored.

Examples

 -jreoptions (-verbose) -jreoptions (-Djava.class.path=myjava/classes/myclasses.jar:myjava2/              classes/myclasses.jar -oss600k)

LINESIZE System Option

Specifies the line size of the SAS Log and Output windows

Default: the display width setting for the interactive modes; 132 for batch mode

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log and procedure output

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOG_LISTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: default values

See: LINESIZE System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-LINESIZE n hex X MIN MAX

LINESIZE= n hex X MIN MAX

specifies the line size in characters . Valid values range between 64 and 256.

hex X

specifies the line size as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx specifies 45 characters.

MIN

sets the line size to 64 characters.

MAX

sets the line size to 256 characters.

LOADMEMSIZE System Option

Specifies a suggested amount of memory needed for executable programs loaded by SAS

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: System administration: Memory

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= MEMORY

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-LOADMEMSIZE n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the memory size in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,842 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the amount of memory as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx sets the amount of memory to 45 bytes.

MIN

specifies 0 bytes, which indicates that there is no limit on the total amount of memory that can be used.

MAX

specifies that the maximum amount of memory for executable programs is limited only by the amount of memory available.

Details

An executable program is a complied executable. If SAS needs to use a function that is stored in an executable program, SAS loads the executable program. Then SAS can access the function that is compiled within the executable program.

When LOADMEMSIZE is set to 0, the memory that is used for executable programs that are loaded by SAS is limited only by the amount of system memory available. If LOADMEMSIZE is set to 1, executable programs are purged from memory when they are no longer in use.

For values of two or greater, SAS first checks the amount of memory available for SAS executable programs. If the total amount of memory available is greater than the value of LOADMEMSIZE, SAS purges the SAS loaded executable programs that are not in use until the memory that is used is less than the value of the LOADMEMSIZE option, or until there are no other SAS loaded executable programs that can be purged. If all executable programs have been purged and more memory is needed, additional system memory is used as long as it is available.

LOCALE System Option

Specifies attributes that reflect the language, local conventions, and culture for a geographic region and that are used to establish the default working environment for a SAS session

Default: English

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: LOCALE= System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

LOG System Option

Specifies a destination to which the SAS log is written in batch mode

Default: a file in the current directory with the same filename as the SAS source file and an extension of .log.

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-LOG destination -NOLOG

-LOG destination

specifies the destination for the SAS log. The destination can be a any valid UNIX path to a directory, a filename, or an environment variable that is associated with a path. If you specify only the path to a directory, the log file is created in the specified directory. The default name for this file is filename .log, where filename is the name of your SAS job.

-NOLOG

suppresses the creation of the SAS log. Do not use this value unless your SAS program is thoroughly debugged .

Details

LOG is valid in batch mode; it is ignored in the interactive modes.

LPTYPE System Option

Specifies which UNIX command and options settings will be used to route files to the printer

Default: SYSV

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output: Procedure output

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LISTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-LPTYPE BSD SYSV

LPTYPE=BSD SYSV

Details

The LPTYPE option determines whether SAS is to use the lpr or the lp UNIX command to print files.

The LPTYPE option has two forms:

-LPTYPE BSD

causes SAS to use the lpr command to send files to the printer. The lpr command is usually supported on UNIX operating systems developed at Berkeley, such as HP-UX.

-LPTYPE SYSV

causes SAS to use the lp command to send files to the printer. The lp command is usually supported on operating systems derived from UNIX System V, such as Solaris.

If you do not know whether to specify BSD or SYSV, check with your System Administrator.

By default, SAS uses the lpr command if your operating system is derived from Berkeley's version; otherwise, it uses the lp command.

MAPS System Option

Specifies the name of the SAS data library containing the SAS/GRAPH map data sets

Default: !SASROOT/maps (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Graphics: Driver settings

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= GRAPHICS

UNIX specifics: default value and location-of-maps

See: MAPS System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-MAPS location-of-maps

MAPS= location-of-maps

location-of-maps

specifies a libref, a valid UNIX pathname, or an environment variable associated with a pathname. Do not use a specific filename.

Details

You can reassign the MAPS libref, but you cannot clear it.

Map files might have to be uncompressed before they are used. Use the CONTENTS statement in the DATASETS procedure to determine whether they are compressed.

MAXMEMQUERY System Option

Specifies the maximum amount of memory that is allocated per request for certain procedures

Default: 6M

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: System administration: Memory

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= MEMORY

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-MAXMEMQUERY n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

MAXMEMQUERY= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the limit in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the amount of memory as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx sets the amount of memory to 45 bytes.

MIN

specifies 0 bytes, which indicates that there is no limit on the total amount of memory that can be allocated per request by each SAS procedure. These memory allocations are limited by the value of MEMSIZE.

MAX

specifies a limit of 2,147,483,647 bytes.

Details

Some SAS procedures attempt to allocate all of the memory that they can, up to the amount specified by the MEMSIZE option. If this amount of memory is not available, SAS attempts to use paging. If the amount of page space available is less than the value of MEMSIZE, SAS generates an error message. The MAXMEMQUERY option specifies the maximum amount of memory that SAS can request at one time. If your system has small system paging devices, you might want to lower the value of MAXMEMQUERY.

MEMSIZE System Option

Specifies the limit on the total amount of memory that can be used by each SAS session

Default: value set in SAS configuration file !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: System administration: Memory

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= MEMORY

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-MEMSIZE n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the limit in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the amount of memory as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx sets the amount of memory to 45 bytes.

MIN

specifies 0 bytes, which indicates that there is no limit on the total amount of memory that can be used by each SAS session.

MAX

specifies to set the memory value to the largest possible setting. This value depends on the system limit.

Details

The MEMSIZE option specifies the total amount of memory available to each SAS session. Too low a value will result in out-of-memory conditions.

SAS does not automatically reserve or allocate the amount of memory that you specify in the MEMSIZE option. SAS will only use as much memory as it needs to complete a process. For example, a DATA step might only require 20M of memory, so even though MEMSIZE is set to 500M, SAS will use only 20M of memory.

While your SAS jobs are running, you can monitor the effect of larger memory settings by using system monitoring tools, such as top or vmstat .

Note

Setting MEMSIZE to 0 is not recommended except for debugging and testing purposes. The optimal setting for this option depends on the other applications running and system resources available at your site. The amount of memory available to SAS processes can also be limited by your system administrator.

To determine this optimal value, run the SAS procedure or DATA step with MEMSIZE set to 0 and the FULLSTIMER option. Note the amount of memory used by the process and then set MEMSIZE to a larger amount.

MSG System Option

Specifies the library that contains SAS error messages

Alias: SASMSG

Default: !SASROOT/sasmsg (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-MSG p athname

-MSG ('pathname''pathname' ...)

pathname

must resolve to a valid UNIX pathname. You can use an environment variable that resolves to a valid pathname.

Details

This option is set in the installation process and is not normally changed after installation.

MSGCASE System Option

Determines whether SAS displays notes, warnings, and error messages in uppercase

Default: NOMSGCASE

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

MSGCASE NOMSGCASE

MSGCASE

displays messages in uppercase characters.

NOMSGCASE

displays messages in uppercase and lowercase characters.

Details

User-generated messages and source lines are not affected by the MSGCASE system option.

MSYMTABMAX System Option

Specifies the maximum amount of memory available to the macro variable symbol table(s)

Default: 4M (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Macro: SAS macro

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= MACRO

UNIX specifics: default value

See: MSYMTABMAX System Option in SAS Macro Language: Reference

Syntax

-MSYMTABMAX n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

MSYMTABMAX= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the maximum amount of memory that is available in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the maximum amount of memory that is available as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx sets the maximum amount of memory to 45 bytes.

MIN

sets the amount of memory that is available to the minimum setting, which is 0 bytes. This causes all macro symbol tables to be written to disk.

MAX

sets the amount of memory that is available to the maximum setting, which is 2,147,483,647 bytes.

MVARSIZE System Option

Specifies the maximum size for in-memory macro variables

Default: 32K (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Macro: SAS macro

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= MACRO

UNIX specifics: default value

See: MVARSIZE System Option in SAS Macro Language: Reference

Syntax

-MVARSIZE n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

MVARSIZE= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the maximum macro variable size in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the maximum macro variable size as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx sets the maximum macro variable size to 45 bytes.

MIN

sets the macro variable size to the minimum setting, which is 0 bytes. This causes all macro variable values to be written to disk.

MAX

sets the macro variable size to the maximum setting, which is 2,147,483,647 bytes.

NEWS System Option

Specifies a file that contains messages to be written to the SAS log

Default: !SASROOT/misc/base/news (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: -NONEWS option

See: NEWS System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-NEWS file-specification -NONEWS

-NEWS file-specification

specifies an external file. This file contains the messages for the SAS log.

-NONEWS

specifies that the contents of the NEWS file is not displayed in the SAS log, even if the file exists. This option causes any previous NEWS specifications to be ignored.

Details

The contents of the NEWS file are displayed in the SAS log immediately after the SAS header.

NLSCOMPATMODE System Option

Provides national language compatibility with previous releases of SAS

Default: NONLSCOMPATMODE

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Language control

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LANGUAGECONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

See: NLSCOMPATMODE System Option in SAS National Language Support (NLS): User's Guide

OBS System Option

Specifies which observation SAS will process last

Default: MAX

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Files: SAS Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES

UNIX specifics: default value

See: OBS System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-OBS n n K n M n G n T hex X MIN MAX

OBS= n n K n M n G n T hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G n T

specifies a number to indicate when to stop processing. Using one of the letter notations results in multiplying the integer by a specific value. That is, specifying K (kilo) multiplies the integer by 1,024, M (mega) multiplies by 1,048,576, G (giga) multiplies by 1,073,741,824, or T (tera) multiplies by 1,099,511,627,776. You can specify a decimal value for n when it is used to specify a K, M, G, or T value. For example, a value of 20 specifies 20 observations or records, a value of .782k specifies 801 observations or records, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 observations or records.

hex X

specifies a number to indicate when to stop processing as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the hexadecimal value F8 must be specified as 0F8x in order to specify the decimal equivalent of 248. For example, the value 2dx specifies the decimal equivalent of 45.

MIN

sets the number to indicate when to stop processing to 0.

If OBS=0 and the NOREPLACE option is in effect, SAS might still be able to take certain actions. See SAS Language Reference: Dictionary for more information.

MAX

sets the number to indicate when to stop processing to 9,007,199,254,740,992 . On 32-bit systems, MAX is 2,147,483,647.

OPLIST System Option

Writes the settings of SAS system options to the SAS log

Default: NOOPLIST

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-OPLIST -NOOPLIST

Details

The OPLIST system option echoes only the system options specified on the command line; it does not echo any system options specified in the configuration file or in the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable. (If you want to echo the contents of the configuration file, use the VERBOSE option.) For example, suppose you invoke SAS with the following command:

 sas -nodms -fullstimer -nonews -oplist

SAS writes this line to the SAS log:

 NOTE: SAS command line: -nodms -fullstimer -nonews -oplist

PAGESIZE System Option

Specifies the number of lines that compose a page of SAS output

Default: number of lines on your display for interactive modes; 60 for batch mode

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log and procedure output

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOG_LISTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: default values and range

See: PAGESIZE System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-PAGESIZE n n K hex X MIN MAX

PAGESIZE= n n K hex X MIN MAX

n n K

specifies the number of lines that compose a page in multiples of 1 ( n ) or 1,024 ( n K). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes. For example, a value of 800 specifies 800 lines, a value of .782k specifies 801 lines, and a value of 3k specifies 3,072 lines.

hex X

specifies the number of lines that compose a page as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the value 2dx specifies 45 lines.

MIN

sets the number of lines that compose a page to the minimum setting, which is 15.

MAX

sets the number of lines that compose a page to the maximum setting, which is 32,767.

Details

The default for interactive modes is the number of lines on your display. For batch mode, the default is 60.

PATH System Option

Specifies the search path for SAS executable modules

Default: !SASROOT/sasexe (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-PATH pathname

Details

The PATH option identifies the search paths for SAS executable files. You can specify multiple PATH options to define the search order. The paths are searched in the order in which SAS encounters them; therefore, specify at the front of the list the paths for the products that you run most frequently. See "How SAS Processes System Options Set in Multiple Places" on page 20 for information about how that order is determined when you specify the PATH system option more than once.

PRINT System Option

Specifies the destination for SAS output in batch mode

Default: the SAS output from a batch SAS program is written to a file in the current directory with the same filename as the SAS source file and an extension of .lst.

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-PRINT destination -NOPRINT

-PRINT destination

specifies the location for the SAS procedure output file. The destination can be any valid UNIX path to a directory, a filename, or an environment variable that is associated with a path. If you specify only the path to a directory, the procedure output file is created in the specified directory. The default name for this file is filename .lst, where filename is the name of your SAS job.

-NOPRINT

suppresses the creation of the SAS procedure output file.

Details

PRINT is valid in batch mode; it is ignored in interactive modes.

PRINTCMD System Option

Specifies the print command SAS is to use

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: Procedure output

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LISTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-PRINTCMD " print-command "

PRINTCMD=" print-command "

Details

The syntax of the options passed to the print command is controlled by the LPTYPE system option. If LPTYPE is set to BSD, the command uses lpr command options; if LPTYPE is set to SYSV, the command uses lp command options.

If your site uses a print command (spooler) other than lp or lpr , print-command specifies its name. The PRINTCMD option overrides the LPTYPE setting.

When specified in an options statement, the PRINTCMD option will not change the print commands assigned to previously defined filenames. For example, consider the following code:

 filename pc1 printer;   proc printto print=pc1;   run;   proc print data=sales.week;   run;   options printcmd="netlp";   filename pc2 printer;   proc printto print=pc2;   run;   proc print data=sales.month;   run;

Output associated with PC2 will use the netlp command; output associated with PC1 will use the default print command.

REALMEMSIZE System Option

Indicates the amount of real memory SAS can expect to allocate

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: System administration: Memory

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= MEMORY

UNIX specifics: valid values

Syntax

-REALMEMSIZE n n K n M 1G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M

specifies the amount of memory to reserve in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); or 1,048,576 (megabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes or megabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

specifies the amount of memory to reserve is 1,073,741,824 (1 gigabyte).

hex X

specifies the amount of memory as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the value 2dx sets the amount of memory to 45 bytes.

MIN

specifies a value of 0, which indicates that the memory usage is determined by SAS when SAS starts.

MAX

specifies to set the memory size to the largest permissible value.

Details

Use the REALMEMSIZE system option to optimize the performance of SAS procedures that alter their algorithms and memory usage. Setting the value of REALMEMSIZE too low might result in less than optimal performance. For better performance, set REALMEMSIZE to the amount of memory (excluding swap space) that is available to the SAS session at invocation.

RSASUSER System Option

Controls whether members of the Sasuser data library can be opened for update or for read-only access

Default: NORSASUSER

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: network considerations

See: RSASUSER System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-RSASUSER -NORSASUSER

Details

RSASUSER

limits access to the Sasuser data library to read-only access. (If the Sasuser data library is being shared by multiple users or the same user is running SAS multiple times simultaneously, the Sasuser data library is often shared.) By default, if one user has a member of the Sasuser data library open for update, all other users are denied access to that SAS data library member. For example, if one user is writing to the Sasuser.Profile catalog, no other user can even read data from the Profile catalog.

Specifying RSASUSER enables a group of users to share Sasuser data library members by allowing all users read-only access to members. In the Profile catalog example, if RSASUSER is in effect, all users can open the Profile catalog for read-only access, allowing other users to concurrently read from the Profile catalog. However, no user can write information out to the Profile catalog; you receive an error message if you try to do so.

Specifying RSASUSER from the command line affects only that session's access to files. To enable a group of users to share members in the Sasuser data library, the system manager should set RSASUSER in a common SAS configuration file, which is shared by all users who will be sharing the Sasuser data library.

If you specify RSASUSER but no Profile catalog exists in the Sasuser data library, the Profile catalog is created in the Work data library.

Note	While the RSASUSER option is extremely useful for sharing information (such as the Profile catalog) stored in the Sasuser data library, it is less practical when used in conjunction with SAS/ASSIST software or other SAS modules that require update access to the Sasuser data library.

NORSASUSER

prevents users from sharing members of the Sasuser data library because it allows a user to open a file in the Sasuser library for update access. Update access requires exclusive rights to the data library member.

RTRACE System Option

Produces a list of resources that are read during SAS execution

Default: NONE

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-RTRACE ALL NONE

ALL

traces both files that are read and executable files that are loaded.

NONE

tells SAS not to produce any trace information.

Details

The RTRACE system option produces a list of resources that are read or loaded during the execution of SAS. If you specify ALL but do not specify the RTRACELOC option, the output is written to the SAS log.

RTRACELOC System Option

Specify the pathname of the file to which RTRACE information is written

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-RTRACELOC pathname

pathname

specifies the file to which RTRACE information is written. The pathname must include the path and the filename for the RTRACE output.

Details

The RTRACELOC system option specifies the pathname of the file to which RTRACE information is written. If the pathname does not include the filename, the output will be directed to standard output. If you specify RTRACE ALL but do not specify RTRACELOC, the output is written to the SAS log.

S System Option

Specifies the length of statements on each line of source statements and the length of data on the line following a DATALINES statement

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Input control: Data processing

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= INPUTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: valid values for n

See: S System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-S n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

S= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the length of statements and data in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the length of statements and data as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the value 2dx sets the length of statements and data to 45 bytes.

MIN

specifies the length of statements to be 0, which causes SAS to use the default value.

MAX

specifies to use the maximum line length allowed under UNIX, which is 2,147,483,647 bytes.

Details

Input can be from either fixed- or variable-length records. Both fixed-length and variable-length records can be either unsequenced or sequenced . Unsequenced records do not contain sequence fields.

SAS determines whether the input contains sequence numbers that are based on the value of S. The S system option specifies the length of statements, exclusive of sequence numbers, on each line of SAS source statements and the length of data, exclusive of sequence numbers , on lines following a DATALINES statement.

The default value of 0 enables SAS to read a file with any line length up to MAX.

S2 System Option

Specifies the length of secondary source statements

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Input control: Data processing

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= INPUTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: valid values for n

See: S2 System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

S2=S n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

uses the current value of the S system option to compute the record length of text that comes from the %INCLUDE statement, an autoexec file, or an autocall macro file.

n n K n M n G

specifies the value by which to compute the record length of text that comes from an %INCLUDE statement, an autoexec file, or an autocall macro file. n can be between 0 and 2,147,483,647, or you can specify the value in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the length of statements and data as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the value 2dx sets the length of statements and data to 45 bytes.

MIN

uses the value of 0, indicating no length restriction.

MAX

uses the value of 2,147,483,647.

Details

The S2 system option operates exactly like the S system option, except that the S2 system option controls input from only an %INCLUDE statement, an autoexec file, or an autocall macro file.

SASAUTOS System Option

Specifies the autocall library

Default: SASAUTOS fileref

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files
Macro: SAS macro

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES
MACRO

UNIX specifics: syntax for specifying multiple dir-name s

See: SASAUTOS System Option in SAS Macro Language: Reference

Syntax

-SASAUTOS ' dir-name ' fileref

-SASAUTOS (' dir-name1 ' fileref1 ,...,' dir-name-n ' filerefn )

-NOSASAUTOS

SASAUTOS=' dir-name ' fileref

SASAUTOS =(' dir-name1 ' fileref1 ,...,' dir-name-n ' filerefn )

NOSASAUTOS

Note	The SASAUTOS option uses filerefs , not librefs.

Details

Each autocall macro library consists of files in a UNIX directory. The dir-name can be the pathname of a UNIX directory, a fileref, or an environment variable.

If you specify the pathname of a directory, you must enclose the name in quotation marks. You can omit the quotation marks only if you are specifying the option in the configuration file, in the SAS command, or in the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable, and if the name cannot be taken to be a fileref.

If you specify a fileref, you must define it before attempting to use any of the autocall macros. You can define the fileref in a FILENAME statement, in an environment variable, or with the FILENAME function (see "Assigning Filerefs to External Files or Devices with the FILENAME Statement" on page 135).

How you specify multiple directory names , filerefs, or environment variables depends on where you specify the SASAUTOS option:

If you specify the SASAUTOS option in the configuration file or in the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable, use either multiple SASAUTOS options, or enclose the directory names in parentheses. Separate the names with a comma or a blank space.
If you specify the SASAUTOS option in the SAS command, use the APPEND or INSERT system options to append to the end or insert on the beginning of the current SASAUTOS value. For example, the following code adds /users/ userid / also to the end of the current SASAUTOS value, /users/userid/here :
```
 sas -sasautos /users/userid/here -append sasautos /users/userid/also 
```
If you specify the SASAUTOS option in the OPTIONS statement or in the System Options window, you must enclose the directory names in parentheses. Separate the names with a comma or a blank space.

At configuration time, SAS concatenates all directories specified for SASAUTOS. However, after the session starts, any new directories you specify override any current autocall libraries.

The NOSASAUTOS option causes SAS to ignore all previous SASAUTOS specifications (whether specified in the SAS command, in the configuration file, or in the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable).

The default value of the SASAUTOS option is the SASAUTOS fileref. There is no UNIX directory assigned to the fileref, so you must define the SASAUTOS fileref if you want to use it as your autocall library.

Example: Specifying Multiple Environment Variables in the OPTIONS Statement

The following example shows the syntax to use if you are specifying multiple environment variables in the OPTIONS statement:

 options sasautos=(AUTODIR, SASAUTOS);

The environment variables that you specify must be defined. For example, you could define the AUTODIR environment variable at SAS invocation by using the following code:

 -set AUTODIR /tmp/sasautos

For more information about how to define an environment variable, see "SET System Option" on page 363.

SASHELP System Option

Specifies the locations of Sashelp libraries

Default: !SASROOT/sashelp (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: pathname can also be an environment variable

See: SASHELP System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-SASHELP pathname

-SASHELP (' pathname ', ' pathname '...)

Details

This option is set in the installation process and is not normally changed after installation. An environment variable can be specified as the value of SASHELP.

SASSCRIPT System Option

Specifies one or more storage locations of SAS/CONNECT script files

Default: !SASROOT/misc/connect

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: syntax for specifying multiple directory names

Syntax

-SASSCRIPT ' dir-name '(' dir-name-1 ',...,' dir-name-n ')

SASSCRIPT=' dir-name '(' dir-name-1 ',...,' dir-name-n ')

Details

How you specify multiple directory names in the same SASSCRIPT option depends on where you specify the SASSCRIPT option:

If you specify the option in the configuration file or in the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable, use either multiple SASSCRIPT options, or enclose the directory names in parentheses. Separate the names with a comma or a blank space.
If you specify the option in the SAS command, use multiple SASSCRIPT options, since parentheses cause syntax errors.
If you specify the option in the OPTIONS statement or in the System Options window, you must enclose the directory names in parentheses. Separate the names with a comma or a blank space.

SASUSER System Option

Specifies the name of the Sasuser library

Default: ~/sasuser.v91 (set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file)

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: pathname can be an environment variable

See: SASUSER System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-SASUSER pathname

Details

The pathname identifies the directory for the Sasuser library that contains a user's Profile catalog. You can use an environment variable to specify the pathname, for example:

 sas -sasuser $HOME

SEQENGINE System Option

Specifies the default access method for SAS sequential data libraries

Default: TAPE

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Files: SAS Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SEQENGINE= engine-name

engine-name can be one of the following under UNIX:

V9TAPETAPE

specifies the default sequential engine for SAS 9 and SAS 9.1. TAPE is the default value.

V8TAPE

specifies the sequential engine for SAS Version 8. This engine and the V9TAPE engine are identical.

V6TAPE

specifies the sequential engine for Version 6. This engine is read-only.

Details

The SEQENGINE= option specifies the default access method, or engine, that is used when you are creating new sequential-format SAS data libraries. The engine that is used with an existing sequential library is determined by the first data set in that library and is not affected by this option.

SET System Option

Defines an environment variable

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS Statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-SET variable-name value

Details

The SET option lets you define an environment variable that is valid within the SAS session and any shell started from within the SAS session. Using the SET option is similar to using the SAS setenv command. See "Executing Operating System Commands from Your SAS Session" on page 13 for details.

A special use for the SET option is to specify the name of the !SASROOT directory:

 -set SASROOT  pathname

The pathname specified can then be used to expand !SASROOT (as shown in Table 4.6 on page 115).

After exiting your SAS session, environment variables that are set with the SET option no longer exist.

SORTANOM System Option

Specifies certain options for the host sort utility

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SORTANOM= option(s)

-SORTANOM option(s)

The option(s) can be any one or more of the following:

tells syncsort to run in multi-call mode instead of single-call mode. (Refer to the documentation for syncsort for more information.)

Note

This option is available for syncsort only.

prints statistics about the external sorting process in the SAS log.

prints (in the SAS log) all of the commands that are passed to the host sort utility.

SORTCUT System Option

Specifies the number of observations above which the host sort program is used instead of the SAS sort program

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SORTCUT= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

-SORTCUT n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the number of observations in multiples of 1 ( n ); 1,024 ( n K); 1,048,576 ( n M); or 1,073,741,824 ( n G). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 800 specifies 800 observations, a value of .782k specifies 801 observations, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 observations.

hex X

specifies the number of observations as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the value 2ffx specifies 767 observations.

MIN

specifies 0 observations.

MAX

specifies 2,147,483,647 observations.

Details

When you specify SORTPGM=BEST, SAS uses the value of the SORTCUT and SORTCUTP options to determine whether to use the host sort or the SAS sort. If the number of observations in the data set is greater than the number that you specify with SORTCUT, the host sort will be used. If both SORTCUT and SORTCUTP are either not defined or are set to 0, the SAS sort is used. If you specify both options and both conditions are true, SAS chooses the host sort.

SORTCUTP System Option

Specifies the number of bytes above which the host sort program is used instead of the SAS sort program

Default:

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SORTCUTP= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

-SORTCUTP n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the number of bytes in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the number of bytes as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the value 2dx specifies 45 bytes.

MIN

specifies 0 bytes.

MAX

specifies 2,147,483,647 bytes.

Details

When you specify SORTPGM=BEST, SAS uses the value of the SORTCUT and SORTCUTP options to determine whether to use the host sort or the SAS sort. If the data set to be sorted is larger than the number of bytes (or kilobytes or megabytes) that you specify with SORTCUTP, the host sort (external) program will be used instead of the SAS sort (internal) program. The value you specify must be less than or equal to 2,147,483,647 bytes. If both SORTCUT and SORTCUTP are either not defined or are set to 0, the SAS sort is used. If you specify both options and both conditions are true, SAS chooses the host sort.

The following equation computes the number of bytes to be sorted:

  number-of-bytes=((length-of-obs)+(length-of-all-keys))  *  number-of-obs

SORTDEV System Option

Specifies the pathname used for temporary files created by the host sort utility

Default: same location as -WORK, which is set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SORTDEV=' pathname '

-SORTDEV pathname

Details

The SORTDEV option specifies an alternative pathname for temporary files created by the host sort.

SORTNAME System Option

Specifies the name of the host sort utility

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SORTNAME='host-sor t-utility-name '

-SORTNAME host-sort -utility-name

Details

The SORTNAME option specifies the name of the default host sort utility, syncsort .

SORTPARM System Option

Specifies parameters for the host sort utility

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SORTPARM=' parameters '

-SORTPARM ' parameters '

The parameters are any parameters that you want to pass to the sort utility. For a description of these parameters, refer to the documentation for the sort that you are using.

SORTPGM System Option

Specifies whether the SAS sort or the host sort is used

Default: BEST

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-SORTPGM SAS HOST BEST

SORTPGM=SAS HOST BEST

Details

The SORTPGM system option tells SAS whether to use the SAS sort, to use the host sort, or to determine which sort is best for the data set.

SAS

tells SAS to use the SAS sort.

HOST

tells SAS to use the sort specified by the SORTNAME system option.

BEST

tells SAS to determine the best routine to sort the data set: the SAS Software sort or the host sort specified by the SORTNAME system option. The settings of the SORTCUT and SORTCUTP system options determine whether SAS chooses the SAS Software sort or the host sort.

SORTSIZE System Option

Specifies the amount of memory available to the SORT procedure

Default: MAX

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Sort: Procedure options
System administration: Memory

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SORT
MEMORY

UNIX specifics: value of MAX

See: SORTSIZE System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-SORTSIZE n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

SORTSIZE= n n K n M n G hex X MIN MAX

n n K n M n G

specifies the number of bytes in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.

hex X

specifies the amount of memory as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0 “9), followed by hex digits (0 “9, A “F), and then followed by an X. For example, the value 2dx sets the amount of memory to 45 bytes.

MIN

specifies 0 bytes, which indicates that there is no limit except the limitation specified by the MEMSIZE system option.

MAX

specifies 2,147,483,647 bytes.

Details

The SORTSIZE option might reduce the amount of swapping that SAS must do to sort a data set. If the SORT procedure needs more memory than you specify, it creates a temporary utility file in your SAS Work directory. The SORT procedure's algorithm can swap unneeded data more efficiently than the operating system can.

The amount of memory that SAS uses for the SORT procedure also depends on the values of the MEMSIZE and REALMEMSIZE system options. For more information, see the "How SAS Determines the Amount of Memory to Use" on page 285 section for the SORT procedure.

In most cases, you can set SORTSIZE=MAX since this value will limit the amount of memory used by the SORT procedure.

SSLCALISTLOC System Option

Specifies the location of digital certificates for trusted certificate authorities

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SSLCALISTLOC=" file-path "

file-path

specifies the location of a file that contains the digital certificates for the trusted certificate authorities (CA).

Details

This option is used to identify, for SSL, the certificate authorities that it should trust. This option is always required for clients because they must trust at least one CA in order to validate a server's certificate. This option is required for a server only if client authentication is enabled.

SSLCERTLOC System Option

Specifies the name of the file that contains the digital certificate that is used for authentication

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SSLCERTLOC=" file-path "

file-path

The name of a file that contains a digital certificate.

Details

SSLCERTLOC is required for a server. It is needed on a client only if client authentication is being performed.

SSLCLIENTAUTH System Option

Specifies whether a server should perform client authentication

Default: NOSSLCLIENTAUTH

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SSLCLIENTAUTH NOSSLCLIENTAUTH

SSLCLIENTAUTH NOSSLCLIENTAUTH

specifies whether the server should require SSL to provide client authentication.

Details

Server authentication is always performed, but SSLCLIENTAUTH enables a user to control client authentication. This option is meaningful only when used on a server.

SSLCRLCHECK System Option

Specifies whether Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) are checked when a digital certificate is validated

Default: NOSSLCRLCHECK

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SSLCRLCHECK NOSSLCRLCHECK

SSLCRLCHECK NOSSLCRLCHECK

controls whether CRLs are checked when digital certificates are validated.

Details

Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) are published by Certificate Authorities (CAs) and contain a list of revoked digital certificates. The list contains only the revoked certificates that were issued by that particular certificate authority. This option is relevant for servers only if client authentication is used. Because clients always check server certificates, this option is always relevant for clients.

SSLCRLLOC System Option

Specifies the location for a Certificate Revocation List (CRL)

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SSLCRLLOC=" file-path "

file-path

specifies the location of a Certificate Revocation List (CRL).

Details

This option is relevant only when the SSLCRLCHECK option is enabled.

SSLPVTKEYLOC System Option

Specifies where to find the private key that corresponds to the digital certificate that was specified with the SSLCERTLOC option

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SSLPVTKEYLOC=" file-path "

file-path

specifies the name of the file that contains the private key that corresponds to the digital certificate that was specified with the SSLCERTLOC= option.

Details

The value of this option must be the name of the file that contains the private key. This option is required only when SSLCERTLOC is specified.

SSLPVTKEYPASS System Option

Specifies the password that SSL should use to decrypt the private key that is stored in the file specified by SSLPVTKEYLOC

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Category: Communications: Networking and encryption

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= COMMUNICATIONS

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

SSLPVTKEYPASS=" password "

password

specifies the password that SSL should use to decrypt the private key that is stored in the file that is specified by SSLPVTKEYLOC.

Details

The option is required only when the private key is encrypted.

STDIO System Option

Specifies whether SAS should use stdin, stdout , and stderr

Default: NOSTDIO

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Input control: Data processing

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= INPUTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-STDIO -NOSTDIO

Details

This option tells SAS to take its input from standard input (stdin), to write its log to standard error (stderr), and to write its output to standard output (stdout).

This option is designed for running SAS in batch mode or from a shell script. If you specify this option interactively, SAS starts a line mode session. The STDIO option overrides the DMS, DMSEXP, and EXPLORER system options.

The STDIO option does not affect the assignment of the Stdio, Stdin, and Stderr filerefs. See "Filerefs Assigned by SAS in UNIX Environments" on page 140 for more information.

For example, in the following SAS command, the file MyInput is used as the source program, and files MyOutput and MyLog are used for the procedure output and log respectively.

 sas -stdio < myinput > myoutput 2> mylog

If you are using the C shell, you should use parentheses:

 (sas -stdio < myinput > myoutput) >& output_log

STIMEFMT System Option

Control the format of output produced by FULLSTIMER and STIMER

Default: M

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-STIMEFMT value

STIMEFMT= value

Details

The STIMEFMT system option controls the format of output produced by the FULLSTIMER and STIMER system options.

STIMEFMT takes the following values:

HOURS, H, or Z

prints time statistics in hh:mm:ss.ss format.

MINUTES or M

prints time statistics in mm:ss.ss format.

SECONDS or S

prints time statistics in ss.ss format.

NORMAL or N

prints time statistics in ss.ss format if the time is less than one minute, in mm:ss.ss format if the time is less than one hour , or in hh:mm:ss.ss format otherwise.

STIMER System Option

Writes a subset of system performance statistics to the SAS log

Default: STIMER

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-STIMER -NOSTIMER

STIMER NOSTIMER

STIMER

writes only real time and CPU time to the SAS log.

NOSTIMER

does not write any statistics to the SAS log.

Details

The STIMER system option specifies whether a subset of all the performance statistics of your system that are available to SAS are written to the SAS log. The following is an example of STIMER output.

Output 17.3: STIMER Output

 real time   1.34 seconds cpu time    0.04 seconds

STIMER displays the following statistics:

Table 17.2: Description of STIMER Statistics
Statistic	Description
Real Time	the amount of time spent to process the SAS job. Real time is also referred to as elapsed time.
CPU time	the total time spent to execute your SAS code and spent to perform system overhead tasks on behalf of the SAS process. This value is the combination of the user cpu and system cpu statistics from FULLSTIMER.

If both STIMER and FULLSTIMER are set, the FULLSTIMER statistics are printed.

Note

For example, a SAS procedure could use two threads that run on two separate CPUs simultaneously. The value of CPU time would be calculated as the following:

 CPU1 time + CPU2 time = total CPU time   1 second + 1 second = 2 seconds

Since CPU1 can run a thread at the same time that CPU2 runs a separate thread, you can theoretically consume 2 CPU seconds in 1 second of real time.

SYSIN System Option

Specifies the default location of SAS source code when running in batch mode

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-SYSIN filename

The filename must be a valid UNIX filename.

Details

This option applies only when you are using batch mode. It is not necessary to precede the filename with the SYSIN option if the filename immediately follows the keyword SAS. For example, the following two SAS commands are equivalent:

 sas saspgms/report1.sas    sas -sysin saspgms/report1.sas

SYSPRINT System Option

Specifies the destination for printed output

Default: default system printer

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: Procedure output

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LISTCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-SYSPRINT destination ' destination option-list '

SYSPRINT= destination ' destination option-list '

destination

is the name of a hardcopy device at your site. Consult your system administrator for a list of available destinations.

option-list

is the list of options to pass to the lp (or lpr ) command.

Details

The SYSPRINT option specifies a destination for printed output other than default system printer. You can also use the option list to pass options to the lp (or lpr ) command.

Note	When a fileref is assigned, the SYSPRINT option is queried. If the value of the SYSPRINT option is later changed, the fileref does not pick up this change.

For details, see "Changing the Default Print Command in UNIX Environments" on page 165.

TAPECLOSE System Option

Specifies the default CLOSE disposition when reading and writing a SAS data library on tape

Default: REREAD

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Files: SAS Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-TAPECLOSE disposit ion

TAPECLOSE= disposit ion

The disposition can be one of the following values:

REREAD

rewind to the beginning of this file when it is closed. This is the default.

REWIND

rewind to the beginning of the tape after closing each member.

LEAVE

perform no tape positioning when you close a member.

FREE

rewind and dismount the tape when the next member is closed.

USER System Option

Specifies the name of the default permanent SAS data library

Default: none

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: pathname must be a valid UNIX pathname

See: USER System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-USER pathname

USER=' pathname ' libr ef

pathname

identifies the directory containing your default permanent SAS data library. It must be a directory name.

libref

is the libref associated with the directory containing your default permanent SAS data library. It must already be assigned.

VERBOSE System Option

Controls whether SAS writes the settings of SAS system options to the terminal

Default: NOVERBOSE

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Log and procedure output control: SAS log

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= LOGCONTROL

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-VERBOSE -NOVERBOSE

-VERBOSE

writes the settings of SAS system options from the configuration file, the SAS command, and the SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable to the terminal. For the CONFIG option, VERBOSE lists the name of the configuration file or files.

-NOVERBOSE

does not write the settings of the system options to the terminal.

Details

SAS sends the system option information to standard output. If the standard output is a terminal, the list is displayed with the more command. You can also use the more command to scroll the file. The RETURN key scrolls one line; the space bar scrolls the entire display.

WORK System Option

Specifies the name of the Work library

Default: set in the installed !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

See: WORK System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-WORK pathname

pathname

specifies the directory (not a filename) where your Work SAS data library can be created or found. SAS will create the directory if it does not exist. You must have write permission to pathname .

WORKINIT System Option

Initializes the Work data library

Default: WORKINIT

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: WORKINIT does not erase files from previous sessions

See: WORKINIT System Option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary

Syntax

-WORKINIT -NOWORKINIT

WORKINIT

specifies that a new subdirectory is to be created in the directory specified in the WORK option.

NOWORKINIT

specifies that the system is to use the directory specified by the WORK option.
- If the system does not find any old subdirectories, it creates a new one.
- If the system finds more than one old subdirectory, it uses the latest one.
- If file locking is in effect (see FILELOCKS option), the system looks for the latest unlocked directory. If it finds none, it creates a new one.

Details

The WORKINIT option controls whether the Work data library is initialized at SAS invocation.

WORKPERMS System Option

Sets the permissions of the SAS Work library when it is initially created

Default: umask

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation

Category: Environment control: Files

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

-WORKPERMS permission value

permission value

specifies the octal value representing the permissions desired for the SAS Work directory. Values can be any octal value setting the permission of a UNIX directory. Examples of values include: umask , 700, 755, 770, 775, and 777.

XCMD System Option

Specifies whether the X command is valid in the current SAS session

Default: XCMD

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable

Category: Environment control: Display

PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVDISPLAY

UNIX specifics: all

Syntax

XCMD NOXCMD

XCMD

specifies that the X command is valid in the current SAS session.

NOXCMD

specifies that the X command is not valid in the current SAS session.

Details

The XCMD system option specifies whether the X command is valid in the current SAS session.

You cannot use several SAS statements, objects, and facilities if you use the NOXCMD system option. Examples of these statements, objects, and facilities include:

the PIPE device type on the FILENAME statement
the CALL SYSTEM routine
the %SYSEXEC macro
any facility that SAS uses to execute a shell-level command.

ALTLOG System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

ALTPRINT System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

APPEND System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

AUTOEXEC System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

AUTOSAVELOC System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

BATCH System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

BUFNO System Option

Syntax

Details

BUFSIZE System Option

Syntax

Details

CATCACHE System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

CLEANUP System Option

Syntax

Details

CONFIG System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

DBCS System Option

DBCSLANG System Option

DBCSTYPE System Option

DEVICE System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

ECHO System Option

Syntax

Details

Example

See Also

EDITCMD System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

EMAILSYS System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

ENCODING System Option

ENGINE System Option

Syntax

See Also

FILELOCKS System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also

FONTSLOC System Option

Syntax

Details

FSDBTYPE System Option

FSIMM System Option

FSIMMOPT System Option

FULLSTIMER System Option

Syntax

Details

See Also