F

fatal error

an error that causes a program to end abnormally or that prevents the program from starting.

field

a window area in which users can view, enter, or modify a value.

file extension

the classification of a file in a directory that identifies what type of information is stored in the file. For example, .SCAT is the file extension for SAS catalogs.

filename

the identifier that is used for a file. The filename includes the file extension, as in PROFILE.SC2. See also fully qualified filename, pathname.

fileref (file reference)

a name that is temporarily assigned to an external file or to an aggregate storage location such as a directory or a folder. The fileref identifies the file or the storage location to SAS. Under Windows, you can assign a fileref with a FILENAME statement, the SAS system option SET, the Windows SET command, or from the SAS Explorer window.

folder

a named subdivision that is used for organizing files on a disk, diskette, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM. A folder also contains information about each file that it contains, such as size and date of last change.

font

a complete set of all the characters of the same design and style. The characters in a font can be figures or symbols as well as alphanumeric characters.

fully qualified filename

a file specification that includes both the pathname and the filename, as in C:\SAS\SASUSER\PROFILE.SC2. See also filename, pathname.

function key

a keyboard key that can be defined to have a specific action in a specific software environment.