Chapter 28: SAS Data Files

Definition of a SAS Data File

A SAS data file is a type of SAS data set that contains both the data values and the descriptor information. SAS data files have the member type of DATA. There are two general types of SAS data files:

native SAS data file

• stores the data values and descriptor information in a file that is formatted by SAS.

interface SAS data file

• stores the data in a file that was formatted by software other than SAS. SAS provides engines for reading and writing data from files that were formatted by software such as ORACLE, DB2, SYBASE, ODBC, BMDP, SPSS, and OSIRIS. These files are interface SAS data files, and when their data values are accessed through an engine, SAS recognizes them as SAS data sets.

  Note: The availability of engines that can access different types of interface data files is determined by your site licensing agreement. See your system administrator to determine which engines are available. For more information about SAS multiple engine architecture, see Chapter 37, 'SAS Engines,' on page 597.