Chapter Contents

Previous

Next

ASSIGN

Optional statement
Applies to:	access descriptor
Interacts with:	FORMAT, RENAME, RESET, UNIQUE
Not allowed with:	UPDATE
Default:	NO

Details

The ASSIGN statement indicates whether SAS variable names and formats are automatically generated. Where long names must be shortened to the SAS length limit of 8 characters, variable names are automatically generated.

An editing statement such as ASSIGN appears after the CREATE and database-description statements. See CREATE for more information.

The value NO (or N) enables you to modify SAS variable names and formats when you create an access descriptor and when you create view descriptors that are based on this access descriptor. During an access descriptor's creation, you use the RENAME statement to change SAS variable names; you use the FORMAT statement to change SAS formats.

Specify a YES (or Y) value for this statement to generate unique SAS variable names from the first 8 characters of the PC file column names, according to the rules listed below. With YES, you can change the SAS variable names only in the access descriptor. The SAS variable names that are saved in an access descriptor are always used when view descriptors are created from the access descriptor; you cannot change them in the view descriptors.

Default SAS variable names are generated according to these rules:

• If the column name is longer than 8 characters, the SAS System uses only the first 8 characters. If truncating results in duplicate names, numbers are appended to the ends of the names to prevent duplicate names. For example, the names clientsname and clientsnumber become the SAS names clientsn and clients0.

• If the column name in the PC file contains blank characters, the SAS System ignores the blank characters. For example, the column name PAID ON becomes the SAS name PAIDON.

• If the column name in the PC file starts with a digit (0 through 9), the SAS System adds the character Z before it. For example, the column name 1STYEAR becomes the SAS name Z1STYEAR.

• If the column name contains characters that are invalid in SAS names (including national characters), the SAS System replaces the invalid characters with underscores (_). For example, the column name $PAID becomes the SAS variable name _PAID.

If you specify YES for this statement, the SAS System automatically resolves any duplicate variable names. However, if you specify YES, you cannot specify the RENAME, FORMAT, RESET, or UNIQUE statements when you create view descriptors that are based on the access descriptor. When you are updating an access descriptor, you cannot specify the ASSIGN statement.

When the SAS/ACCESS interface encounters the next CREATE statement to create an access descriptor, the ASSIGN statement is reset to the default NO value.

AN is the alias for the ASSIGN statement.

Chapter Contents

Previous

Next

Top of Page

Copyright 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.