SAS Certification Prep Guide, 4th Edition

Referencing SAS Files

Referencing Permanent SAS Data Sets

To reference a permanent SAS data set in your SAS programs, use a two-level name consisting of the library name and the data set name:

libref.dataset

In the two-level name, libref is the name of the SAS library that contains the data set, and dataset is the name of the SAS data set. A period separates the libref and data set name.

Figure 2.3 Two-Level Permanent SAS Name

For example, suppose you want to create a new permanent SAS library named Clinic. In the sample program, Clinic.Admit is the two-level name for the SAS data set Admit, which is stored in the library named ...