How SAS Processes Programs
When
you submit a DATA step, SAS processes the DATA step and creates a
new SAS data set. A SAS DATA step is processed in two phases:
Figure 7.1 DATA Step Process
When you submit a
DATA step for execution, SAS checks the syntax of the SAS statements
and compiles them. In this phase, SAS identifies the type and length
of each new variable, and determines whether a variable type conversion
is necessary for each subsequent reference to a variable. During the
compilation phase, SAS creates the following items:
-
input buffer
-
program data vector (PDV)
-
descriptor information
When the compilation phase ...
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