If you know about any database e.g MaAccess,DB2,Oracle etc., then you might be aware of term table.
Since database stores data so obviously it will need some memory space and standard template where it can keep that data e.g.
you keep fruits in a basket.
So table contains some related data for DBMS.Now this table is stored in form of rows and columns.
Each row is called a record and column stands for variables.
Similarly SAS organizes data into a rectangular form or table that is called a SAS data set.
When SAS reads data from anywhere (for example, raw data, spreadsheets), it stores the data in its own special form called a SAS data set.
Only SAS can read and write SAS data sets.
SAS Dataset cab be divided into 2 parts –
• Descriptor Portion
• Data Portion
Descriptor information includes the number of observations, the observation length,
the date that the data set was last modified, and other facts. Descriptor information for
individual variables includes attributes such as name, type, length, format, label, and
whether the variable is indexed.
While Data portion is actual data stored in that data set.
Oct 14, 2010
