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SAS Filenames

CMS and SAS use different syntax rules to identify a file:

• CMS identifies a SAS file as it does all files, with a three-part name consisting of the filename, a filetype, and either a filemode or an SFS directory identifier, for example, TASTEST MYLIB A1.

• SAS identifies a SAS file by a two-level name--for example, MYLIB.TASTEST. The first part of the name is the libref; it corresponds to the CMS filetype. The second part of the name is the same as the CMS filename. Assuming that the file is on your A disk, the CMS fileid would be TASTEST MYLIB A1.

  SAS name	CMS name
  MYLIB.TASTEST	TASTEST MYLIB
  libref.filename	filename filetype

  
  

  The CMS filemode is not included in the two-level SAS name that you specify. However, the filemode can be specified as part of the physical-name parameter in the LIBNAME statement. This is discussed in more detail in LIBNAME.

SAS Filename Restrictions

Under CMS, SAS filenames can contain no more than eight characters. In order for CMS file-naming requirements to accommodate SAS file-naming requirements, the following SAS rules are applied:

SAS File-Naming Rules

Data Member Names		Non-Data Member Names
Number of Characters	Type of Filename Used	Number of Characters	Type of Filename Used
<= 8	CMS	<=7	SAS name and a prefix character as CMS filename
>8	generated CMS filename	>7	generated CMS filename

If any generated CMS file names are needed, a special CMS file is created that is a directory for the Version 7 library. If this directory is accidentally erased, it will be re-created automatically. The directory file has a CMS filename of :SASDIR and has the same filetype as the library that it is associated with. All generated filenames are prefixed with :SAS and have a four-digit suffix, as in :SAS0001.

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