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MEMSIZE=

Default:	0
Valid in:	configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, OPTIONS window
CMS specifics:	all

MIN

specifies the minimum number of bytes (0).

MAX

specifies the maximum number of bytes (2,147,483,647 bytes).

n

specifies an integer number of bytes.

nK

specifies a number of kilobytes (1 kilobyte = 1,024 bytes).

nM

specifies a number of megabytes (1 megabyte = 1,048,576 bytes).

nG

specifies a number of gigabytes (1 gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes).

hexX

specifies a number of bytes in hexadecimal notation.

Details

By default, the MEMSIZE= option has a value of 0 bytes, which means that SAS allocates memory up to the maximum amount available. Once SAS programs are loaded into memory, they are not deleted until that memory is needed for another purpose. This behavior allows multiple processes and consecutive procedure invocations within each process without requiring the program to be reloaded each time. However, if there is no upper limit on virtual memory usage, memory is not freed for reuse even when programs that are stored there are no longer needed. Explicitly specifying a MEMSIZE limit reduces this problem. MEMSIZE=8M has proven to be a reasonable value in most batch applications. Interactive applications that use multiple SAS components such as SAS/AF software and SAS/GRAPH software should set MEMSIZE=16M.

See Also

• LEAVE=

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