SAS Companion for the CMS Environment

Specifying CMS File Identifiers

Under CMS, a file identifier (or fileid) consists of three parts: a filename, a filetype, and either a filemode or a directory identifier. Filemodes pertain to files that reside either in a CMS minidisk or in an accessed Shared File System (SFS) directory to which a filemode letter has been assigned. Directory identifiers pertain only to SFS directories. The concept of an aggregate external file is new to SAS beginning in Version 7. An aggregate external file is a directory that SAS treats as a single file with aggregate members. Any minidisk, MACLIB, or SFS directory can be specified as an aggregate file.

filename

filetype

consists of one to eight alphanumeric characters, including the letters A through Z, the digits 0 through 9, and the following special characters: $ # @ + - (hyphen) : (colon) _ (underscore). The filetype describes or qualifies the filename field. CMS reserves certain filetypes for particular purposes. For example, a filetype of EXEC indicates that the file can contain a program of CMS commands. See the VM/ESA CMS User's Guide for information about reserved filetypes.

It is not always necessary to include the filetype in a CMS fileid, because some CMS commands and SAS language elements (such as statements, system options, and the SAS command) assume certain filetypes by default.

filemode

is a two-character field that consists of the filemode letter (A through Z) followed by the filemode number (0 through 6). See the VM/ESA CMS User's Guide for definitions of particular filemodes. The filemode letter can refer either to a CMS minidisk or to an accessed SFS directory.

If you do not specify a filemode, then CMS searches the filemodes that you have assigned in alphabetical order.

directory identifier

may consist of a file pool identifier, the root directory (usually your userid), and (possibly) one or more subdirectory names. The file pool identifier must be followed by a colon. See the VM/ESA CMS User's Guide for complete information about directory identifiers.

aggregate external file

is a directory that, for minidisks and SFS directories, is identified to SAS with a filemode letter, SFS directory name, or an asterisk, and without a filename or filetype. A MACLIB can also be specified as an aggregate file, using the syntax 'filename MACLIB <filemode | *>'. For further information on aggregate files, see Identifying an External File.

Examples of CMS File Identifiers

FILENAME statement that assigns a fileref to a file that resides in a minidisk or SFS directory to which a filemode letter has been assigned:
```
filename mysas1 'myprog sas a1';
```
FILENAME statement that assigns a fileref to a file that resides in an SFS directory:
```
filename mysas1 'myprog sas pool1:mydir.mysubdir'
```
FILENAME statement that assigns a fileref to an aggregate file that consists of an SFS directory:
```
filename mysas1 'pool1:mydir.';
```
FILENAME statement that assigns a fileref to an aggregate file that consists of a MACLIB:
```
filename mysas1 'myprog MACLIB *';
```
FILENAME statement that assigns a fileref to an aggregate file that consists of a CMS minidisk:
```
filename mysas1 'a';
```

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