BUFSIZE System Option: UNIX

Specifies the size of a permanent buffer page for an output SAS data set.
Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window, SASV9_OPTIONS environment variable
Category: Files: SAS files
PROC OPTIONS GROUP= SASFILES, PERFORMANCE
Default: 0
UNIX specifics: valid range
See: BUFSIZE= System Option in SAS System Options: Reference

Syntax

-BUFSIZE n | nK | nM | nG | hexX | MAX
BUFSIZE=n | nK | nM | nG | hexX | MAX

Required Arguments

n | nK | nM | nG
specifies the buffer page size in multiples of 1 (bytes); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); or 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes). You can specify decimal values for the number of kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes, a value of .782k specifies 801 bytes, and a value of 3m specifies 3,145,728 bytes.
hexX
specifies the buffer page size as a hexadecimal value. You must specify the value beginning with a number (0–9), followed by hexadecimal characters (0–9, A–F), and then followed by an X. For example, 2dx sets the buffer page size to 45 bytes.
MAX
sets the buffer page size to 2,147,483,647.

Details

The buffer page size can range from 1K to 2G–1.
If you specify a nonzero value when you create a SAS data set, the BASE engine uses that value. If that value cannot hold at least one observation or is not a multiple of 1K, the engine rounds the value up to a multiple of 1K.