Use the TYPE= data set
option in a DATA step to create a special SAS data set in the proper
format, or to identify the special type of the SAS data set in a procedure
statement.
You can use the CONTENTS
procedure to determine the type of a data set.
Most SAS data sets do
not have a specified type. However, there are several specially structured
SAS data sets that are used by some
SAS/STAT procedures. These SAS
data sets contain special variables and observations, and they are
usually created by SAS statistical procedures. Because most of the
special SAS data sets are used with
SAS/STAT software, they are described
in the
SAS/STAT User's Guide. Some of the special
data sets are CORR, COV, SSPC, EST, or FACTOR.
Other values are available
in other SAS software products and are described in the appropriate
documentation.
Note: If you use a DATA step with
a SET statement to modify a special SAS data set, you must specify
the TYPE= option in the DATA statement. The
data-set-type is not automatically copied to the data set that is created.