Rename SAS datasets using proc datasets change statement

When working with data, programmers may sometimes want to rename existing datasets.

Some programmers create new datasets with the required names by reading the existing datasets, using an approach similar to the one shown below.

 data males;

   set a1;

run;

data females;

   set a2;

run;

The above approach may be fine for smaller datasets but becomes very inefficient when working with large datasets. The efficient way is to make use of change statement of proc datasets.

proc datasets library=work nolist;

   change a1=males a2=females;

   run;

run;

• We can rename multiple datasets on a single change statement
• We can use multiple change statements within a single invocation of proc datasets
• The name of the old dataset has to be specified on the left-hand side of the equal to sign and the new name has to be specified on the right