CAUTION
If you need to access the most current DBMS data, access it directly from the database every time. Do not follow the extraction suggestions in this section.
It is sometimes more efficient to extract (copy) DBMS data to a SAS data set than to repeatedly read the data. SAS data sets are organized to provide optimal performance with PROC and DATA steps. Programs that use SAS data sets often outperform SAS programs that read DBMS data.
Consider extracting data when you work with a large DBMS table and plan to use the same DBMS data in several procedures or DATA steps.
You can extract DBMS data to a SAS data set by using the DATA step or the OUT= option in a SAS procedure.