ACCESS Procedure

DROP Statement

Drops a column so that it cannot be selected in a view descriptor

Interactions: RESET, SELECT
applies to access or view descriptors

Syntax

Required Argument

column-identifier

specifies the column name or the positional equivalent from the LIST statement. This is the number that represents the column's place in the access descriptor. For example, to drop the third and fifth columns, submit this statement: drop 3 5;

Details

The DROP statement drops one or more specified columns from a descriptor. You can drop a column when you create or update an access descriptor. You can also drop a column when you update a view descriptor. If you drop a column when you create an access descriptor, you cannot select that column when you create a view descriptor that is based on the access descriptor. This statement does not affect the underlying DBMS table.

To display a previously dropped column, specify that column name in the RESET statement. However, doing this also resets all column attributes, such as the SAS variable name and format, to their default values.

Last updated: February 3, 2026