a file whose contents are in one of the native SAS file formats. There are two types of SAS data sets: SAS data files and SAS data views. SAS data files contain data values in addition to descriptor information that is associated with the data. SAS data views contain only the descriptor information plus other information that is required for retrieving data values from other SAS data sets or from files whose contents are in other software vendors' file formats.
a file that SAS software can access as if it were a physical object. SAS data sets consist of the following components: data values that are stored in tabular form a descriptor portion that defines the types of data to SAS software. SAS data sets have two forms: data files and data views.
descriptor information and its related data values organized as a table of observations and variables that can be processed by the SAS System. A SAS data set can be either a SAS data file or a SAS data view.
the internal format used by the SAS System. A SAS data set contains descriptor information and its related data values organized as a table of observations (rows) and variables (columns) that can be processed by the SAS System.