Date:         Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:25:21 -0400
Reply-To:     Michael Raithel <michaelraithel@WESTAT.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Michael Raithel <michaelraithel@WESTAT.COM>
Subject:      Re: OT: Chance to Make SAS-L History: Did You Know That...
In-Reply-To:  <c2192a610706180703y4ab4540cwf76134e295b11774@mail.gmail.com>
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Dear SAS-L-ers,

Did you know that you can easily obtain the amount of computer memory
available to SAS?  Well, you can with the undocumented XMRLMEM option.
Here is how it might look in action:

data _null_;
format amt comma20.;
amt = input(getoption('xmrlmem'),20.);
put amt=;
run;

The code, above, will give you the total number of bytes of real memory
available.  (It does not count the operating system's virtual memory;
only real memory).  You can simply divide this number by 1024 to get it
into K's... or whatever to get it into Megs or Gigs.

XMRLMEM is an undocumented diagnostic option that can come in handy when
you are considering allocating a bushel-full of buffers or considering
doing some big-time hashing.

This undocumented option is documented in the great SAS Global Forum
2007 paper by Jason Secosky and Janice Bloom:

Getting Started with the DATA Step Hash Object
http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/forum2007/271-2007.pdf

That paper is well worth a read; even if you think that you already know
everything about SAS hash objects.  Really!

Best of luck in all of your SAS endeavors!


I hope that this suggestion proves helpful now, and in the future!

Of course, all of these opinions and insights are my own, and do not
reflect those of my organization or my associates. All SAS code and/or
methodologies specified in this posting are for illustrative purposes
only and no warranty is stated or implied as to their accuracy or
applicability. People deciding to use information in this posting do so
at their own risk.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Michael A. Raithel
"The man who wrote the book on performance"
E-mail: MichaelRaithel@westat.com

Author: Tuning SAS Applications in the MVS Environment

Author: Tuning SAS Applications in the OS/390 and z/OS Environments,
Second Edition
http://www.sas.com/apps/pubscat/bookdetails.jsp?catid=1&pc=58172

Author: The Complete Guide to SAS Indexes

http://www.sas.com/apps/pubscat/bookdetails.jsp?catid=1&pc=60409

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how
improbable, must be the truth. - Arthur Conan Doyle
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++