In SAS using SASMSTORE option I can specify a place where the SASMACR catalog will exist. In this catalog will reside some macro. At some moment I may need to change the macro and this moment may occure while this macro and therefore the catalog will be in use by another user. But then it will be locked and unavailable to be modified. How can I avoid such a situation?
2 Answers
2
votes
If you're using a SAS Macro catalog as a public catalog that is shared among colleagues, a few options exist.
First, use SVN or similar source control option so that you and your colleagues each have a local copy of the macro catalog. This is my preferred option. I'd do this, and also probably not used stored compiled macros - I'd just set it up as autocall macros, personally - because that makes it easy to resolve conflicts (as you have separate files for each macro). Using SCMs you won't be able to resolve conflicts, so you'll have to make sure everyone is very well behaved about always downloading the newest copy before making any changes, and discusses any changes so you don't have two competing changes made at about the same time. If SCMs are important for your particular use case, you could version control the macros that create the SCMs and build the SCM yourself every time you refresh your local copy of the sources.
Second, you could and should separate development from production here. Even if you have a shared library located on a shared network folder, you should have a development copy as well that is explicitly not locked by anyone except when developing a new macro for it (or updating a currently used macro). Then make your changes there, and on a consistent schedule push them out once they've been tested and verified (preferably in a test environment, so you have the classic three: dev, test, and prod environments). Something like this:
- Changes in Dev are pushed to Test on Wednesdays. Anyone who's got something ready to go by Wednesday 3pm puts it in a folder (the macro source code, that is), and it's compiled into the test SCM automatically.
- Test is then verified Thursday and Friday. Anything that is verified in Test by 3pm Friday is pushed to the Dev source code folder at that time, paying attention to any potential conflicts in other new code in test (nothing's pushed to dev if something currently in test but not verified could conflict with it).
- Production then is run at 3pm Friday. Everyone has to be out of the SCM by then.
I suggest not using Friday for prod if you have something that runs over the weekend, of course, as it risks you having to fix something over the weekend.
1
votes
Create two folders, e.g. maclib1 and maclib2, and a dataset which stores the current library number.
When you want to rebuild your library, query the current number, increment (or reset to 1 if it's already 2), assign your macro library path to the corresponding folder, compile your macros, and then update the dataset with the new library number.
When it comes to assigning your library, query the current library number from the dataset, and assign the library path accordingly.
