When you download subject lists from SAS Customer Intelligence 360, they are converted to MATables SAS data sets when necessary. Those data sets are used for in-database processing (that is a customer’s data mart and/or CDM tables) or other SAS specific functionalities such as stored processes.
MATables Overview
Joining SAS data sets and database tables in SAS is usually a slow process because all of the data from the database table needs to be downloaded onto the to enable the join. So, SAS uses the database bulk load or fast load utility to load the MATables to the database to allow the joins to take place there. This process is typically much faster.
Any MATables that are automatically uploaded to the data mart during the execution are removed after use whenever possible.
Freeing Up Disk Space
With SAS Customer Intelligence 360, users can delete MATables that are older than x days (for example, MATables that are older than 7 days).
There is logic in the on-premises agent that reuses existing MATables for ad hoc counts requests. However, if those MATables are missing, they are simply regenerated as necessary. Note that to regenerate the missing MATables, the logic requires that the segment be re-executed.
SAS Customer Intelligence 360 does not rely on pre-existing MATables for segments or link nodes, which are stored in SAS Customer Intelligence 360. This behavior means that if those tables are removed, their dependencies are not broken.
