Stata has a very handy documentation/transparency/reproducibility metadata function that allows users to add custom, verbose notes to a data file (as metadata). See more information here: https://www.stata.com/manuals/dnotes.pdf.
As far as I can tell, SAS doesn't do this (can label a data file, but limited space to do so). The maximum length of one note is 67,784 for a single note and multiple notes can be added to a data file (e.g., when doing something to/with it and saving).
The notes are numbered sequentially, so can be used as a change log, e.g.,
1. Saved raw data file after downloading from the web.
2. Created recodes for vars X-Z.
3. Copy of data file used in publication.
See other examples in the link above.
Obviously, this information can be listed in a custom log or in code, but what's better than attaching metadata about a data file to the file itself? Thanks for considering!
