Hi @Kastchei
Regardless of the size of your data set, most of the information provided by Proc Contents are already stored in the SAS supplied data dictionary tables/view!
Proc contents displays the metadata (data dictionary) of a SAS dataset, including variable names, types, lengths, and attributes like labels and formats. It is also used to view the structure of a library or a specific table, showing information such as the number of observations, variables, and when the dataset was created. This makes it a valuable tool for understanding a dataset, verifying that data was imported correctly, and performing more intelligent data processing.
Guess what, as soon as you assign a libname that contains your SAS data set(s), SAS behind the scenes gathers all the metadata about your SAS data sets.
Check this paper Exploring DICTIONARY Tables and Views for more details.
Note: Running proc contents does not require splitting your data set, regardless of how big it is.
Hope this helps
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