Working with SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files

Methods for Accessing PC Files Data

You can use SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files to read data from PC files for use in SAS reports or applications. You can use SAS data sets to create PC files in various formats. SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files includes accessing data in Microsoft Access database files and Excel workbook files. The Import and Export Wizards guide you through the steps to access your data.

The Import and Export Wizards as well as the IMPORT and EXPORT procedures facilitate data transfer between SAS data sets and several PC file formats including:

Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Lotus 1-2-3
DBF
JMP
SPSS
Stata
Paradox

Note: JMP files support is included in Base SAS software. A SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files license is no longer needed. [cautionend]

Not every PC file format is available under every operating environment. For a list of supported data source and environments, see Supported Data Sources and Environments.

To use the LIBNAME statement to access PC files, you must install PC Files Server. See LIBNAME Statement: PC Files on Microsoft Windows.

To use the Pass-Through Facility, see LIBNAME Statement and Pass-Through Facility on Microsoft Windows.

You can directly read, update, or extract PC files data into a SAS data file. Use the ACCESS procedure with Microsoft Excel 4, 5, 95, Lotus 1-2-3 (WK1, WK3, WK4), DBF, and DIF file formats. See The ACCESS Procedure for PC Files.

The ACCESS procedure creates PC files, and loads them with the data from a SAS data set. Use the DBLOAD procedure with any file formats that the ACCESS procedure supports. Both procedures are supported only for compatibility with SAS 6. Such SAS 6 limitations as the 8-character-long variable names apply. See The DBLOAD Procedure for details.

for Linux, UNIX, and Windows. Convert formatted data between dBase (DBF) files and SAS data sets. The DIB and DIF procedures also enable you to convert between data interchange format (DIF) and SAS data sets. See the Overview: DBF and DIF Procedures for details.

Note: The DIF procedure is not available under IBM z/OS. [cautionend]

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