Deciding to Move a SAS File between Operating Environments

Moving SAS files between operating environments is a common task. Reasons for moving a SAS file between operating environments include the following:
  • to move SAS files to a new operating environment on a different computer (for example, moving HP-UX files to a RedHat Linux operating environment).
  • to move a file and its processing to a high-performance operating environment and then return the file to the requesting operating environment.
  • to make a static copy of a SAS file available to a physically separate operating environment for continued data processing. Files are duplicated for use in the receiving operating environment because the SAS files are not available to the receiving operating environment by means of NFS-mounted file systems.
In all of these scenarios, the move operations recognize differences between operating environment architectures and SAS releases, allowing the original files to be used in the receiving operating environment.