CIMPORT Procedure

PROC CIMPORT Statement

Imports a transport file.

Examples:

Importing an Entire Library

Importing Individual Catalog Entries

Importing a Single Indexed SAS Data Set

Syntax

Required Argument

Optional Arguments

Syntax

PROC CIMPORT destination=libref | <libref.> member-name<option(s)>;

Summary of Optional Arguments

FORCE

enables access to a locked catalog.

NEW

creates a new catalog for the imported transport file, and deletes any existing catalog with the same name.

NOEDIT

imports SAS/AF PROGRAM and SCL entries without Edit capability.

NOSRC

suppresses the importing of source code for SAS/AF entries that contain compiled SCL code.

Control the contents of the transport file

EXTENDSN=YES | NO

specifies whether to extend by 1 byte the length of short numerics (less than 8 bytes) when you import them.

ISFILEUTF8=YES | NO ISFILEUTF8=TRUE | FALSE

specifies whether the file is encoded in UTF-8 format.

MEMTYPE=mtype

specifies that only data sets, only catalogs, or both, be moved when a library is imported.

UPCASE

writes the alphabetic characters in uppercase to the output file.

Identify the input transport file

INFILE=fileref | 'filename'

specifies a previously defined fileref or the filename of the transport file to read.

TAPE

reads the input transport file from a tape.

Select files to import

EET=(etype(s))

excludes specified entry types from the import process.

ET=(etype(s))

specifies entry types to import.

Required Argument

destination=libref | < libref. >member-name

identifies the type of file to import and specifies the catalog, SAS data set, or SAS library to import.

Tip

Refer to Names in the SAS Language in SAS Language Reference: Concepts for naming conventions that you can use for names and member names.

destination

identifies the file or files in the transport file as a single catalog, as a single SAS data set, or as the members of a SAS library. The destination argument can be one of the following:

CATALOG | CAT | C

DATA | DS | D

LIBRARY | LIB | L

libref | <libref. > member-name: specifies the specific catalog, SAS data set, or SAS library as the destination of the transport file. If the destination argument is CATALOG or DATA, you can specify both a libref and a member name. If the libref is omitted, PROC CIMPORT uses the default library as the libref, which is usually the WORK library. If the destination argument is LIBRARY, specify only a libref.

Optional Arguments

EET=(etype(s)): excludes specified entry types from the import process. If the etype is a single entry type, then you can omit the parentheses. Separate multiple values with spaces.

Interaction:You cannot specify both the EET= option and the ET= option in the same PROC CIMPORT step.

ET=(etype(s)): specifies the entry types to import. If the etype is a single entry type, then you can omit the parentheses. Separate multiple values with spaces.

Interaction:You cannot specify both the EET= option and the ET= option in the same PROC CIMPORT step.

EXTENDSN=YES | NO: specifies whether to extend by 1 byte the length of short numerics (fewer than 8 bytes) when you import them. You can avoid a loss of precision when you transport a short numeric in IBM format to IEEE format if you extend its length. You cannot extend the length of an 8-byte short numeric.

Default:YES

Restriction:This option applies only to data sets.

Tip:Do not store fractions as short numerics.

ISFILEUTF8=YES | NO ISFILEUTF8=TRUE | FALSE

explicitly designates the encoding of a data set that is contained in a transport file as UTF-8. Although data set encodings are recorded (or stamped) in SAS 9.2 transport files, encodings are not stamped in transport files created using SAS releases before 9.2. Therefore, designating the UTF-8 encoding is useful under these conditions:

The data set in the transport file was created using a SAS release before 9.2.
The data set is known to be encoded as UTF-8.

The person who restores the transport file in the target environment should have a description of the transport file in advance of the restore operation.

YES | Y | yes | y | TRUE | true | T | t: specifies that the data set in the transport file is encoded as UTF-8.

NO | N | no | n | FALSE | false | F | f: specifies that the data set in the transport file is not encoded as UTF-8. NO is the default.

In order to successfully import a transport file in the target SAS session, you should have this information about the transport file:

source operating environment. Windows for example.
SAS release. SAS 9.2 for example.
name of the transport file. tport.dat for example.
encoding of the character data.wlatin1 for example.
national language of the character data. For example, American English (or en_US)

Default:NO

Restriction:PROC CIMPORT uses this option only if the transport file is not stamped with the encoding of the data set. Encodings were not recorded in SAS releases before 9.2. If an encoding is recorded in the transport file and the ISFILEUTF8= option is specified in PROC CIMPORT, ISFILEUTF8= is ignored.

See:CIMPORT Problems: Importing Transport Files

For more information about creating and restoring transport files, see Moving and Accessing SAS Files.

FORCE: enables access to a locked catalog. By default, PROC CIMPORT locks the catalog that it is updating to prevent other users from accessing the catalog while it is being updated. The FORCE option overrides this lock, which allows other users to access the catalog while it is being imported, or enables you to import a catalog that is currently being accessed by other users.
CAUTION:

The FORCE option can lead to unpredictable results.

The FORCE option allows multiple users to access the same catalog entry simultaneously.

INFILE=fileref | 'filename': specifies a previously defined fileref or the filename of the transport file to read. If you omit the INFILE= option, then PROC CIMPORT attempts to read from a transport file with the fileref SASCAT. If a fileref SASCAT does not exist, then PROC CIMPORT attempts to read from a file named SASCAT.DAT.

Alias:FILE=

Example:Importing an Entire Library

MEMTYPE=mtype

specifies that only data sets, only catalogs, or both, be imported from the transport file. Values for mtype can be as follows:

ALL	both catalogs and data sets
CATALOG \| CAT	catalogs
DATA \| DS	SAS data sets

NEW: creates a new catalog to contain the contents of the imported transport file when the destination that you specify has the same name as an existing catalog. NEW deletes any existing catalog with the same name as the one you specify as a destination for the import. If you do not specify NEW, and the destination that you specify has the same name as an existing catalog, PROC CIMPORT appends the imported transport file to the existing catalog.

NOEDIT: imports SAS/AF PROGRAM and SCL entries without Edit capability.
You obtain the same results if you create a new catalog to contain SCL code by using the MERGE statement with the NOEDIT option in the BUILD procedure of SAS/AF software.

Note: The NOEDIT option affects only SAS/AF PROGRAM and SCL entries. It does not affect FSEDIT SCREEN and FSVIEW FORMULA entries.

Alias:NEDIT

NOSRC: suppresses the importing of source code for SAS/AF entries that contain compiled SCL code.
You obtain the same results if you create a new catalog to contain SCL code by using the MERGE statement with the NOSOURCE option in the BUILD procedure of SAS/AF software.

Alias:NSRC

Interaction:PROC CIMPORT ignores the NOSRC option if you use it with an entry type other than FRAME, PROGRAM, or SCL.

TAPE: reads the input transport file from a tape.

Default:PROC CIMPORT reads from disk.

UPCASE: reads from the transport file and writes the alphabetic characters in uppercase to the output file.

Restriction: The UPCASE option is allowed only if SAS is built with a Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS).

Tip: PROC CPORT can be used to create a transport file that includes all uppercase characters. See option OUTTYPE=UPCASE for details.