About the Import Data Features :: SAS(R) Visual Analytics 6.3: User's Guide

Why Use the Import Data Features?

The import data features enable you to perform self-service data access. You can take a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, delimited text file, or SAS data set from your desktop, and transfer it to SAS LASR Analytic Server. Or, you can transfer the data to a SAS data set, a database table, or any other source that SAS can access.

For deployments that include SAS/ACCESS Interface to Oracle, you can import tables from Oracle. This is also considered self-service and you can avoid registering the server and a library with the SAS Metadata Server.

The imported data can be used to enrich existing data that is already available in your SAS deployment. You can import data directly to memory on a SAS LASR Analytic Server.

Requirements

Importing data requires starting a SAS session on the SAS Application Server. Typically, this requirement is met by each user who has a host account.

For deployments on Microsoft Windows, the host account must have the Log on as a batch job Windows privilege. For deployments on Linux that use a distributed SAS LASR Analytic Server, the host account must be configured for passwordless SSH.

For more information, see “Getting Started” in the SAS Visual Analytics: Administration Guide.

Table Names, Column Names, and Special Characters

In general, you can import files that use blanks and special characters in the filenames and column names. The following list identifies how table names are handled:

For text files (such as CSV files), the table name is initially set from the filename.
When you import a spreadsheet, the table names are handled as follows:
- If the spreadsheet contains a single worksheet, the table name is initially set from the filename.
- If the spreadsheet contains multiple worksheets, each table name is initially set as a combination of the filename, an underscore, and the name of the worksheet.
After the initial table name is determined, an unsupported special character is replaced with an underscore. These special characters include / \ * ? " < > | : - and the period (.).
Table names are shortened to 32 characters because that is the table name length that is supported by SAS.

For column names, most special characters can be used, including spaces. An unsupported special character is replaced with an underscore. These special characters include / \ * ? " < > | : - and the period (.).

By default, column names are read from the first row of the text file. If you clear the Includes column names check box, the column names are generated for you as follows:

Spreadsheets Column names are assigned A, B, C, and so on.
Text files Column names are assigned VAR1, VAR2, and so on.

The following table identifies how column names that begin with a number, such as 2013sales, or use numbers only, such as 2013, interact with the Includes column names check box:

Source File Column Name	Imported Column Name
`2013sales`	`_2013sales` for XLSX, XLS, and text files.
`2013`	`_2013` for XLSX and text files. For Excel 97-2003 Workbook (XLS) files, a letter such as `A`, `B`, `C`, and so on, is substituted for the column name, depending on the column position in the file.

Working with Spreadsheets

The following list identifies considerations for importing data from spreadsheets:

You can import Excel Workbook (XLSX) files and Excel 97-2003 Workbook (XLS) files. You cannot import XLSM, XLST, or other Excel file types.
When you import a spreadsheet (from your PC) that has multiple worksheets, by default, all of the worksheets are imported. A table is created for each worksheet. You can clear the check boxes for the worksheets that you do not want to import.
Importing pivot tables is not supported.

Importing Large Data Files

When you import data files (spreadsheets, SAS data sets, or delimited text files) from your machine, you are limited to files that are 4 GB or less. This limitation is introduced by web browsers. Despite being a limitation, it is practical because of the time that is required to transfer large files through the web browser to the SAS server.

Note: Administrators can specify a limit that is less than 4 GB.

As an alternative to importing data files through your web browser, you can transfer files to the machine for the SAS server and use autoload. You can import data from files that are larger than 4 GB. In addition, FTP and network file systems transfer data files faster than web browsers.

Autoload requires some setup by an administrator, so contact your administrator.

Usage Notes

Review the following notes if you have trouble importing data:

Before you click OK to import the data, click Preview. Preview shows an accurate representation of the column names and data values that will be available after the import.
If SAS is configured as a Unicode server at your site, you have the most flexibility for importing data.
When you import a delimited text file (CSV file), you need to specify the encoding of the text file. In some cases, the import reports success, even though the data might be corrupted. It is important to verify the imported data.
If you import a SAS data set that uses user-defined formats, you must make the custom format catalog available to the SAS Application Server. For more information, see Working with User-Defined Formats.
If importing large data files at the same time is common for your deployment, be aware that the large data files are written to temporary disk space on the server. In extreme cases, this can cause temporary disk space to become full. Systems that run out of disk space can become unresponsive and difficult to troubleshoot.
If you import data from text files and plan to append the data, check that the column data types and lengths match the table that you want to append to.