Using the EXPORT procedure (PROC EXPORT) with DBMS=XLS in 9.1.3 SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files under UNIX to create an Excel spreadsheet that resides on UNIX can cause problems with the Excel spreadsheet. The newly-created spreadsheet sometimes cannot be read back into the SAS/ACCESS software under UNIX with DBMS=XLS in the PROC IMPORT statement, and it will fail with a segmentation violation. The file format is also not recognized by Excel once the file is moved to Windows.

This problem is relatively obscure in that it only occurs within a narrow range of file sizes. Unless the size of the spreadsheet falls within this very small range, the problem does not occur. This method of creating an Excel from within SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files under UNIX involves adding an OLE2 wrapper around the data, and there is a problem with the OLE2 wrapper's adding routine when the spreadsheet is of a certain size.

This problem does NOT occur when you create an Excel spreadsheet directly under Windows using DBMS=EXCELCS in the PROC IMPORT statement in 9.1.3 SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files in conjunction with the PC File Server. This is true even if the size of the spreadsheet falls within the narrow range of problem sizes mentioned previously. This method uses Microsoft Jet to create the spreadsheet and the problem does not manifest itself there.

Select the Hot Fix tab in this note to access the hot fix for this issue.

Operating System and Release Information

A fix for SAS 9.1.3 (9.1 TS1M3) for this issue is available at:

A fix for SAS 9.1.3 (9.1 TS1M3) with Asian Language Support (DBCS) for this issue is available at: