When importing a large text file into SAS Enterprise Guide with the Import Data task, the following error might occur:

"System.OutOfMemoryException
 
Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown. 

----------------------- Technical Information Follows ----------------------- 

System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown. 

   at System.Collections.ArrayList..ctor(Int32 capacity)
   at SAS.Tasks.ImportData.ColumnBreaksSelector.ReadAndCacheBytes() 
   at SAS.Tasks.ImportData.ColumnBreaksSelector.set_FilePath(String value) 
   at SAS.Tasks.ImportData.SelectDataText.LoadDataIntoUI() 
   at SAS.Tasks.ImportData.SelectDataText.BeforeDisplay() 
   at SAS.SharedUI.Wizard2.set_ActivePageIndex(Int32 value) 

This error might occur under the following circumstances.

You have a large text file that contains rows of data such as the following:

12345abcde6789
12345abcde6789
12345abcde6789

Your goal is to create columns such as the following:

a = 12345
b = abcde
c = 6789

After you select File ► Import Data to import the file, and choose Fixed Columns for the Text format on step 2 of the wizard, the error appears because the file cannot be imported as a delimited file.

Select the Hot Fix tab in this note to access the hot fix for this issue. After you apply the latest hot fix to SAS Enterprise Guide 4.22, you also must add an option to the SEGuide.exe.config file, as explained next.

In the <appSettings> section of the SEGuide.exe.config file, add the following line:

<add key="ImportFixedWidthLookAhead" value="4096" /> 

If the file does not have a <appSettings> section, then add one like this beneath the <configuration> tag (which should already be within the file):

<appSettings>
    <add key="ImportFixedWidthLookAhead" value="4096" /> 
</appSettings>

After this option is in place, you should be able to import the fixed-width file.

Operating System and Release Information

A fix for this issue for SAS Enterprise Guide 4.22 is available at: