Windows Vista and later Windows environments have a folder indexing feature that can improve the performance of the Windows search facility. However, this indexing feature can cause a problem, for the following reason. The normal process for creating or re-creating a SAS data set involves the following general steps:

1. writing a temporary data set
2. closing the file
3. renaming the temporary file and deleting any existing permanent files

ERROR: A lock is not available for WORK.FOOBAR.DATA.

This same problem can occur when you have Windows folder compression or encryption turned on, or when a virus scanner scans the data set during the same window of time. To prevent the locking issue for SAS data sets that occurs as a result of folder indexing, perform the following steps:

1. Open Indexing and Search Options by selecting Start ► Control Panel ► System and Maintenance ► Indexing Options.
2. Click Modify.
3. To prevent the indexing of a folder, clear that folder's check box in the Change selected locations list. Then click OK.

You can determine the location of the folder for your SAS library by submitting the following LIBNAME statements:

However, be aware that the last-level folder names that are shown for your WORK libraries are temporary, so you need to remove indexes on the previous level.

It is also possible that the SAS FILELOCKWAIT option can help with this problem. However, to use this option, you might need to install the hot fix that is available in SAS Note 42240, "The LIBNAME option FILELOCKWAIT might not check for a lock in all cases."