When using RECFM=N in conjunction with MISSOVER, STOPOVER, or TRUNCOVER might cause incorrect results to occur. Possible outcomes are for valid values to be set to missing (MISSOVER) or to be truncated and padded with blanks (TRUNCOVER), or for SAS to stop processing (STOPOVER).

The LRECL= option determines the size of the input buffer. If LRECL= is not specified, the default value is 256.

Beginning in SAS Release 8.1, a performance enhancement was added for RECFM=N processing whereby SAS does not reposition the file and refill the input buffer for every variable read. A check is performed to determine whether the value can be satisfied from the input buffer. If there is enough data in the buffer, then a reposition is not performed. If the default FLOWOVER behavior is used, correct results are produced.

The circumvention is to not specify MISSOVER, STOPOVER, or TRUNCOVER option in the INFILE statement when using RECFM=N.

Operating System and Release Information