Reading in a Google BigQuery table that contains columns that are defined as a BOOLEAN or NUMERIC data type might result in the wrong format being assigned to those columns. This issue occurs under the following conditions:

• When using explicit pass-through to read in the table, a Boolean column is assigned a 1. format rather than the documented 4. format. The documentation is incorrect, and the 1. format is the correct format.
• When using explicit pass-through to read in the table, a numeric column is assigned a dollar. format instead of the documented w.9 format. The expected behavior is that no format be applied to the variable
• When using a LIBNAME statement to read in the table, the numeric column is not assigned any format instead of the w.9 format. The documentation is incorrect, and the 1. format is the correct format.

The workaround is to use a LIBNAME statement rather than using explicit pass-through to read in the BigQuery table. You can also add the format explicitly rather than letting it default. 

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

Applying this hot fix changes the default SAS format assigned for the following BigQuery data types:

Operating System and Release Information

Viya on Linux: An update for this issue is available for SAS Viya 3.5. For instructions on how to access and apply software updates, see the Updating Your SAS Viya software section in the SAS Viya 3.5 for Linux Deployment Guide at

A fix for this issue for SAS/ACCESS Interface to Google BigQuery 9.42 is available at:

A fix for this issue for SAS/ACCESS Interface to Google BigQuery 9.41 is available at: