FILENAME Statement, URL Access Method

Arguments

fileref

is a valid fileref.

Tip:	The association between a fileref and an external file lasts only for the duration of the SAS session or until you change it or discontinue it with another FILENAME statement. You can change the fileref for a file as often as you want.

URL

specifies the access method that enables you to read a file from any host machine that you can connect to on a network with a URL server running.

Alias:

HTTP

'external-file'

specifies the name of the file that you want to read from on a URL server. The access method must be in one of these forms:

	http://hostname/file
	https://hostname/file
	http://hostname:portno/file
	https://hostname:portno/file

Operating Environment Information:   For details about specifying the physical names of external files, see the SAS documentation for your operating environment.  

URL Options

url-options can be any of the following:

BLOCKSIZE=blocksize

where blocksize is the size of the URL data buffer in bytes.

Default:

8K

DEBUG

writes debugging information to the SAS log.

Tip:	The result of the HELP command is returned as records.

LRECL=lrecl

where lrecl is the logical record length.

Default:

256

PASS='password'

where password is the password to use with the user name that is specified in the USER option.

Tip:	You can specify the PROMPT option instead of the PASS option, which tells the system to prompt you for the password.

PROMPT

specifies to prompt for the user login password if necessary.

Tip:	If you specify PROMPT, you do not need to specify PASS=.

PROXY=url

specifies the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the proxy server in one of these forms:

	http://hostname/
	http://hostname:portno/

RECFM=recfm

where recfm is one of three record formats:

F	is fixed-record format. Thus, all records are of size LRECL with no line delimiters. Data is transferred in image (binary) mode.
S	is stream-record format. Data is transferred in image (binary) mode. Tip: The amount of data that is read is controlled by the current LRECL value or the value of the NBYTE= variable in the INFILE statement. The NBYTE= option specifies a variable that is equal to the amount of data to be read. This amount must be less than or equal to LRECL. See Also: The NBYTE= option in the INFILE statement.
V	is variable-record format (the default). In this format, records have varying lengths, and they are transferred in text (stream) mode. Tip: Any record larger than LRECL is truncated.

Default:

V

USER='username'

where username is used to log on to the URL server.

Tip:	If you specify user='*' , then the user is prompted for an ID.
Interaction:	If PROMPT is specified, but USER= is not, the user is prompted for an ID as well as a password.

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol is used when the URL begins with "https" instead of "http". The SSL protocol provides network security and privacy. Developed by Netscape Communications, SSL uses encryption algorithms that include RC2, RC4, DES, tripleDES, IDEA, and MD5. Not limited to providing only encryption services, SSL can also perform client and server authentication and use message authentication codes. SSL is supported by both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. Many Web sites use the protocol to provide confidential user information such as credit card numbers. The SSL protocol is application independent, enabling protocols such as HTTP, FTP, and Telnet to be layered transparently above it. SSL is optimized for HTTP.

Operating Environment Information:   Using the FILENAME statement requires information that is specific to your operating environment. The URL access method is fully documented here, but for more information about how to specify filenames, see the SAS documentation for your operating environment.  

Example 1: Accessing a File at a Web Site

This example accesses document test.datat site www.a.com:

filename foo url 'http://www.a.com/test.dat'
         proxy='http://www.gt.sas.com';

Example 2: Specifying a User ID and a Password

This example accesses document file1.html at site www.b.com and requires a user ID and password:

filename foo url 'http://www.b.com/file1.html'
         user='jones' prompt;

Example 3: Reading the First 15 Records from a URL File

This example reads the first 15 records from a URL file and writes them to the SAS log with a PUT statement:

filename foo url 
    'http://support.sas.com/techsup/service_intro.html';
       
data _null_;
   infile foo length=len;
   input record $varying200. len;
   put record $varying200. len;
   if _n_=15 then stop;
run;

Copyright © 2007 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.