Viewing Data in External Files :: SAS® Data Integration Studio 4.902: User's Guide

Problem

You want to view raw data or formatted data in one of the external file wizards that are included in the wizard. You might also need to view this raw or formatted data in an external file that you have already registered by using of the external file wizards.

Solution

You can view raw data in the External File Location page or Columns Definition page in the external file wizards or in the View File window for a registered external file. You can view formatted data in the Columns Definition page in the external file wizards or in the View Data window for a registered external file.

Tasks

View Raw Data in an External File

You can click Preview on the External File Location page in the external file wizards to view raw data for an unregistered file. You can also click the File tab on the Columns Definition page. There are two main situations where the Preview button and the File tab are not able to display data in the external file:

when you use a method other than a SAS Application Server to access the external file. (See Specifying NLS Support for External Files.)
when you use the User Written External File wizard (because your SAS code, not the wizard, is manipulating the raw data in the file).

For an example of how you can use the File tab to help you define metadata, see the explanation of the Column Definitions page in Registering a Delimited External File. You can also view the raw data in an external file after you have registered it in the wizard. To view the raw data, access the View File window for the external file. The raw data displayed in the external file wizards and the View File window is shown without detailed column specifications or data formatting. You can use the raw data to understand the structure of the external file better.

View Formatted Data in the External File Wizards

The Data tab on the Columns Definition page displays data in the external file after metadata from the external file wizard has been applied. Use the Data tab to verify that the appropriate metadata has been specified for the external file.

The Data tab is populated as long as the SAS INFILE statement that is generated by the wizard is valid. The tab cannot display data for a fixed-width external file unless the SAS informats in the metadata are appropriate for the columns in the data. For an example of how you can use the Data tab to help you verify your metadata, see the explanation of the Column Definitions page in Registering a Delimited External File.

You can also view the formatted data in an external file after you have registered it in the wizard. To view the formatted data, access the View Data window for the external file.