Availability Cycle: Methods by Data Type

Data Type	Cycle of Data Availability
SAS data set	import local → unload ⇄ reload-on-start
	import server → unload ⇄ manual reload
	autoload → unload ⇄ autoload
Delimited file or spreadsheet	import local → unload ⇄ reload-on-start
Delimited file or spreadsheet	autoload → unload ⇄ autoload
Database table	import server → unload ⇄ manual reload
Google Analytics, Twitter, or Facebook	import other → unload ⇄ reload-on-start

For each spreadsheet, delimited file, or SAS data set, you have a choice of methods. The suggested practice is to use the import local method whenever possible. With import local, data reloads when the server restarts. No additional configuration is necessary. If you can’t access your data from your web browser, or your files are too big to upload through your web browser, the suggested practices are as follows:

For SAS data sets, use the import server method (in the 7.2 release) or autoload (in earlier releases).
For spreadsheets and delimited files that are not accessible from your web browser, use autoload.
For spreadsheets and delimited files that are larger than 4 GB, convert it to ZIP format and import it as a local text file. If the ZIP file is larger than 4 GB, use autoload.

To update a LASR table that was created using import local, you must import the data again. Reload-on-start does not reflect updates to your original data. Reload-on-start retrieves a backing store copy of your original data. The copy is created during import.

Note: Manual reload does reflect updates to your original data. To retrieve your data from its original location, manual reload uses a job or query (a set of instructions that are created during import).

Note: Reload-on-start support for Facebook and Google Analytics begins in the 7.2 release.

Note: For supported databases, see "Import a Database Table" in the 7.1, 7.2, or 7.3 edition of the SAS Visual Analytics: User's Guide.