Usage Notes

Before you click OK to import the data, click Preview. Preview shows an accurate representation of the column names and data values that will be available after the import.

If SAS is configured as a Unicode server at your site, then you have the most flexibility for importing data. Specifically, SAS as a Unicode server helps with using column names or filenames (that are used as table names) that have double-byte characters.

When you import a delimited text file (CSV file), you must specify the encoding of the text file. In some cases, the import reports success, even though the data might be corrupted. It is important to verify the imported data.

If you import a SAS data set that uses user-defined formats, then you must ensure that the custom format catalog is available to the SAS Application Server. For more information, see Work with User-Defined Formats.

If importing large data files at the same time is common for your deployment, then you should be aware that the large data files are written to temporary disk space on the server. In extreme cases, this can cause temporary disk space to become full. Systems that run out of disk space can become unresponsive and difficult to troubleshoot.

If you import data from text files and plan to append the data, then you must verify that the column data types and lengths match the table that you want to append to.