Warning: The transport file is from an earlier SAS release.  If the file
    contains non-English data, there may be problems importing national
    characters.  If problems do occur, the transport file will need to
    be imported again.  If the transport file was created by a Unicode SAS   
    session, start a new SAS session, set the ENCODING startup option 
    to UTF8, and redo the import.  Otherwise, set the LOCALE option to match 
    the LOCALE of the SAS session which created the transport file and redo
    the import.

Note that with this warning, SAS imports the transport file. If the transport file is not imported, you will need to look for additional notes, errors, and/or warnings which might explain the failed import.

The warning above is generated whether or not you are importing the file into a SAS session with compatible encoding. The warning informs you to check your character data for possible invalid characters.

PROC CONTENTS can be used to check for invalid data in the variable names or labels. Methods for checking character values include PROC FREQ with the _CHAR_ keyword in the TABLES statement. An example follows.

proc freq data=sashelp.class;
   tables _char_;
run;

Some sites do not like to see any warnings in the SAS Log even if they are informational. Unfortunately, there is not a way to turn off the warning. However, the approaches below might be useful methods to prevent the warning from appearing in the SAS Log.

• In your current SAS session, use PROC PRINTTO to route the warning to a file and prevent it from appearing in the SAS Log window.

     
  /* Opens the destination */
  proc printto log=fileref; 
           
  proc cimport infile=trans lib=work; 
  run;
  
  /* Closes the destination */
  proc printto; 
  run;
  

• If you are running SAS 9.2 (or you are running SAS 9.1 with hot fix E9BB50), and you have access to the SAS 9.1 release and data, apply the SAS 9.1 hot fix available from the tab above in the SAS 9.1 session where you will be running PROC CPORT and recreate the transport file. This will ensure that the encoding information is embedded in the transport file.

  PROC CIMPORT will crosscheck the encoding and notify you if there are problems using other warnings and/or errors. Click here for access to online documentation about transport files and encoding problems.

• If you are running PROC CIMPORT in a SAS 9.1 session in which hot fix E9BB50 was not applied, apply the SAS 9.1 hot fix available from the tab above and reimport the file to prevent the warning.

Operating System and Release Information

A fix for SAS 9.1.3 (9.1 TS1M3) for this issue is available at:

A fix for SAS 9.1.3 (9.1 TS1M3) with Asian Language Support (DBCS) for this issue is available at :