In UNIX environments, Excel variable names can be incorrectly imported when the variable names have trailing spaces and you use the XLS engine or other engines. The second variable will contain the name of the first variable, as shown in the following example:

NOTE:    Variable Name Change.  Cust_Num Column_A -> Cust_Num_Column&$95;A
NOTE:    Variable Name Change.  Column&$95;B  -> Column_B-Column_A
NOTE: The import data set has 1 observations and 2 variables.
NOTE: WORK.FRED data set was successfully created.
NOTE: PROCEDURE IMPORT used (Total process time):
      real time           0.13 seconds
      cpu time            0.02 seconds

In this example, the Column_A name merges with Column&$95;B.

To circumvent the problem do one of the following:

• Remove the trailing spaces in Excel variables before you import them.
• Use the SAS PC Files Server and the EXCELCS engine to import the files.
• Save the Excel file as a tab-delimited text file and use the DBMS=TAB option to import the file.

Click the Hot Fix tab in this note to access the hot fix for this issue.

Operating System and Release Information

A fix for this issue for SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files 9.21_M2 is available at: