This new option is found under the FILE pulldown menu on several of the 6.12 windows. It is a GUI using wizards (look like intelligent SCL programs) to allow you to load a flat file into SAS. The wizards generate SAS datastep code which you can see in the SAS log after the IMPORT.

It works quite well when it works, but I frequently get an abend that kills my entire SAS session. I wrote the log out to an alternative file using ALTLOG, but it has no information about the reason for the abend. Usually the abend occurs after I successfully load a file, then attempt immediately to load another one. If it abends it is usually after I click the NEXT button from the initial IMPORT screen.

Note that it will default numeric formats to BEST12.

By default this option always assumes the first line is a list of field names. If that is not the case, the fields are named VAR1 -- VARn. You must use the OPTIONS button on the third wizard (Select File) to override the default assumption that line one is field names.

The option is quite intelligent, like it scans all records to find field lengths, not just the first, so a long variable value further in the input is correctly read. It also seems to correctly work out that a variable is character, even if the first record has a number and characters follow on a later record. These are NEAT things to have.

Overall, fairly workable but too slow, and the abend situation is frustrating.

Don

======================================================================== Don Stanley: Don Stanley Consulting Limited Box 14554, Kilbirnie, Wellington NEW ZEALAND Ph 0064 025 479 863, Fax 0064 04 386 2038, email don_stanley@ibm.net

President: SAS Users Group of New Zealand

Author: Beyond the obvious with SAS Screen Control Language 7 SUGI Papers, 19 SUNZ Papers, about 70 newsletter and misc articles

Writing: An Applications oriented FRAME text