*Copyright @ www.mycsg.in;

What is the word meaning of import

• Import means bringing data from an external source into SAS so that the data can be processed, analysed, and reported

Why do we need a procedure for import

• Data is often collected and stored outside SAS in text files, spreadsheets, databases, and other applications
• SAS procedures and DATA steps work most effectively on SAS datasets
• `proc import` helps convert external files into SAS datasets that can then be used in SAS programs

What does PROC IMPORT do

• The IMPORT procedure reads data from an external file and writes it into a SAS dataset
• SAS can infer metadata such as variable names, types, and lengths depending on the file type and options used

What kinds of files can be imported using PROC IMPORT

• Delimited text files such as CSV or other separator-based files can be imported with `dbms=dlm` or other DBMS options
• Excel workbooks can also be imported when the SAS environment supports that access path
• The exact file types available depend on the SAS installation and licensed components

Delimited file example, ampersand as delimiter

What information do we need to provide to PROC IMPORT

• The full path and filename of the source file
• The name of the SAS output dataset
• The file type or DBMS option
• Whether the first row contains column headings
• The delimiter when importing a delimited file
• Optional control over the starting row or worksheet name depending on the source type

Import data from an ampersand-delimited text file into a dataset named delimited

• `datafile=` points to the external text file
• `dbms=dlm` tells SAS that the source is a delimited text file
• `delimiter='&'` specifies the character that separates each field
• `getnames=yes` tells SAS to use the first row of the file as variable names

/* content of delimited file Region&State&Month&Expenses&Revenue Southern&GA&JAN2001&2000&8000 Southern&GA&FEB2001&1200&6000 Southern&FL&FEB2001&8500&11000 Northern&NY&FEB2001&3000&4000 Northern&NY&MAR2001&6000&5000 Southern&FL&MAR2001&9800&13500 Northern&MA&MAR2001&1500&1000 */ proc import datafile="&root2._5001.txt" out=delimited dbms=dlm replace; delimiter='&'; getnames=yes; run; Copy Code View Log

• The output dataset `delimited` should contain the rows and columns from the text file
• Inspect the imported dataset and confirm that the first line became variable names rather than a data row

View Data

Import data from Excel files

Import the data from the males sheet of mydata workbook into a dataset named males

• Here the `sheet=` option identifies which worksheet to read from the workbook
• The imported data is written to a SAS dataset named `males`

proc import datafile="&root2._mydata.xlsx" out=males replace; sheet="males"; run; Copy Code View Log View Data

Import the data from the females sheet of mydata workbook into a dataset named females

proc import datafile="&root2._mydata.xlsx" out=females replace; sheet="females"; run; Copy Code View Log View Data

Import the data from the class sheet of mydata workbook into a dataset named class

proc import datafile="&root2._mydata.xlsx" out=class replace; sheet="class"; run; Copy Code View Log View Data

Key points to remember

• `proc import` creates SAS datasets from external files
• Use `dbms=` to describe the source type
• Use `delimiter=` and `getnames=` for delimited text imports when needed
• Use `sheet=` when importing from an Excel workbook
• Always review the imported dataset to confirm that variable names, types, and values were interpreted correctly