topic Re: Error in the libname statement in SAS Programming

Error in the libname statement

melhaf — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:33:15 GMT

if I resolve my macro variables like this

%let YEAR=2023:
%let FRUIT=orange;   
%let TOPPING= chocolate;
%let Path= "C:\Deskop\My folder\";

libname results_1 "&Path.\Data\&FRUIT.\&TOPPING\&Year.";  /*this works*/
libname results_2 "&Path.&Year.\Data\&FRUIT.\&TOPPING.";  /*this don't work, and I would like this one to work since it is more efficient */

The error i get is:

107 libname results_1;
NOTE: Libref OUT was successfully assigned as follows:
Engine: V9
Physical Name: ....


108 libname results_2
ERROR: Create of library results_2 failed.
ERROR: Error in the LIBNAME statement.

How do I solve this?

Re: Error in the libname statement

yabwon — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:07:03 GMT

If directory:

"&Path.&Year.\Data\&FRUIT.\&TOPPING."

does not exist, you won't be able to assign a library.

Remember libname statement does NOT create directories, it assigns libref to existing one.

Bart

Re: Error in the libname statement

FreelanceReinh — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:56:17 GMT

Hello @melhaf,

Librefs cannot be longer than 8 characters (see documentation of the LIBNAME statement), so results_n is too long.
Omit the quotation marks in the %LET statement for macro variable Path. Otherwise they will be duplicated in your LIBNAME statements. Ideally, avoid the unwanted duplication of backslashes, too.
Even with the DLCREATEDIR system option you can only create one folder at a time, so use a step-by-step approach or use other methods to create the folders beforehand:
```
libname res2 "&Path.\&Year.";
libname res2 "&Path.\&Year.\&FRUIT.";
libname res2 "&Path.\&Year.\&FRUIT.\&TOPPING.";
```

Re: Error in the libname statement

ballardw — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 16:29:34 GMT

@melhaf wrote:

if I resolve my macro variables like this

%let YEAR=2023:
%let FRUIT=orange;   
%let TOPPING= chocolate;
%let Path= "C:\Deskop\My folder\";

libname results_1 "&Path.\Data\&FRUIT.\&TOPPING\&Year.";  /*this works*/
libname results_2 "&Path.&Year.\Data\&FRUIT.\&TOPPING.";  /*this don't work, and I would like this one to work since it is more efficient */

The error i get is:

107 libname results_1;
NOTE: Libref OUT was successfully assigned as follows:
Engine: V9
Physical Name: ....


108 libname results_2
ERROR: Create of library results_2 failed.
ERROR: Error in the LIBNAME statement.

How do I solve this?

I want to see your LOG where the "this works" actually assigned a library. I expect unbalanced quotes to generate an error

%let Path= "C:\Deskop\My folder\"; libname results_1 "&Path.\Data\&FRUIT.\&TOPPING\&Year.";

Would create this line of code:
libname results_1 ""C:\desktop\My Folder\"\Data\orange\chocolate\2023";

The quotes around the PATH portion of your string would almost certainly cause an error in BOTH libname statements.

Re: Error in the libname statement

Sajid01 — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 18:15:59 GMT

Hello @melhaf
I agree with what @ballardw has said.
You must modify your path statement as follows

%let Path= C:\Desktop\My folder ;

As a reminder while creating a macro variable, anything between the = and semicolon ; are a part of the macro variable including quotes.