topic Block-Read when file is compressed in SAS Programming

Block-Read when file is compressed

nrk1787db1 — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 14:54:04 GMT

Hi,

When I use PROC COPY with INDEX=YES, MEMTYPE=ALL & CONSTRAINTS=YES options I'm getting below INFO message in SAS Log

INFO: Engine's block-read method cannot be used because:

INFO: - The file is compressed

I read somewhere that using block-read increases the performance, as I need to use copy on many libraries/datasets I have a question.

Is there any way where we can force SAS to use block-read even when file is compressed?

Re: Block-Read when file is compressed

LinusH — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 20:06:34 GMT

The message is so clear so I can't see why to question it.
What you can do is explore the effectivity of your compression. That would be dependent of your i/o througput, CPU and data profile. Even looking at your data model could reduce the need for compression.
Is this PROC COPY an important bottleneck in your system?
A dirty work around would be to use OS copy of the SAS files. Works for Base engine and non Metadata bound libraries.