topic question on fileref in SAS Procedures

question on fileref

telescopic — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:17:48 GMT

Question for the external reference to directory, the following does not work because of the space at "Desktop 2012". How should i correct it when there is a space in the directory name?

filename Saledata 'C:\Users\Jeff\Desktop 2012\sale.txt';

Thank you

Elvin

question on fileref

art297 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:19:17 GMT

How about enclosing it with double rather than single quotes?

Re: question on fileref

Tom — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:28:30 GMT

Normally that syntax should work. It is when you try to use the paths with spaces or other special characters in a operating system command that you need the quotes. Embed double quotes inside the outerquotes.

filename xx '"c:\My Documents\xx.txt"';

You can also use dquotes on the outside (for SAS) so that SAS will resolve macro references. In this cause the internal quotes need to be doubled up so that SAS knows they are not the end of the quote.

filename xx """c:\My Documents\xx.txt""";

You can make it easier to type by using the quote() function.

filename xx %sysfunc(quote("c:\My Documents\xx.txt"));