topic Every time I try to make a permanent data set I get a library does not exist message in SAS Studio

Every time I try to make a permanent data set I get a library does not exist message

oldeks — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:12:29 GMT

I am working in SAS on demand.

This is the code I used. I have tried many different cases for the library and data set names, and nothing seems to work. I briefly got it to work yesterday, and I could see the data set in the mydata library, but then it disappeared this morning and I can't seem to make anything work. Is it just not possible to save data sets in SAS on demand?

LIBNAME mydata 'C:\MYDATA';

data mydata.trial;
input name $ sex $ age;
label name = "first name"
sex = "birth sex";
cards;
kristin 2 54
stacy 1 56
;
run;

proc print data= mydata.trial label;
run;

Re: Every time I try to make a permanent data set I get a library does not exist message

PaigeMiller — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:56:32 GMT

Are you running this in SAS/Studio? If so, SAS/Studio cannot access files or folders on your local computer's hard drives.

You have to create libraries on the server where SAS/Studio is running. You mentioned SAS On Demand, here is how I use the LIBNAME statement

libname mydata "/home/paige.miller3";

data mydata.class;
	set sashelp.class;
run;

Of course, you would have to use a different folder than PAIGE.MILLER3, it has to be a folder the exists in your SAS On Demand.

Re: Every time I try to make a permanent data set I get a library does not exist message

Kurt_Bremser — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 19:22:38 GMT

With SAS On Demand, the actual SAS process (which you access through the SAS Studio web application) runs on a Linux-based cloud server. You must use UNIX-style syntax for file and path names. UNIX does not have drive letters, but a single directory tree which starts at "root", symbolized by a slash. You "own" your home directory, and the system provides a shortcut to it, symbolized by a tilde. So if you created a directory/folder called mydata in your home folder in the Studio navigation tab, in your code you would use

libname mydata "~/mydata";

Also note that UNIX operating systems are case sensitive, mydata and Mydata would be different objects.

In the future, always post the complete log of code that fails by copy/pasting the text into a window opened with this button:

The log is our primary diagnostic tool, see Maxim 2.