SAS 9.4 - Map SAS Folder to Separate Physical Location

[AdamBre]

Hello!

I've searched a bit but not sure if I'm finding the right topics or versions, happy to read an article if I can find one.    We have a single SAS 9.4 server that has a separate disk drive (Windows, say, drive F:\) upon which we would have our users store their stuff for the most part.   We would like them be able to find this folder, and their content under the SASFolders resource if possible.   I can see that these are mapped either through Direct or WebDav mappings, but I am not sure how to make it point to a local disk or path that is outside of that realm.  The SAS service accounts have access to this location.    My users are only using Enterprise Guide and I am trying to do this in the Management Console.    We're on SAS 9.4 TS1M5, again, on Windows (2K12).    

Anything would be appreciated.   I've thought about a local redirect (sybolic link, etc) for this as a bypass but I'm hoping there is a more elegant way.

Thanks

Edit:  Corrected SAS Version to 9.4

[SimonDawson · Accepted solution]

The SASFolders are not operating system folders. They can't be mapped in such a way.

The simplest way to allow users to navigate a physical file system relative to their compute sessions with SAS Enterprise Guide is to leverage the File Navigation metadata property of the workspace server.

This SAS usage note gives a little overview of this facility. http://support.sas.com/kb/59/828.html Try it out this might work for you.

[Kurt_Bremser]

I manage such issues by creating a symbolic link to a location in the user's home directories; that way they can use the Files tree in the server list to navigate there and store/retrieve stuff, without opening up the whole file system of the server (which can and will be overwhelming for J. Random Sasuser).

[AdamBre]

Thank you both!   I feel like both are part of the solution and I am with the symbolic link element.  I need to dig deeper too.   Much appreciated all!