SAS9.4 freezes/non responding when copying

[Peter_Hong]

I have no idea, I don't even know where to create a ticket for SAS.

[Kurt_Bremser]

Go to support.sas.com, there to Technical Support, there to Contact Technical Support.

[Peter_Hong]

Well, if even M8 has this issue then I guess windows 11 is the culprit that something is wrong. Maybe SAS isn't reading the clipboard right? 

[sophiec]

I am having this issue as well. I just submitted a ticket to SAS support. I am using Windows 11. 

[Peter_Hong]

Thanks for sharing. Would you please post an update if you hear back from SAS? Thanks. 

[sophiec]

Certainly - this is the response I received from SAS. They are aware that multiple users are experiencing this issue. Of note, I only started experiencing this issue a few days ago, but I have been using SAS on Windows 11 (daily) since 12/2022. 

SAS Responses [Edited for clarity]:

We are fairly certain that this is more of a Windows 11 issue than a SAS issue. This is probably not an issue we can address from the SAS side of things.

But in the meantime, here are a few workarounds.

1. Since the issue appears to only happen when SAS is displaying HTML output in the SAS Results viewer window, after creating SAS procedure output that displays in the SAS Results viewer window, manually close the SAS Results viewer window (using File -> Close) from the Results viewer window. After closing the Results viewer window, Copy/Paste will work properly.\?

2. Start up a new SAS session. Then before your SAS procedure code, add the following statements:

ods _ALL_ close;

ods listing;

Instead of output displaying in the Results viewer window, the procedure output will display in the SAS Output window. When running in this mode, Copy/Paste works properly. 

[If you, like me, prefer the Results Viewer window to the Output page to review results, SAS recommends the following workarounds]

1. Use the older SAS program editor instead of the newer Enhanced editor window. You can bring up the program editor window by choosing:

View -> Program Editor

From the SAS drop down options menu at the top of your DMS window.

2. Open HTML results in Chrome instead of using the SAS Results viewer window (if you have Chrome installed).

To do this, from the SAS Display Manager System drop down options menu at the top of your DMS windows, select:

Tools -> Options -> Preferences

And then click the following tab:

Results

In this window, set the following option:

View results using:

To:

Chrome

Then click OK to return to DMS.

[Tom]

Not sure why you had to open the program editor window (but I would encourage you to do so since it is a much better editor than the "enhanced editor") just to get to the preferences window.

Just run the command dlgpref and it will open immediately.  If you cannot find the command line you can always submit it as code instead be running this program:

dm 'dlgpref';

[sasgenie]

This answer from SAS is both moronic and insulting. I have no problem copying and pasting in ANY other app under Windows 11, except for SAS. How could this be a Windows 11 issue?

[ballardw]

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@sasgenie wrote:

This answer from SAS is both moronic and insulting. I have no problem copying and pasting in ANY other app under Windows 11, except for SAS. How could this be a Windows 11 issue?

---

Because no one is reporting it under Windows 10 (or older) perhaps?

You may be unaware of the multiple programs that have failed, or acquired strange behaviors, when Windows, or DOS before the days of windows, "upgraded".

If your version of SAS is designed to work with Windows 11 it doesn't mean that "updates" that interfere with SAS haven't been added since the deployment that SAS developers worked with.

You may also find that you have other browsers in the Preferences Dialog. I do not have Chrome installed on this machine but use Firefox and that appears in the dialog box for results preference (no, you don't need to go the the previous Program Editor Tools>Options>Preferences if using the Display Manager should get you there as well.

If I a really need the output from the "results" I typically use ODS to create a file of the type that I want instead of copy and paste.

[sasgenie]

Without offering a true solution, you are wasting people's time here.

[SASKiwi]

@sasgenie - Read @sophiec 's post above more carefully. It is clear that a Windows 11 update is the cause of the issue, as SAS was working fine on Window 11 versions prior to when the problem started. SAS wasn't updated during that time so can't possibly be the cause. If it was SAS that was at fault, then the problem would be present from when Windows 11 was first installed.

[Wilson_W]

Although I still think this is an issue of SAS, not Windows 11 (because the issue only happens when I copy things in the SAS editor), the 2nd solution does solve the problem. "Open HTML results in Chrome instead of using the SAS Results viewer window"

As I tested, opening results in Firefox works fine too. The solution is imperfect as it opens a browser window every time I run my programs, but it is much more tolerable than freezing.

[z_jackson]

I'm running into the same issue on Windows 11. I have no problem copying for the first 20 minutes to an hour of using SAS. After that, SAS will freeze for up to 30 seconds when copying code. SAS will go completely unresponsive when trying to copy about 1/5 of the time, which is so unbelievably frustrating. I'm the only SAS user in my research group, with everyone else using STATA. I'm very comfortable with SAS and enjoy using it when it works correctly. I find it ridiculous that this thread started in 2022 and the issue persists. Overall, the copying issue is really testing my patience and making me consider making a switch. 

That being said, I've found that copying in SAS works much better if I empty my clipboard each time before copying something new. The program will still freeze for about 1-5 seconds, but usually pulls through. I do this by pressing windows key+v and clicking "clear all" in the right hand corner. I couldn't see where another commentor suggested the same approach; apologies if this redundant advice. 

[doug_sas]

I am not a Windows expert, but I have read that the clipboard in Windows 10/11 has history and that history can be made to be sync'd across all devices your account exists on.  Have you tried turning off the clipboard history and/or possibly the clipboard sync across devices?

Go to Settings->System->Clipboard and look for the 'Clipboard history' and 'Sync across devices' options.  If they are on, turn them off and see if it helps.

I could imagine that when you copy something to the clipboard or try to retrieve something from the clipboard that communication is going on somewhere in the cloud to read/write clipboard data and at times maybe there are problems that prevent that from happening in a timely manner.

[z_jackson]

Great suggestion, I had not thought of that- thanks!

I'm seeing an immediate improvement when copying so far. Cutting is still a bit dicey but I'll take what I can get.