Same issue with same ERROR message. Could not resolve, but was able to get around using the below append method instead. Exact same data that return error message using original methods.
/* works */
proc datasets library= dbIndLab;
append base = wlslog3 data = work.testData2;
run;
/* error */
ERROR: The character variable category has too long a value for the DBINDLAB library.
proc sql;
INSERT INTO dbIndLab.wlslog3
SELECT * FROM work.testData3;
quit;
/* error */
ERROR: The character variable category has too long a value for the DBINDLAB library.
proc sql;
INSERT INTO dbIndLab.wlslog3 (id,category,type,servername,code,msg)
SELECT id,substr(category,25) as category,type,servername,code,msg FROM work.testData3;
quit;
/* error */
ERROR: The character variable category has too long a value for the DBINDLAB library.
data dbIndLab.wlslog4;
set work.testData3;
run;
/* also works */
proc sql;
INSERT INTO dbIndLab.wlslog3 (id,category,type,servername,code,msg)
VALUES (199,'categoryX','typeX','servernameX','codeX','msgX');
quit;