import/export SAS package in SAS DI studio

[JoshuaHarris]

i have the SAS DI in 2 different environments. one is SAS DI version 4.2.1 and the other one is 4.8.

We're trying to export the package from 4.8 and trying to import it in 4.2.1 .

But we're getting an error as "The SAS package specified is not a valid export package.the required metadata file was not found in the package".

BUT, when we tried to export the package from SAS DI 4.2.1 and import it in SAS DI 4.8, we able to import the package without that error message.

Can someone please tell me why the error is occuring ? Is it the issue really matters here with the versions ? or anyother issues ?

Please suggest.

[Patrick · Accepted solution]

@JoshuaHarris

Both DIS functionality and the underlying metadata model has evolved from DIS4.2.1 to DIS4.8.

I guess metadata backward compatibility in such a scenario would be close to impossible to achieve. It's certainly not available with DIS .spk packages.

SAS code on the other hand is highly backward compatible and as long as the DIS4.8 generated code doesn't use functionality not available with the SAS version you're using in the environment where DIS4.2 connects to then the DIS4.8 generated code should be executable in your older environment (as long as everything else like paths in the code are identical between the environments).

Also: When migrating metadata (.spk) to a newer DIS version then be aware that this newer DIS version will sometimes generate different (normally improved) SAS code. For this reason you should redeploy and retest your jobs after migration to a newer DIS version - or make the conscious decision to not redeploy the jobs but then when changing earlier migrated DIS jobs later on testing needs to cover the whole job and not only the change. 

[JoshuaHarris]

thanks Patrick for Your response 🙂 helpful

[AnnaBrown]

Hi @JoshuaHarris,

I'm glad you found some useful info! If @Patrick's reply was the exact solution to your problem, can you "Accept it as a solution"? Or if it was particularly helpful, feel free to "Like" it. This will help other community members who may run into the same issue know what worked.

Thanks!
Anna