Hi:
Some helpful information from you would be:
1) What version of SAS -- 9.1.3 or 9.2?
2) How are you accessing SAS -- via the SAS Windowing environment (Display Manager), via SAS Enterprise Guide or via the SAS Add-in for Microsoft Office?
3) What platform are you using? Windows, Unix, Mainframe, Linux??
4) What code are you using for the IMPORT from Excel into SAS, if you are using code? (are you using PROC IMPORT? Are you using the LIBNAME engine?? Are you using the External File Interface?? Are you using some other mechanism, such as a pulldown menu from the SAS Add-in for Microsoft Office or a SAS Enterprise Guide menu choice?)
5) How do you know that the characters in one alphabet are not showing correctly? What alphabet? What characters? How are you viewing the dataset after the import -- in Viewtable mode, inside SAS Enterprise Guide, using a PROC PRINT, using FSVIEW????
6) What extra columns? How do you know that there are extra columns??? And, what extra row??? How do you know that there are extra rows???
7) You ask how to "read" your data accurately -- when SAS imports into a SAS dataset from Excel, your data, through the IMPORT process should be in SAS format -- you don't have to re-read the data after the import step -- you just have to get the import step right -- so the data is read correctly the first time from Excel into SAS dataset form. This is where seeing your IMPORT code and your SAS log about the import would be useful.
8) What are your language and locale settings for your SAS installation??? Do they correspond to the language and locale that you are using to create the Excel file that you want to import.
At this point, since we can't see the Excel file that you're trying to import into SAS, nor have you told us anything useful about HOW you're doing the import into SAS, any suggestions that anyone would make would merely be a guessing game.
Your best bet for help might be to open a track with SAS Tech Support, as they can look at your code, look at your Excel file, look at a screenshot of your results and help you come to the best resolution. Be prepared to answer most or all of the above questions for Tech Support. You may need to talk to a SAS Administrator to find out the answer to #8. It might be a good idea to check with your SAS Administrator before you contact Tech Support, because if there are language or encoding issues, perhaps other people have experienced the same issues.
To open a track with Tech Support, fill out the form at this link:
http://support.sas.com/ctx/supportform/createForm
cynthia
