$ATE9 format , column change from numeric to char without asking to do it

[ballardw]

Since your original SQL shown had a join with another table then it may have something to do with that other table. Especially if these are external DBMS sources.

[Ronein]

I show that it also happens using distinct (Without merge)

[Patrick]

@Ronein This looks like some bug. My guess is that it's driver related - may-be some unsupported version gets used. You've created and shared some clear test cases that demonstrate it's not just some coding issue. My advice remains that you should directly contact SAS Tech Support so they can guide you further. And I've already shared some code and "instructions" what I believe would help SAS Tech Support to investigate.

[Ronein]

We found the bag with SAS technical support help.

We need to change the driver in ODCB  from DATADIRECT driver to SAS driver.

Can anyone explain what does it mean driver?(The SAS admin deal with it but I just curious )

[ballardw]

"Drivers" are communication instructions. How to send text to a printer for example is a "printer driver", create sound from a sound file uses a sound card driver to send instructions to the sound system. ODBC links are "drivers" to communicate data between systems.

[SASKiwi]

ODBC stands for Open DataBase Connectivity, a database connectivity standard originally created by Microsoft. An ODBC driver is a software implementation of this standard, which allows software like SAS to communicate with a database using SQL. SAS sends SQL and other database commands to the ODBC driver and that handles all of the communication with the backend database. 

[Ronein]

So when have driver to communicate between SAS and  database (Tera Data data base) then need to work with SAS driver?(Instead of DATADIRECT driver)? How should we know whoch driver to buy?

[Patrick]

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@Ronein wrote:

So when have driver to communicate between SAS and  database (Tera Data data base) then need to work with SAS driver?(Instead of DATADIRECT driver)? How should we know whoch driver to buy?

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These things are documented in the SAS® 9 Install Center under system requirements.

And in case you're still not sure you can confirm with SAS or alternatively use SAS services for Tech Architecture and Install & Config.