I am importing multiple files in a database and I received a file with only headers and zero records. How can I bypass the file if it is empty?
Please explain... If the file is empty, it should contribute 0 records to your database when it is imported.
You could test the file before processing:
data _null_;
call symputx ('file_contains_data',_N_-1);
infile "%sysfunc(pathname(WORK))\t.txt" obs=2 firstobs=2;
input;
run;
%put &=file_contains_data;
Please show how you are currently importing the non-empty files.
I have created three files:
test1.csv:
vara,varb 1,2 3,4
test2.csv:
vara,varb
test3.csv:
vara,varb 5,6 7,8
Importing all files of similar structure in one data step:
data want1;
infile '$HOME/sascommunity/test*.csv' dlm=',' dsd truncover;
input @;
if not index(_infile_,'vara');
input vara varb;
run;
proc print data=want1 noobs;
run;
Result:
vara varb 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The empty file was successfully "skipped".
Importing a single file and determining if empty on the fly:
data want2;
infile '$HOME/sascommunity/test2.csv' dlm=',' dsd truncover firstobs=2;
retain count 0;
call symputx('count',count);
input vara varb;
count + 1;
drop count;
run;
%if &count %then %do;
/* further processing of dataset */
%end;
%if not &count %then %do;
%put empty!;
%end;
Log:
27 data want2; 28 infile '$HOME/sascommunity/test2.csv' dlm=',' dsd truncover firstobs=2; 29 retain count 0; 30 call symputx('count',count); 31 input vara varb; 32 count + 1; 33 drop count; 34 run; NOTE: The infile '$HOME/sascommunity/test2.csv' is: Dateiname=/wadaten/home/e9782/sascommunity/test2.csv, Besitzername=e9782,Gruppenname=sasadmin, Zugriffsberechtigung=-rw-r--r--, Zuletzt geändert=07. Dezember 2018 09.42 Uhr, Dateigröße (Byte)=10 NOTE: 0 records were read from the infile '$HOME/sascommunity/test2.csv'. NOTE: The data set WORK.WANT2 has 0 observations and 3 variables. NOTE: DATA statement used (Total process time): real time 0.04 seconds cpu time 0.00 seconds 35 36 %if &count %then %do; 37 /* further processing of dataset */ 38 %end; 39 40 %if not &count %then %do; 41 %put empty!; empty! 42 %end;
Are you ready for the spotlight? We're accepting content ideas for SAS Innovate 2025 to be held May 6-9 in Orlando, FL. The call is open until September 25. Read more here about why you should contribute and what is in it for you!
Learn how use the CAT functions in SAS to join values from multiple variables into a single value.
Find more tutorials on the SAS Users YouTube channel.