Project failed due to CSV file being used/opened by other user or programme

[Kurt_Bremser]

In UNIX, you can remove a file even when it's opened by a user. This is possible because the main metadata of the file (owner, group, date modified, data blocks) is kept in a so-called "inode" in a separate table (not in the directory entry as Windows does it). Removing a file in UNIX removes the directory entry (called "link"), but the file itself is only deleted once no further links exist and the last open handle on the inode is closed.

Since the system might want confirmation of the remove, you should use the -f option (for "force") in the rm command.

[Kurt_Bremser]

I do have a utility macro for this that basically looks like this:

%macro del_file(ext_file);
%if %sysfunc(fileexist(&ext_file.))
%then %do;
filename delfile pipe "rm -f &ext_file. 2>&1";
data _null_;
infile delfile;
input;
put _infile_;
run;
%end;
%mend;

The macro will do the remove only when the file exists, and record all responses from the remove command in the SAS log.

[Patrick]

@Suzy_Cat 

Looks like it worked 

Below an alternative way to issue the mv command.

This coding approach has the advantage that you'll get all the return messages from the command back into the SAS log (untested again because my current environment has NOXCMD set).

data _null_;
  cmd='mv -f ~/test_new.txt ~/test_orig.txt';
  infile mv pipe filevar=cmd end=eof;
  while (not eof);
    input ;
    put _infile_;
  end;
  stop;
run;

[Tom]

Note that there is no need to wrap a data step around an X command.  The X statement is GLOBAL,like a TITLE statement, so it can be placed anywhere.