Read password protected excel file into SAS

[rfarmenta]

Is there a way to read a password protected excel file into SAS? I have seen some code (DDE I believe) but it seems overly complicated. I was wondering if there were other ways to read in password protected files. Thank you! 

[Reeza]

I think DDE is the only way. Another possibility may be using and ODBC connection method. Also seems complicated though. 

[LinusH]

The obvious (?) solution is not to use password protected files, it has quite a few cons.
Use file system authorization instead for file protection.

[rfarmenta]

We actually did not have a choice as the file was sent to us as a password protected file due to the sensitive nature of the data. I am just using the DDE code to work with the files. Thank you

[LinusH]

Password is not considered safe, it just hinders accidental viewing.
DDE is old technology and is not even supported by Microsoft. So i think that should be avoided in all applications whenever possible.
Sftp or similar method is safer.

[AllanBowe]

We added this feature to Data Controller today - just upload the excel, enter the password, approve the change, and your password-protected excel data is now in your target SAS table ready to process.

Works on ALL versions of SAS (Viya, EBI, Base) and is free for up to 5 users.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2lfBCkdvBI