XMLV2 libname "Invalid file type"

[AlanC]

I have something odd that I don't seem to recall seeing.

I have a directory on machine: c:\temp\work

If I issue the following code:  libname TEST xmlv2 'c:\temp\work' ;

The error is:

"ERROR: Invalid file type"
"ERROR: Error in the LIBNAME statement"

If I issue the following code: libname TEST xmlv2 'c:\temp'

The library is allocated. Hence, XMLV2 does not like the second level directory.

If I use the XML engine vs XMLV2, the 2 level name is allocated.

Can anyone shed some light? My searches have come up empty.

[ChrisHemedinger · Accepted solution]

You have to point this libname to an actual XML file, not a directory.  Assign one libname per XML file that you want to process.

libname TEST xmlv2 'c:\temp\work\file.xml' ;

Or 

filename source  'c:\temp\work\file.xml';
libname test xmlv2 xmlfileref=source;

[AlanC]

Thanks Chris. I have that working (direct to XML file) but do you know why SAS allows a 1 level directory but not 2 levels when it comes to XMLV2?

[ChrisHemedinger]

Hey Alan -- I'm not familiar with that limitation/behavior.  Every time I've used the XML engine, I've specified a full path to an XML file and usually an XML map, since XML-in-the-wild is rarely structured as a usable data source.

[AlanC]

The issue is in a dynamic XML world where the XML is somewhat unknown on arrival. If you have a simple libname statement:

libname TEST xmlv2 'c:\temp' ;

You can dump 1+ XML files into it. Any writing to that libname results in an XML file so it is very convenient as an XML workarea. Hence, I can now do something like:

data cars;

    set TEST.CARS ;

run;

And, if a cars.xml file is in c:\temp, it works. Likewise, if I write back to it:

data TEST.MYCARS;

    set cars;

run;

It will create the SAS dataset as an XML file.

Yes, it can be worked around but it is very convenient to just have a directory to mess with vs map files. I just don't understand why it will only take 1 level directory names. Weird.