an error message : Data file xxx is in a format that is native to another host, or the file encoding

[fengyuwuzu]

when I import a data set, I got this message:

Data file xxx is in a format that is native to another host, or the file
      encoding does not match the session encoding. Cross Environment Data Access will be used, which
      might require additional CPU resources and might reduce performance.

what could be the reason?

[Tim_SAS]

You copied the SAS data set from a computer that was using a different operating system, say from Unix to Windows, or from a computer that was using an encoding that is incompatible with your session encoding. SAS uses a technology called CEDA (Cross Environment Data Access) to automatically convert that data set into a format that you can use.

Read about CEDA here.

[fengyuwuzu]

I did not copy the file from another system.

I have an csv file, and tried to import it to sas.

There are some "?" in a numberic column, which became missing after importing. Maybe this caused the error message?

[Tim_SAS]

Are you using PROC IMPORT? See this SAS Note.

[fengyuwuzu]

I used data step and infile statement, like:

infile 'Z:\limits_data.csv' delimiter = ',' MISSOVER DSD lrecl=32767 firstobs=2 ;

maybe the csv file was created on Unix machine?

with that error message, SAS also complains about the "?"  in the data set:

NOTE: Invalid data for changed_value in line 1364 117-136 ---- that is where the "?" is.

limit_type	purpose	limits_days_type	changed_timestamp	changed_value	previous_value
spend	initial setting	monthly	2/23/2014 0:05	200	?
deposit	initial setting	daily	12/30/2013 1:15	500	?
deposit	decreasing	daily	9/2/2014 22:44	250	500
deposit	initial setting	monthly	12/23/2013 23:59	1000	?
deposit	increasing	monthly	12/31/2013 1:17	2000	1000
deposit	increasing	monthly	2/21/2014 21:39	3000	2000
deposit	decreasing	monthly	8/4/2014 6:42	2000	3000
deposit	decreasing	monthly	11/23/2014 19:27	1000	2000
deposit	initial setting	weekly	12/30/2013 1:15	1000	?
deposit	decreasing	weekly	11/23/2014 19:27	500	1000
deposit	initial setting	monthly	8/5/2014 18:39	25	?
deposit	initial setting	daily	5/14/2014 17:05	50	?
deposit	initial setting	monthly	5/14/2014 17:05	150	?
deposit	initial setting	weekly	5/14/2014 17:05	100	?
deposit	initial setting	daily	12/24/2014 23:01	100	?
spend	initial setting	daily	3/9/2014 16:19	3000	?
spend	initial setting	monthly	3/9/2014 16:19	150000	?
spend	decreasing	monthly	3/9/2014 16:19	50000	150000
spend	initial setting	weekly	3/9/2014 16:19	15000	?
deposit	initial setting	monthly	12/24/2013 12:14	25	?
spend	initial setting	monthly	12/24/2013 12:14	25	?
deposit	initial setting	monthly	3/18/2014 8:30	50	?
time(minutes)	initial setting	daily	4/14/2014 20:29	240	?
deposit	initial setting	daily	12/22/2014 22:03	100	?
deposit	initial setting	monthly	12/22/2014 22:03	200	?
deposit	initial setting	weekly	12/22/2014 22:03	100	?
deposit	initial setting	monthly	1/4/2014 6:49	500	?
deposit	initial setting	daily	1/18/2014 3:33	40	?
time(minutes)	initial setting	daily	1/18/2014 3:56	120	?
deposit	initial setting	monthly	1/18/2014 3:33	400	?
deposit	initial setting	weekly	1/18/2014 3:33	200	?
time(minutes)	initial setting	daily	4/14/2014 10:54	1380	?
deposit	initial setting	daily	2/16/2014 15:53	100	?
time(minutes)	initial setting	daily	2/27/2014 2:12	1320	?
deposit	increasing	daily	7/15/2014 20:18	300	100
deposit	initial setting	daily	4/24/2014 12:16	200	?
time(minutes)	initial setting	daily	4/24/2014 12:16	480	?
deposit	decreasing	daily	5/14/2014 15:19	100	200