remove double quotes from label name in Proc export

[Anand08]

Hi I am trying to export a sas dataset to a delimited txt file using proc export but i am getting double quotes around the column names in the file. I am using label to print out column names without the '_' character . PFA the code

data OUTPUT_TABLE;
set OUTPUT_TABLE_1;
label External_Source='External Source'
External_Metric_Id='External Metric Id'
Metric_Name='Metric Name'
run;

/* Create and export flat file */

proc export data=OUTPUT_TABLE
outfile="/outbound/report/metric_&asOfMonth._&extractDate.-&extractTime..txt"
dbms=dlm label replace;
delimiter='|';
run;

the txt file has the column names as

"External Source"|"External Metric Id"|"Metric Name"|

is there a way to remove the "" from the labels while exporting to the file.?

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[Reeza · Accepted solution]

I don't believe there's a way in PROC EXPORT, you'll have to use a data step instead.

That being said, this is a common convention when exporting text files since it creates a data set that will also account for any embedded pipes. That's less likely to happen with pipes, but is useful when commas are the delimiters. 

https://stats.idre.ucla.edu/sas/faq/how-do-i-write-out-a-file-that-uses-commas-tabs-or-spaces-as-del...

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@Anand08 wrote:

Hi I am trying to export a sas dataset to a delimited txt file using proc export but i am getting double quotes around the column names in the file. I am using label to print out column names without the '_' character . PFA the code

data OUTPUT_TABLE;
set OUTPUT_TABLE_1;
label External_Source='External Source'
External_Metric_Id='External Metric Id'
Metric_Name='Metric Name'
run;

/* Create and export flat file */

proc export data=OUTPUT_TABLE
outfile="/outbound/report/metric_&asOfMonth._&extractDate.-&extractTime..txt"
dbms=dlm label replace;
delimiter='|';
run;

the txt file has the column names as

"External Source"|"External Metric Id"|"Metric Name"|

is there a way to remove the "" from the labels while exporting to the file.?

---

[Anand08]

Thanks Reeza, I was able to use a data _null_ step to produce the desired result

[Ksharp]

Try add an option.

options validvarname=any;

proc export ...........