Importing file into SAS EG and Importing same file into SAS Viya - then comparing them

[BruceTao]

Hi,
I imported a file using the import utility in SAS EG and I imported the same file using the following 
PROC IMPORT command and everything was good except for the format and informat values. See below.

/* Assign your library names */

libname mesahome "/sasshare/prd/AUDIT/BlackMESA/";

PROC IMPORT OUT = mesahome.blackmesa_RFC_predict_feb19_2
       DATAFILE= '/sasshare/prd/AUDIT/BlackMESA/blackmesa_RFC_predict_feb19.csv'
       DBMS=DLM REPLACE;
       DELIMITER = ",";
       GETNAMES = YES;
       GUESSINGROWS=10000;
RUN;

Field Data Type using above code in SAS Viya

Property           Value
Label              Objvalue
Name               Objvalue
Length             8
Type               Numeric
Format             BEST12
Informat           BEST32


Field  Data Type from SAS EG import

Property           Value
Label              Objvalue
Name               Objvalue
Length             8
Type               Numeric
Format             BEST8
Informat           BEST8

Bruce

[tsap · Accepted solution]

Please see the information provided in this post:

https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Studio/Import-Pipe-Delimited-File-into-SAS-Viya/m-p/551901#M7412

To put it simply, its possible for their to be variance when using PROC IMPORT between different SAS Interfaces (SAS EG v. SAS Viya). The example in the link is more drastic than yours, in that it completely changes the formats from character to number ( or the other way around). Where in your case the PROC IMPORT steps, across both EG and Viya, recognize the variable as character and the actual format/informat is where the variance occurs. To ensure consistency between the two, you should explicitly define the types and lengths to ensure it's the format you need instead.

Hope this helps.