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Did You Know that You Can Now Access PC Files on a Windows Machine Directly from a Unix Machine?

The SAS/ACCESS Interface to PC Files Software on UNIX has been significantly enhanced in SAS 9.1.

It is now possible to access a wider range of PC file formats from UNIX, provided that these files reside on a windows machine. This is made possible by the PC File Server, which resides on a network windows machine.

You can use the LIBNAME statement, the IMPORT and EXPORT procedures, and the Pass-Through Facility to access these new PC file formats.

When the PC files reside on UNIX, however, SAS/ACCESS for PC Files Software instead behaves as it did in SAS 8, working with a limited range of PC file formats via the Import/Export wizard and Import/Export procedures. In SAS 9.1, locally-residing JMP files can also be accessed in this way.

To access Microsoft Access database file (.mdb), Microsoft Excel workbook file (.xls) or any ODBC supported data sources, SAS/ACCESS for PC Files Software on Unix requires the PC File Server (pcfserver.exe) running on Windows but no local SAS installation is required.

The PC File Server (pcfserver.exe) component is shipped on the Client Side Components CD Volume1. The setup.exe can be found in a location similar to the following:

\client1cd\pcfilesrv\setup.exe

Unless otherwise specified, the PC File Server will be installed in C:\Program Files\SAS\PC File Server on your Windows machine. The setup.exe will install the following files:

  • PCFServer.exe - The SAS PC File Server executable
  • Several support files

You can start the PC File Server by going to Start -> Programs -> SAS -> PC File Server 9.1.

This will launch the SAS PC File Server. The Server Options section of the window contains connection information that can be configured if required. For further information, visit the SAS Online Doc CD for Configuring the PC Files Server.

Here is some example code directly accessing a local Excel spreadsheet with a PC File Server running and creating a temporary SAS dataset on a Unix machine from the Excel spreadsheet. 

/* run the following code from your Unix machine */
libname localxls pcfiles type=Excel port=8621 server=machinename
path = "Path to local XLS file\Name_of_file.xls" ;
data work.New_Dataset_from_Excel ;
set localxls."sheetname$"n; 
run;
proc print data=work.New_Dataset_from_Excel;
run;