converts a dBASE file to SAS data set or a SAS data set to a dBASE
file
-
DB2|DB3|DB4|DB5=fileref | filename
-
specifies the fileref or filename of a DBF
file. When you use the FILENAME statement to assign the fileref, the statement
must specify the filename plus a DBF extension (that is,
filename myref '/my_dir/myfile.dbf').
If you specify a filename instead of a fileref, you
can only specify the name itself (omitting the DBF extension) and the file
must be in the current directory. For example, this PROC DBF statement creates
the EMP.DBF file (uppercase) from the MYLIB.EMPLOYEE data set:
proc dbf db5=emp data=mylib.employee;
You cannot
specify
emp.dbf or a
full pathname (
proc dbf db5='/my/unix_directory/emp.dbf') in the DBn= option.
The DBn option must correspond to the version
of dBASE with which the DBF file is compatible. You specify a DBF file with
the DBn option, where n is 2, 3, 4, or 5. You can
specify only one of these values. If you specify
DB4=myfile, SAS looks for (and creates, depending on your options)
a file called
MYFILE.DBF,
where the name is converted to uppercase.
-
DATA=<libref.>member
-
names the input SAS data set. Use this
option if you are creating a DBF file from a SAS data set. If you use the
DATA= option, do not use the OUT= option. If you omit the DATA= option, SAS
software creates an output SAS data set from the DBF file.
-
OUT=<libref.>member
-
names the SAS data set that is created to
hold the converted data. Use this option only if you do not specify the DATA=
option.
If OUT= is omitted, SAS creates a temporary data set
in the WORK library. (Under UNIX and OS/390, the temporary data set is named
DATA1 [...DATAn]; under PCs, it is called _DATA_.) If OUT= is
omitted or if you do not specify a two-level name in the OUT= option, the
SAS data set that is created by PROC DBF remains available during your current
SAS session, but it is not permanently saved.
The DBF procedure converts dBASE files to SAS data sets
that are compatible with the current release of the SAS System. This procedure
can also be used to convert SAS data sets to DBF files.
PROC DBF produces one output file but no printed output.
The output file contains the same information as the input file but in a
different format.
The DBF procedure works with DBF files created by all
the current versions and releases of dBASE (II, III, III PLUS, IV, and 5.0)
and with most DBF files that are created by other software products.
Future versions of dBASE files might not be compatible
with the current version of the DBF procedure. SAS Institute cannot be responsible
for upgrading PROC DBF to support new versions of dBASE with each new version
of SAS software. To use the DBF procedure, you must have a SAS/ACCESS interface
to PC File Formats license.
Numeric variables are stored in character form by DBF files.
These numeric variables become SAS numeric variables when converting from
a DBF file to a SAS data set. If a DBF numeric value is missing, the corresponding
dBASE numeric field is filled with the character
9, by default.
Character variables become SAS character variables.
Any character variable of a length greater than 200 is truncated to 200.
Logical fields become SAS character variables with a length of 1. Date fields
become SAS date variables. When converting a DBF file to a SAS data set,
fields whose data are stored in auxiliary DBF files (Memo and General fields)
are ignored.
When a dBASE II file is translated into a SAS data set,
any colons in dBASE variable names are changed to underscores in SAS variable
names. Conversely, when a SAS data set is translated into a dBASE file, any
underscores in SAS variable names are changed to colons in dBASE field names.
Numeric variables are stored in character form by DBF
files. SAS numeric variables become numeric variables with a length of 16
when converting from a SAS data set to a DBF file. A SAS numeric variable
with a decimal value must be stored in a decimal format in order to be converted
to a DBF numeric field with a decimal value. In other words, unless you associate
the SAS numeric variable with an appropriate format in a SAS FORMAT statement,
the corresponding DBF field will not have any value to the right of the decimal
point. You can associate a format with the variable in a SAS data set when
you create the data set or by using the DATASETS procedure.
If the number of digits_including a possible decimal
point_exceeds 16 a warning message is issued and the DBF numeric field
is filled with the character
9. All SAS character variables become DBF fields of the same length.
When converting from a SAS data set to a DBF file that is compatible with
dBASE III or later, SAS date variables become DBF date fields. When converting
from a SAS data set to a dBASE II file, SAS date variables become dBASE II
character fields in the form YYYMMDD.
You might find it helpful to save another software vendor's file
to a DBF file and then convert that file into a SAS data set. UNIX users find
this especially helpful. For example, you could save an Excel .XLS file to
a DBF file (by selecting File _> Save As _>EMP.DBF from within an Excel spreadsheet) and
then use PROC DBF to convert that file into a SAS data set. Or you could do
the reverse: use PROC DBF to convert a SAS data set into a DBF file and then
load that file into an Excel spreadsheet.
In this example, a dBASE II file named EMPLOYEE.DBF is
converted to a SAS data set. Because no FILENAME statement is specified, the
last level of the filename is assumed to be DBF and the file is assumed to
be in your current directory and in uppercase.
libname save '/my/unx_save_dir';
proc dbf db2=employee out=save.employee;
run;
In this example, a SAS data set is converted to a dBASE 5 file.
A FILENAME statement specifies a fileref that names the dBASE 5 file. You
must specify the FILENAME statement before the PROC DBF statement.
libname mylib '/my/unix_directory';
filename employee '/sasdemo/employee.dbf';
proc dbf db5=employee data=mylib.employee;
run;
In a Windows environment, this example would be:
libname mylib 'c:\my\directory';
filename employee 'c:\sasdemo\employee.dbf';
proc dbf db5=employee data=mylib.employee;
run;
In an OS/390 environment, this example would be:
libname mylib 'sasdemo.employee.data';
filename dbfout 'sasdemo.newemp.dbf' recfm=n;
proc dbf db5=dbfout data=mylib.employee;
run;
Copyright © 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.
