Using National Language Support To Move SAS Files between Computers

In order to successfully move a transport file between two computers and operating environments, the encodings of the source and target SAS sessions must be compatible. For example, a source SAS session that uses the Wlatin1 encoding that is associated with the Spanish Mexico locale is compatible with the target SAS session that uses Wlatin1 encoding that is associated with the Italian Italy locale. Both sessions use the Wlatin1 encoding.

However, a transport file cannot be moved between incompatible source and target SAS sessions without national language support (NLS). For example, a source SAS session that uses the Wlatin2 encoding that is associated with the Czech Czechoslovakia locale is incompatible with the target SAS session that uses the open_ed-1141 z/OS encoding that is associated with the German Germany locale. The Wlatin2 encoding and the open_ed-1141 encodings are not compatible.

Before the data can be moved using the appropriate strategy, (for example, the XPORT engine or PROC CPORT and PROC CIMPORT), you would have to re-set the locale of the target SAS session to the locale of the source SAS session that created the transport file. Strategies for specifying locale or encoding vary according to the version of SAS that is running on the source and target computers.

If you are moving SAS files across locales or encodings, you will use the LOCALE= and ENCODING= options. For this information, see the SAS National Language Support (NLS): Reference Guide. For details about using PROC CIMPORT to move transport files between source and target computers that use different locales and encodings, see the Base SAS Procedures Guide.