SAS has a 32 character limit for table- and column-names. I have a scenario where I want to select from Table A and join with Table B (where Table B has a name above 32 characters). If I try to write this in PROC SQL, I get an error saying that Table B has a name exceeding 32 characters.
Anyone know how I can get arround this?
Assuming this is working with a non-SAS DBMS, like SQL Server, you should use passthrough SQL to process the select, as this works with the RDBMS's syntax and doesn't have the 32 character limitation.
IE:
proc sql;
connect to oledb (... init string ... );
create table work.mydata as
select * from connection to oledb (
... sql server or whatever syntax ...
);
quit;
You also could ask the DBA to construct a view that had a < 32 character long name.
It is illegal for a SAS table to have more than 32 characters, you will have to rename the physical file. If you are reading a database table, you can do so using SQL passthrough like this:
proc sql;
connect to odbc(dsn=mydsn user=xxxx pwd=yyy);
select * from connection to odbc
(select * from my_table_with_a_very_Very_Very_Long_name);
disconnect from odbc;
quit;
