"...cannot open the the data file..."

[dbdinc]

I recently tried "pulling in" a table from one of my libraries and received the following message: "Enterprise Guide cannot open the data file: ODSH.PERSON_DETAIL. Do you want to remove all references to this file from the project?"

I only get this message on this one table....other tables can be opened OK. If anyone has a suggestion on what (1) this means and (2) what migt br tried to fix the problem, I would be most grateful.

Thanks in advance!

 

[klaz2002]

First this table (file) could be locked or in use by someone on your network. What I would do in your case is to trouble shoot this table.

You could try to find the file on your network and open it manually. You may find that the file is either not there or corrupted.

In short try to rule out any IO issues before you blame the SAS application. If you rule out all the possible IO issues then try to use base SAS to read and open the file. If that works than the Enterprise package may have a problem.

Klaz

 

[dbdinc]

Hi, Klaz, and thanks for replying. This is an interesting probelm.... in my stored process' Proc SQL, I had initially received messages that two fields from the offenidng table could not be located; however, when I changed my SQL code to look at other fields but not the offending fields, my stored process worked in EG.

I must confess...I am so new to SAS that it's quite confusing. How would I use base SAS to try and read the table, as suggested?

I really don't think it's EG that is having a probelm on my PC.... another person tried grabbing the table from her copy of EG and got the same errors as I did, which is leading me to think the table itself is bonked.

Thanks for your suggestions and for your interest...I appreciate it!

 

[klaz2002]

EG is a frontend for running SAS programs. (There is more but this basically sums EG up)

For most of the SAS world EG is a novelty and we actually use the base SAS environment to run (execute) SAS programs. You may or may not have the 'BASE' sas environment. Generally when the newer SAS products don't perform the way I expected them to I always go back to basics and run the raw SAS program using SAS 9.1 editor and run tools.

Klaz

 

[dbdinc]

My problem is, I don't know at this point in time how to run "Base SAS" or where even to find the SAS 9.1 editor..... sorry to sound so ignorant, but I haven't been immersed in SAS long enough yet. Therein lies my frustration and why I ask such basic questions.

How do I find if I even have "Base SAS" available to me?

 

[dbdinc]

Guess what??? I got the problem fixed! Turns out that we receive script files from a software vendor that can at any time modify the structure of our Oracle or SQL tables; well, our Administrator had received a script that had erased two fields in the offending table, and my SAS EG was looking at an old view of the table. After we did some heavy-duty reviewing of the table, we figured which fields were causing the probelm, removed them from the old view, did a refresh, and now can see and use the table.

I asked our administrator how he knows what the scripts do and his response was that he didn't know what impact the scripts had, that he just runs them. Sound like the old "just following orders," doesn't it?

Thanks for your replies and for your suggestions....it's nice to know there are folks willing to help others out there.