sas cannot read xport files version 8 produced by readstat #183
Description
In sas there are two ways of reading xpt files.
old way:
libname xptfile XPORT '/path/to/file.xpt5';
proc copy in = xptfile out = work;
run;
and a new way with macro:
%XPT2LOC (FILESPEC= '/path/to/file.xpt')
When producing xpt files in SAS (sas.xpt5 and sas.xpt8) the old way can read only version 5, and the new way can read both.
When producing files with Readstat (using R haven (files haven.) or using the program writeEx in C, attached, (files writeEx. )), the old way can read the version 5 OK. The new way however cannot read neither version 5 or 8 (see screenshot). The SAS log is attached. it seems that the critical lines in the sas log are these:
68 +format i . ;
_
85
200
76
69 +informat i . ;
_
85
200
76
ERROR 85-322: Expecting a format name.
ERROR 200-322: The symbol is not recognized and will be ignored.
ERROR 76-322: Syntax error, statement will be ignored.
The xpt formats 5 and 8 and 9 seem to be public:
http://support.sas.com/techsup/technote/ts140_2.pdf
http://support.sas.com/techsup/technote/ts140.pdf
another set of xport example files produced in SAS: