CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sas
Murray
Murray

Reputation: 719

Change current folder

I'd like to specify the current folder. I can find the current folder:

libname _dummy_ ".";
%let folder = %NRBQUOTE(%SYSFUNC(PATHNAME(_DUMMY_)));
%put &folder;

and change it manually by double clicking the current folder status bar, but I'd prefer to code it. Is this possible?

Upvotes: 8

Views: 7483

Answers (2)

Lorem Ipsum
Lorem Ipsum

Reputation: 4534

Be aware that the timing of an X statement is like that of other global statements (title, footnote, options, etc). If it is placed within a DATA step, the X statement will be issued prior to the data step execution.

For example, supposing your current working directory is c:\temp. The following writes HelloWorld.txt to c:\temp2 rather than c:\temp. At compile time, SAS runs the X statement and then performs the data step. Note that in SAS, a period (.) is the reference to the current working directory.

data _null_;
  file '.\HelloWorld.txt';
  put 'Hello, world!';
  x 'cd C:\temp2';
run;

To change directories after the data step has executed, you would want to use CALL SYSTEM. CALL statements execute conditionally by being called after a data step.

data _null_;
  file '.\HelloWorld.txt';
  put 'Hello, world!';
  command = 'cd "C:\temp2"';
  call system(command);
run;

More information about these kinds of details for Windows systems can be found in the Running Windows or MS-DOS Commands from within SAS

Upvotes: 0

fscmj
fscmj

Reputation: 441

Like this:

x 'cd <full path>';

for example

x 'cd C:\Users\foo';

SAS recognizes that a change directory command was issued to the OS and changes it's current working directory.

Upvotes: 10

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