Options Set by Parameters

 

 

 

Options for Pages and Tables

Several options are set with parameters of the form '-xi'.  These are given after the COPY command and can be given in any order.

 

      COPY  infilename.ex1   outfilename.ex2    -x1   -x2  ...

 

They can also be used at the operating system prompt:

 

      ST   infilename.ex1   outfilename.ex2    -x1   -x2  …

 

Note that parameters can be entered in either upper or lower case.

 

Database Tables

Tables from or to databases such as Access must be specified on the command line with a parameter that follows the COPY command:

 

     -Ttablename

 

For example:

 

     copy dept.mdb   out.dta  -tsales

 

will move the sales table to the file out.dta.

 

Special Considerations for Database Table Output

Sometimes, when both the input and the output file require a table or subfile specification, the '-T' switch can be ambiguous.  In that case, you can modify the switch with a '>' or '<'.   The parameter '-T<' means the input table specification and '-T>' means the output table specification.

 

For example to transfer sheet 3 of an Excel file to an Access table named cities, you could write:

 

      copy  in.xls   out.mdb   -T<sheet3   -T>cities

 

Wildcard Operators

The wildcard operators '*' and '?' allow you to move more than one input Access data source table with a single command.

 

For example, suppose the Access data source company.mdb consists of two tables, sales and marketing.  Then

 

     copy  company.mdb   dept.xls   -t*

 

will move each table in company.mdb to a separate Excel worksheet.  The output worksheet names will be the root name of the output file that given in the COPY command) with the table names appended, dept_sales.xls and dept_marketing.xls.

 

Wildcards in the file name can be mixed with wildcards in the Table parameter.  For example, to transfer all tables in all of the Access files in the directory indata and write them out in Stata format, you would use

 

      copy  indata/*.mdb   outdata/*.dta   -t*

 

Specifying Worksheet Ranges

Specifying a Range with a Parameter

Worksheet ranges can be specified with a parameter that follows the COPY command:

 

      -R[page!]coor      

 

where coor gives the coordinates of a specific range and the optional page specification, page!, gives the worksheet page, either as a name or a page number, followed by '!'.  If no page is given, then by default the first page is used.

 

For example,

 

     copy sales.wk1  dept1.sas7bdat   -ra1:i20

 

will move the range A1:I20 to the file dept1.sas7bdat, while

 

      copy testdat.wb3  trial1.sav   -r4!c6:t200

 

will transfer the range C6:T200 from page 4 of the worksheet testdat.wb3 to the file trial1.sav.

 

Specifying Worksheet Pages

Worksheet pages can be specified with either of the parameters:

 

       -Tn           or          -Tname  

 

where n is the page number and name is the page name. You must use quotes around the entire parameter if name contains blanks.

 

Examples are:

 

      copy dept.xls  out.dta  -t3

 

      copy dept.xls  out.dta  "-tnov sales"

 

Wildcard Operators

The wildcard operators '*' and '?' allow you to move more than one input worksheet page with a single command.

 

For example, suppose the worksheet company.xls consists of two pages, sales and marketing.  Then

 

      copy company.xls dept.dbf -t*

 

will move each page to a separate dBASE file.  The output file names will be the root name of the output file (that given in the COPY command) with the page names appended, dept_sales.dbf and dept_marketing.dbf.

 

Wildcards in the file name can be mixed with wildcards in the page parameter.  For example, to transfer all of the pages in all of the worksheet files in the directory indata and write them out in Stata format, you would use

 

      copy indata/*.mdb   outdata/*.dta   -t*

 

Selecting Members of SAS CPORT or Transport Files

Whenever you select a SAS CPORT or Transport file as input, the first member will be the one used as the input data set, unless you select another one.

 

If the data you wish to use are in a different member, you must use the parameter '-Tmembername', where membername is the member you wish to select.

 

      COPY  infile.xpt   outfilename.ex2   -Tmembername

 

For example, to transfer the data from the member part4 of the SAS Transport file indata.xpt to the Gauss file outdata.dat, type:

 

      copy indata.xpt outdata.dat -tpart4

 

Wildcard Operators

The wildcard operators '*' and '?' allow you to move more than one member of a SAS Transport file with a single command.  The wildcard operators are used for SAS members in the same way that they are used for worksheet pages, as discussed above.

 

 

Handling Errors

By default, a batch transfer will stop if a file cannot be transferred. To skip errors and continue the transfer, use the '-ws' parameter.