Key Concepts about Extracting and Saving Data Files

In the preceding task, you saved the DEMO and PAXRAW SAS transport files (.xpt) to your DOWNLOAD folder. The transport files are created by the EXPORT engine. Within the SAS editor, you will use the XPORT statement to convert the files from the SAS transport format to the standard SAS dataset format so that you can use the data in your analysis.

After downloading the SAS transport files, you will need to extract the data and save them as SAS datasets in a SAS-accessible library. A library is a folder that you designate on your computer to store your SAS files. Transport files are not usable without completing this task. To extract the file, assign one library name (LIBNAME) to the transport file and another to the location where you want the SAS-accessible data file to be saved. Include the XPORT statement in line of SAS code that has the libname of the transport file.