Dynamic allocation of the SAS® Work folder in a Windows operating environment


When using SAS in a Windows operating environment, you might want to specify a list of folders to be used as the SAS Work library. To do so, follow these steps.

  1. Locate your sasv9.cfg file:

    SAS® 9.2 location: C:\Program Files\SAS\SASFoundation\9.2\nls\en\sasv9.cfg
    SAS® 9.3 location: C:\Program Files\SASHome\SASFoundation\9.3\nls\en\sasv9.cfg

  2. Create a TXT file with a list of directories to be used as the new SAS Work libraries. The list should look similar to the following:

    E:\SASWork
    D:\SASWork
    F:\SASWork
    METHOD=RANDOM

    The METHOD= line specifies which strategy SAS is to use for determining the location of the Work library.
    There are two valid settings for the METHOD parameter:

    METHOD=RANDOM
    METHOD=SPACE

    When METHOD=RANDOM is specified, SAS selects a location from the list at random, whereas with METHOD=SPACE, SAS selects the Work location from the list that has the most available free space.

  3. Update your sasv9.cfg file to show the location and filename of the TXT file that you just created. The line should look similar to the following:

    –work “C:\SASWork\filename.txt”

For more information about dynamic allocation of the Work directory in SAS® 9.4 in a Windows operating environment, see SAS® 9.4 Companion for Windows - Fourth Edition.