The following table lists recent SAS® releases and the versions of R that each supports:
Compatibility with R releases
SAS®
Version | PROC IML®
Version | Release Date | R Versions |
|---|
| 9.2 TS1M0 | N/A | Jul 2009 | 2.6.1 - 2.11.1 |
| 9.2 TS2M3 | 9.2 TS2M3 | Nov 2010 | 2.9.1 - 2.11.1 |
| 9.3 TS1M0 | 9.3 TS1M0 | Jul 2011 | 2.9.1 - 2.15.3 |
| 9.3 TS1M2 | 12.1 | Aug 2012 | 2.9.1 - 2.15.3 |
| 9.4 TS1M0 | 12.3 | Jul 2013 | 2.13.0 - 3.0.1 |
| 9.4 TS1M1 | 13.1 | Dec 2013 | 2.13.0 - 3.2.5 |
| 9.4 TS1M2 | 13.2 | Aug 2014 | 2.13.0 - 3.2.5 |
| 9.4 TS1M3 | 14.1 | Aug 2015 | 2.13.0 - 3.2.5 |
| 9.4 TS1M4 | 14.2 | Nov 2016 | 2.13.0 - 3.6.3 |
| 9.4 TS1M5 | 14.3 | Sep 2017 | 2.13.0 - 3.6.3 |
| 9.4 TS1M6 | 15.1 | Nov 2018 | 2.13.0 - 3.6.3 |
| 9.4 TS1M7 | 15.2 | Aug 2020 | 4.0.x-4.4.3 |
| Hot Fix | 14.3-15.2 | Feb 2021 | 4.0.x |
| 9.4M8 | 15.3 | Feb 2023 | 4.0.0-4.4.3 |
| 9.4M9 | 15.4 | Jun 2025 | 4.0.0-4.4.3 |
SAS® Viya® supports R 4.4.3.
To date, six releases of R have been incompatible with prior SAS releases:
- R 2.12.0, which introduced 64-bit R, changed the locations of certain libraries. To use R 2.12.0 or later, you must use SAS® 9.3M0 (TS1M0) or later.
- R 3.0.0 changed certain aspects of the external API to R. To use R 3.0.0 or later, you must use SAS® 9.4M0 (TS1M0) or later.
- R 3.0.2 changed an internal detail that SAS was using. To use R 3.0.2 or later, you must use SAS® 9.4M1 (TS1M1) or later.
- R 3.3.0 broke compatibility with SAS/IML® 14.1 (SAS® 9.4M3) and earlier releases on Microsoft Windows only. The interface works on Linux. R 3.3.0 requires Red Hat Linux (RHEL) 7.1, so SAS customers who run an older Linux release might need to upgrade the operating system before they can compile R 3.3.0.
- R 4.0 broke compatibility with all SAS releases. When you try to run R from SAS/IML, you might get error messages that include "ERROR: The final R statement is incomplete" and "ERROR: SAS is unable to transcode character data to the R encoding." You can download a hot fix that resolves the issue for SAS 9.4 M5, M6, and M7 (SAS KB0040281). The problem is fixed in SAS® 9.4M8 (TS1M8).
- R 4.5.x and later broke compatibility with SAS with changes to files used by the interface. There is currently no workaround for the issue.
The following is an error message that might occur because of incompatible SAS and R versions:
ERROR: An installed version of R could not be found.
However, this message can also occur for other reasons.
SAS Institute ensures that each SAS release supports as many previous R releases as possible. However, after a version of SAS is released, it is impossible to ensure compatibility with later versions of R. If the interface to R changes, you will need to use a compatible version of R until the next release of SAS can support the change. In summary:
- Prior to SAS 9.4, use R 2.15.x or earlier.
- To access R 3.0.1, use SAS/IML® 12.3 (in SAS 9.4M0) or later.
- To access R 3.0.2, use SAS/IML® 13.1 (in SAS 9.4M1) or later.
Here is information regarding 32-bit and 64-bit versions of SAS and R:
- SAS running on a 32-bit edition of Windows requires the use of a 32-bit edition of R.
- SAS running on a 64-bit edition of Windows can be used with either a 32-bit or a 64-bit edition of R.