I have encountered a problem reading SAS transport files on both a Mac 
(OS X) and Linux (RedHat 9), both using R2.0.1.

After loading "foreign", the command:
read.xport("V1622101_050304.xpt")

yields:
Error in lookup.xport(file) : File not in SAS transfer format

In Linux, I can "cat" the file.  The first few lines are:
**COMPRESSED** **COMPRESSED** **COMPRESSED** **COMPRESSED** 
**COMPRESSED********LIB CONTROL WIN_PRO<BC>^BWIN^@8 
SAS8.2<BC><AB>D701DATALIB 
ACM<BC><9B>VC30<BC><81>CC14537<BC><85>RL507<BC><87>1<BC><87>S 0  0  20 
CHAR

In contrast, I can read.xport a different file successfully.
That file (and others that I can import successfully) contains the 
following first line:
HEADER RECORD*******LIBRARY HEADER 
RECORD!!!!!!!000000000000000000000000000000  SAS     SAS     SASLIB  
6.12    WIN_NT                          
21OCT02:13:30:0721OCT02:13:30:07

I know little about SAS but I wonder whether the problem relates to the 
export characteristics of different versions of SAS.  If so, it appears 
that read.xport may not work with newer versions of SAS.  If so, is 
there a new function to read SAS transport files?

Thanks for any possible help.



Dennis Fisher MD
P < (The "P Less Than" Company)
Phone: 1-866-PLessThan (1-866-753-7784)
Fax: 1-415-564-2220
www.PLessThan.com


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