The SAS transport file format

This page will eventually contain a publicly-available C++ class for reading SAS transport files.

SAS has two different transport file formats: one is open (ie the specifications of the format are in the public domain) but cannot handle 'advanced' SAS features like long variable names; the other remains proprietary but is more comprehensive. This page will deal with the open format, known as the XPORT format. This is format in which the FDA and other regulatory agencies expect to receive data, so it's the one of most interest. There is clearly a market for non-SAS tools which can read, analyse and present data from these standardised transport files.

This is just a placeholder for now; for more information on the XPORT format, visit these links:

• http://www.sas.com/govedu/fda/faq.html
• http://support.sas.com/techsup/technote/ts140.html

If you are interested in this project, please leave a comment to let me know. All requests and/or contributions gratefully received.