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Why does proc import hang on Unix?

In some circumstances, when you run a SAS program on Unix with proc import (or proc export), the program reaches the import step and just sits there, not moving forward nor dying with an error. What may be happening is that proc import is trying to open an X-window telling you that it is running, and you are not running an X-windowing system.

To get around this, at the command prompt type

     sas -noterminal myfile.sas &

instead of

     sas myfile.sas &

This prevents SAS from trying to open an X-window to tell you about the progress of proc import. This also works with other procs that try to open windows: for instance, proc gplot.