Chapter 12: Preventing and Fixing Problems

Problems Transferring and Restoring Transport Files

Troubleshooting Checklist

To avoid potential problems when transferring a transport file to the target operating environment, ensure that these conditions have been met.

1. If transferring across the network, verify that the transport file is transferred in binary format. See "Transferring the Transport File in Binary Format" on page 68 for more information.

2. Verify that the transport file has not been corrupted. See "Verifying That the Transport File Has Not Been Corrupted" on page 68 for more information.

3. Verify that the communications software does not change file attributes. See "Verifying That the Communications Software Has Not Changed File Attributes" on page 69 for more information.

4. Consider invoking the communications software at the target operating environment and getting the transport file from the source operating environment. See "Invoking the Communications Software at the Target Operating Environment" on page 69 for more information.

5. Do not mix methods to create the transport file at the source Operating Environment and then restore the transport file at the target operating environment. See "Using Compatible Transport Strategies at the Source and Target Operating Environments" on page 69 for more information.

6. Before you transfer a transport file to the target operating environment, validate the integrity of the transport file by restoring it to the source operating environment that created it. See "Validating the Integrity of the Transport File" on page 70 for more information.

7. If transferring by means of tape, use an unlabeled tape. See "Using an Unlabeled Tape" on page 70 for more information.

8. If transferring a large transport file by means of tape, break up the library into multiple libraries and transport each one to tape. See "Dividing a Large Transport File into Smaller Files for Tape" on page 71 for more information.

The following sections explain these topics in detail.

Transferring the Transport File in Binary Format

When transferring a transport file using the communications software, verify that the file is transferred in binary (or image) format. The content of the file must be transferred in sequential bytes without modification.

If you use FTP to move a transport file to the target operating environment, you should first specify BINARY 80 before transferring the file.

If you use PATHWORKS, use the SEQUENTIAL_FIXED attribute when you set the file_server service using PCSA_MANAGER. The default attribute is STREAM, which is not appropriate for moving transport files.

Verifying that the Transport File Has Not been Corrupted

Verify that your communications software does not insert a carriage return to mark an end of record in the transport file during transfer to the target operating environment. The insertion of carriage returns and line feeds corrupts the transport file and makes it impossible to restore the file at the target operating environment. For details about how to identify this condition, see the recovery actions for "File libref .ALL is damaged. I/O processing did not complete" on page 74.

Verifying that the Communications Software Has Not Changed File Attributes

Verify that your communications software does not change file attributes. Here are the required attributes with values:

Logical record length (LRECL)	80 or an integer that is a multiple of 80, for example, 160, 240,320.
Block size (BLKSIZE)	8000 blocks
Record format (RECFM)	Fixed block

See your communications software documentation for information about controlling these attributes.

At the target operating environment, if you have a transport file that has not been corrupted (that is, carriage returns or line feeds have not been inserted), but its record block size is incorrect and you are unable to obtain a correctly blocked transport file, you may run a reblocking program to fix the blocks to the correct size. For details, see " Reblocking a Transport File" on page 78.

Invoking the Communications Software at the Target Operating Environment

To transfer the transport file to the target operating environment, you might be more successful if you invoke the communications software at the target operating environment instead of invoking it at the source operating environment. You probably cannot put a file in a location on the target operating environment because you do not have write permission. If transferring a transport file from UNIX to z/OS, it is recommended that you invoke the communications software at the z/OS operating environment. Because you probably have read permission at the UNIX operating environment, you can get the transport file and write it to your z/OS operating environment.

Using Compatible Transport Strategies at the Source and Target Operating Environments

Do not mix strategies to create the transport file at the source operating environment and then restore the transport file at the target operating environment. The strategies that you use must be identical or be a companion pair. For example, create and restore a transport file using the XPORT engine and PROC COPY at both the source and target operating environments. You can also create a transport file using PROC CPORT at the source operating environment and import the transport file using PROC CIMPORT at the target operating environment. Do not create a transport file using the XPORT engine and PROC COPY at the source operating environment and then try to use PROC CIMPORT to restore the transport file at the target operating environment.

To identify the strategy that was used to create a transport file, use a text editor or an operating environment read or view command to read the file in SAS 9 on any operating environment that represents character data as ASCII.

Note  

For information about viewing transport files on operating environments that represent character data as EBCDIC, see "Reading Transport Files in z/OS Operating Environments" on page 53.

The XPORT engine creates a file whose first line contains this ASCII text:

 HEADER RECORD*******LIBRARY HEADER RECORD!!!!!!!00 

PROC CPORT creates a file whose first line contains this text:

 **COMPRESSED** **COMPRESSED** **COMPRESSED** 

Note  

If you set the NOCOMPRESS option in PROC CPORT, compression is suppressed, which prevents the display of the preceding text in a transport file.

Validating the Integrity of the Transport File

To validate the integrity of the transport file before it is transferred to the target operating environment, using the appropriate strategy, try to read it back into native format at the source operating environment.

Here is a PROC COPY example:

 /* This PROC COPY creates the transport file TRAN. */ libname tran xport '  transport-file  '; libname grades '  SAS-data-library  '; proc copy in=grades out=tran memtype=data; run; /* This PROC COPY reads back transport file TRAN. */ libname grades '  SAS-data-library  '; libname tran xport '  transport-file  '; proc copy in=tran out=test; run; 

Here is a PROC CPORT and PROC CIMPORT example:

 /* This PROC CPORT creates the transport file. */ libname grades '  SAS-data-library  '; filename tran '  transport-file  '; proc cport library=grades file=tran; run; /* This PROC CIMPORT reads back the transport file. */ filename tran '  transport-file  '; libname grades '  SAS-data-library  '; proc cimport library=grades infile=tran; run; 

For both examples, check the log for error messages.

Using an Unlabeled Tape

When transferring a transport file by means of tape, use an unlabeled tape. Because tape labels are processed differently in different operating environments, reading a file from a standard label tape might be somewhat complicated at the target operating environment.

Dividing a Large Transport File into Smaller Files for Tape

When transferring a transport file by means of tape, if the transport file exceeds the capacity of one tape, you should divide the original library into two or more libraries and create a separate, unlabeled tape for each one. The original library can be restored at the target operating environment.