You can use proc export to quickly export data from SAS to a CSV file.

This procedure uses the following basic syntax:

/*export data to file called data.csv*/
proc exportdata=my_data
    outfile="/home/u13181/data.csv"
    dbms=csv
    replace;
run;

Here’s what each line does:

• data: Name of dataset to export
• outfile: Location to export CSV file
• dmbs: File format to use for export
• replace: Replace the file if it already exists

The following examples show how to use this function in practice.

Related:

Example 1: Export Dataset to CSV with Default Settings

Suppose we have the following dataset in SAS:

/*create dataset*/
data my_data;
    input A B C;
    datalines;
1 4 76
2 3 49
2 3 85
4 5 88
2 2 90
4 6 78
5 9 80
;
run;

/*view dataset*/
proc printdata=my_data;

We can use the following code to export this dataset to a CSV file called data.csv:

/*export dataset*/
proc exportdata=my_data
    outfile="/home/u13181/data.csv"
    dbms=csv
    replace;
run;

I can then navigate to the location on my computer where I exported the file and view it:

The data in the CSV file matches the dataset from SAS.

Example 2: Export Dataset to CSV with Custom Settings

For example, the following code shows how to export a SAS dataset to a CSV file using a semi-colon as the delimiter and no header row:

/*export dataset*/
proc exportdata=my_data
    outfile="/home/u13181/data.csv"
    dbms=csv
    replace;
    delimiter=";";
    putnames=NO;
run;

I can then navigate to the location on my computer where I exported the file and view it:

Notice that the header row has been removed and the values are separated by semi-colons instead of commas.

Additional Resources

The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in SAS: