SAS Users
Providing technical tips and support information, written for and by SAS users.![Keys to the kingdom—using metadata to build a database](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sgf/files/2013/06/metatables.jpg)
If you routinely import data from external sources, chances are you’ve learned the value in having a systematic import process. In this post, I will begin sharing my approach of using metadata tables to guide the importing of data.
![How to connect to SAS libraries when the client application isn't metadata-aware](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sgf/files/2013/06/metaconnection1.png)
Based on my previous posts, we are almost done with the basics of SAS libraries and how the various clients can access them. Before we leave this topic and go onto third-party database engines, I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about some best practices for making sure that
![Had a bad date? Here’s the solution](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sgf/files/2013/06/headache1.png)
Everyone may find bad dates in their data set from time to time, but it’s often difficult to tell if they’re mere annoyances or indicative of a larger problem. Luckily, Lucheng Shao has come to the rescue in his SAS Global Forum winning paper, Don’t Let a Bad Date Ruin
![Help, I lost my SAS server!](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sgf/files/2013/06/server11.png)
Like most SAS users and administrators, you usually don't know where your backend SAS servers are located--probably in some basement server farm or perhaps another building or even another town. But I'm sure you do know that your SAS client application must have a way to reach services running on
![Congratulations to the Best Contributed Paper winners at SAS Global Forum](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sgf/files/2017/01/SASevents-2.png)
First of all, congratulations to everyone who presented at SAS Global Forum 2013. Your hard work and contributions are what make it a success each year. Even though SAS Global Forum 2013 has come and gone, all of the papers and presentations are still available online. Out of this fantastic
![Don’t overlook release management](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sgf/files/2017/01/SAS-Administrators-1.png)
John Heaton is no stranger to the often frustrating process of migrating code between environments after software updates. While release management and version control may often be afterthoughts, Heaton cautions that ignoring them could be “time consuming and disastrous should errors occur.” His winning SAS Global Forum paper SAS® Release