This module will read sas7bdat files using pure Python (2.6+, 3+). No SAS software required! The module started out as a port of the R script of the same name found here: https://github.com/BioStatMatt/sas7bdat but has since been completely rewritten.
Also included with this library is a simple command line script,
sas7bdat_to_csv, which converts sas7bdat files to csv files. It will also
print out header information and meta data using the --header option and it
will batch convert files as well. Use the --help option for more information.
As is, I've successfully tested the script almost three hundred sample files I found on the internet. For the most part, it works well. We can now read compressed files!
I'm sure there are more issues that I haven't come across yet. Please let me know if you come across a data file that isn't supported and I'll see if I can add support for the file.
To create a sas7bdat object, simply pass the constructor a file path. The object is iterable so you can read the contents like this:
#!python
from sas7bdat import SAS7BDAT
with SAS7BDAT('foo.sas7bdat') as f:
for row in f:
print row
The values in each row will be a string, float, datetime.date,
datetime.datetime, or datetime.time instance.
If you'd like to get a pandas DataFrame, use the to_data_frame method:
#!python
df = f.to_data_frame()