SKIP_IDENTITY_COL= LIBNAME Statement Option

Specifies whether to skip IDENTITY columns when writing to an external table.

Valid in: LIBNAME statement that connects to an external data source
Category: Data Set Control
Alias: SIC=
Default: NO
Requirement: When you set SKIP_IDENTITY_COL=YES, you must also set IGNORE_READ_ONLY_COLUMNS=YES.
Interaction: The SKIP_IDENTITY_COL= option is honored only when BULKLOAD=NO.
Data source: Amazon Redshift
Note: Support for this option was added in SAS 9.4M9.
See: BULKLOAD= LIBNAME option, IGNORE_READ_ONLY_COLUMNS= LIBNAME option

Table of Contents

Syntax

SKIP_IDENTITY_COL=YES | NO

Required Argument

YES | NO

specifies whether to skip IDENTITY columns when writing to an external table.

Details

IDENTITY columns are not editable. Therefore, if SKIP_IDENTITY_COL=NO, then an error is written to the SAS log if you attempt to write to an IDENTITY column.

The SKIP_IDENTITY_COL= LIBNAME option is applicable when you write to an external table. Specifically, this option applies to APPEND, INSERT, and MODIFY operations. When you set SKIP_IDENTITY_COL=YES, no values are written to IDENTITY columns.

Last updated: February 3, 2026