BL_NUM_DATAFILES= Data Set Option

Specifies the number of data files to create to contain the source data.

Valid in: DATA and PROC steps (when accessing DBMS data using SAS/ACCESS software)
Categories: Bulk Loading
Data Set Control
Alias: BL_NUM_DATA_FILES=
Default: LIBNAME option value
Requirement: To specify this option, you must first specify BULKLOAD=YES.
Data source: Amazon Redshift, Microsoft SQL Server, Snowflake, Spark
Notes: Support for Microsoft SQL Server was added in SAS 9.4M7.
Support for Spark was added in SAS 9.4M9.
Tip: You can also use this option with the BULKUNLOAD= option.

Table of Contents

Syntax

BL_NUM_DATAFILES=value

Required Argument

value

specifies the number of files to create to hold your source data. This value can be an integer between 1 and 100, inclusively.

Details

Amazon Redshift, Snowflake: You might increase performance if you specify a number that corresponds to a multiple of the number of slices in your cluster. For more information, see the Amazon Web Services documentation.

Microsoft SQL Server: This option is used to support bulk loading when you access Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL DW) using an Azure Data Lake Gen2 account.

Spark: This option is used to support bulk loading when you access Databricks.

Last updated: February 3, 2026