BL_DEFAULT_DIR= LIBNAME Statement Option

Specifies where bulk loading creates all intermediate files.

Valid in: SAS/ACCESS LIBNAME statement
Categories: Bulk Loading
Data Set Control
Default: temporary file directory that is specified by the UTILLOC= system option [Amazon Redshift, Aster, Google BigQuery, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Spark]
database-name [Oracle]
Restriction: The value that you specify must not contain a space.
Requirements: To specify this option, you must first set the BULKLOAD= LIBNAME option or the BULKLOAD= data set option to YES. Amazon Redshift supports only the BULKLOAD= data set option.
This option must end with a backslash on Windows or a forward slash on UNIX—for example:
BL_DEFAULT_DIR='c:\temp\'
BL_DEFAULT_DIR='/temp/'
Supports: Oracle: CTL, DAT, LOG, BAD, and DSC intermediate bulk-load files
Data source: Amazon Redshift, Aster, Google BigQuery, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Spark
Notes: Support for Microsoft SQL Server was added in SAS 9.4M7.
Support for Spark was added in SAS 9.4M9.
See: BULKLOAD= LIBNAME option, BL_DEFAULT_DIR= data set option

Syntax

Required Argument

host-specific-directory-path

specifies the host-specific directory path where intermediate bulk-load files are created.

Details

The value that you specify for this option is prepended to the file name. Be sure to provide the complete, host-specific directory path that includes the file and directory separator character to accommodate all platforms.

This value overrides the default location for interim files that is specified by the UTILLOC= system option.

Microsoft SQL Server: This option is used when Microsoft SQL Server loads data to Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL DW) with a Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 storage account. For more information, Bulk Loading to Azure Synapse Analytics.

Spark: This option is used when the Spark engine bulk loads or bulk unloads data in Databricks. For more information, see Bulk Loading and Bulk Unloading with the Spark Engine.

Example: Create All Files in a Temporary Directory

In this example, bulk loading Oracle data creates all related files in the c:\temp directory:

libname mypath oracle user=myusr1 password=mypwd1 
    bl_default_dir='c:\temp\';
Last updated: February 3, 2026