One of many options: DATA my_sas_data; LENGTH v1 $ 10 v2 $ 20 v3 8; INFILE 'C:\toru\mydata.TXT' lrecl=32767 /* you can specify logical record length*/ dlm='09'x /* tab delimited */ pad missover firstobs = 2 /* if first obs is at 2nd row */ dsd; INPUT v1 v2 v3 ; /* optional label can be written here*/ RUN;