SAS Certification Prep Guide, 5th Edition

Associating User-Defined Formats with Variables

How SAS Finds Format Catalogs

To use the GENDER, AGEGROUP, and $COL formats in a subsequent SAS session, you must assign the libref Formtlib again.

libname formtlib 'C:\Users\Student1\formats\lib'; 

SAS searches for the formats GENDER, AGEGROUP, and $COL in two libraries, in this order:

• the temporary library referenced by the libref Work
• a permanent library referenced by the libref Formtlib

SAS uses the first instance of a specified format that it finds.

Tip

You can delete formats using PROC CATALOG.

Assigning Formats to Variables

Just as with SAS formats, you associate a user-defined format with a variable in a FORMAT statement.

data work.carsurvey;
  set cert.cars;
  format ...