The FORMAT Procedure

Definitions

SAS format
determines how variable values are printed according to the data type: numeric, character, date, time, or timestamp.
SAS informat
determines how data values are read and stored according to the data type: numeric, character, date, time, or timestamp.

A Word about PROC FORMAT

SAS provides you with formats and informats that you can use to read and write your data. However, if the SAS formats or informats do not meet your needs, you can use the FORMAT procedure to define your own formats and informats. PROC FORMAT stores user-defined formats and informats as entries in a SAS catalog.
The following output of Work.Carsurvey has a value of 1 or 2 for Sex, and values of B, G, W, and ...

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