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FMTSEARCH=

FMTSEARCH=


Controls the order in which format catalogs are searched

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, Systems Options window
Category: Environment control: Files
PROC OPTIONS GROUP= ENVFILES

Syntax
Syntax Description
Details
Examples
See Also

Syntax

FMTSEARCH=(catalog-specification-1... catalog-specification-n)

Syntax Description

catalog-specification
searches format catalogs in the order listed, until the desired member is found. The value of libref can be either libref or libref.catalog. If only the libref is given, SAS assumes that FORMATS is the catalog name.

Details

The WORK.FORMATS catalog is always searched first, and the LIBRARY.FORMATS catalog is searched next, unless one of them appears in the FMTSEARCH= list.

If a catalog appears in the FMTSEARCH= list, the catalog is searched in the order in which it appears in the list. If a catalog in the list does not exist, that particular item is ignored and searching continues.

Examples

If you specify FMTSEARCH=(ABC DEF.XYZ GHI), SAS searches for requested formats or informats in this order:

  1. WORK.FORMATS

  2. LIBRARY.FORMATS

  3. ABC.FORMATS

  4. DEF.XYZ

  5. GHI.FORMATS.

If you specify FMTSEARCH=(ABC WORK LIBRARY) SAS searches in this order:

  1. ABC.FORMATS

  2. WORK.FORMATS

  3. LIBRARY.FORMATS.

Because WORK appears in the FMTSEARCH list, WORK.FORMATS is not automatically searched first.
See Also

System Option:

FMTERR


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Copyright 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.