Remember that permanent, user-defined formats are stored in a format catalog. For example, the program below stores the format JobFmt in a catalog named Library.Formats, which is located in the directory C:\Sas\Formats\Lib in the Windows environment.

     libname library 'c:\sas\formats\lib';
     proc format lib=library;
        value JobFmt
              103='manager'
              105='text processor'
              111='assoc. technical writer'
              112='technical writer'
              113='senior technical writer';
     run;

     libname library 'c:\sas\formats\lib';
     data . . .;

At this point, the Library libref is required. SAS software searches for JobFmt in either of two libraries; the temporary library referenced by the libref Work or a permanent library referenced by the libref Library.

Assigning Your Formats to Variables

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

     data perm.empinfo;
        infile empdata;
        input @9 FirstName $5. @1 LastName $7. +7 JobTitle 3.
              @19 Salary comma9.;
        format salary comma9.2 jobtitle jobfmt.;
     run;

Remember, you can place the FORMAT statement in either a DATA or a PROC step. By placing the FORMAT statement in a DATA step, you can permanently associate a format with a variable. Note that you do not have to specify a width value when using a user-defined format.

When you submit the PRINT procedure, output for Perm.Empinfo now displays the values for Salary with commas and the values for JobTitle with descriptive labels.

     proc print data=perm.empinfo;
     run;