SAS System Options

FMTSEARCH= System Option

Specifies the order in which format catalogs are searched.

Valid in:	configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window
Category:	Environment control: Files
PROC OPTIONS GROUP=	ENVFILES
See:	FMTSEARCH= System Option under OpenVMS

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 catalog-specification 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.

Operating Environment Information: Under the Windows, UNIX, and z/OS operating environments, you can use the APPEND or INSERT system options to add additional catalog-specification. For details, see the documentation for the APPEND and INSERT system options. [cautionend]

Examples

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

WORK.FORMATS
LIBRARY.FORMATS
ABC.FORMATS
DEF.XYZ
GHI.FORMATS.

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

ABC.FORMATS
WORK.FORMATS
LIBRARY.FORMATS.

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