When specifying a user-defined format for a column, you might receive an informat error upon exiting the Column Attributes window.

To illustrate, submit the following code within the SAS Editor window:

   proc format;
      value foo
         1="This is a long label greater than 32 characters";
   run;

   data test;
      format x foo.;
      x=1;
   run;

Open the table into Viewtable, and open the Column Attributes window for column X. You will see the following information:

   Format: Foo47.
   Informat: 47.

End out of the Column Attributes window and you will see the following error in the SAS log:

    ERROR: Informat 47. is incorrect for variable x.

This error appears to occur if you have not specified a similar user-defined informat for the column, and when the width of the formatted value is greater than 32. If the length of the formatted value is less than 32, this error does not occur. Also, if a similar informat is specified, then this error does not occur.

Because Viewtable enables you to both view and edit your data, as a best practice, when using Viewtable to edit data, you should create corresponding informats for your user-defined formats.

For example, you can define a similar informat to the above format by using code like the following:

  proc format;
     invalue foo
      "This is a long label greater than 32 characters"=1 other=0;
  run;

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