The SAS Metadata Libname Engine is a thin layer engine which receives commands and passes them to the underlying data access engine for performing the tasks. The META engine is capable of interfacing with tables and views from SAS and third–party DBMSs (database management systems). The META engine supports only tables and views. It does not support other SAS^® files such as catalogs.

This limitation is often seen when working with SAS Formats because formats are stored as entries in SAS Catalogs. You cannot create a format in a library that is assigned with the META engine. You cannot use a format that is stored in a library that is assigned with the META engine. Common error messages are:

When creating formats for later use, plan for how clients and client applications will access the formats. Include a strategy for assigning the library using the native engine (BASE, V9) rather than the META engine, such as:

• assign the library within an autoexec file, specifying the native engine on the LIBNAME statement
• assign the library in client start–up code, specifying the native engine on the LIBNAME statement
• define the library in the SAS^® Metadata Repository and mark it as pre–assigned
• use client options to assign the library using the native engine

Including a Libref in the FMTSEARCH SAS System Option is not a circumvention to this limitation. The library in which the format is saved to or read from must be assigned using the native engine.

For more information on the Metadata LIBNAME Engine, please see SAS^® 9.1.3 Metadata LIBNAME Engine User's Guide Second Edition or SAS^® 9.2 Language Interfaces to Metadata.

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