Attempting to use a user-defined format that is invalid, such as an incorrect use of quotation marks, can cause your SAS program to error and close unexpectedly. This issue occurs when all of the following steps or settings occur. The first two items in this list are defaults in SAS^® Studio.

• The NOFMTERR system option is set.
• A destination other than the default HTML destination is generated.
• An incorrect format definition is used. For example, the definition has a syntax issue, such as problems with quotation marks.
• A procedure attempts to use this incorrect format definition.

Click the Hot Fix tab in this note to access the hot fix for this issue.

Operating System and Release Information

Viya on Linux: An update for this issue is available for SAS Viya 3.5. For instructions on how to access and apply software updates, see the Updating Your SAS Viya software section in the SAS Viya 3.5 for Linux Deployment Guide at

A fix for this issue for Base SAS 9.4_M7 is available at:

A fix for this issue for Base SAS 9.4_M6 is available at: