In the FSVIEW window, if you attempt to view a variable whose value
cannot be fully displayed, such as a character variable with a length of
200, the value of that variable may not be displayed in the FSVIEW
window and you may receive the following error message in the SAS Log
window:

   ERROR: Unable to format variable in space provided.

To circumvent this problem, you can assign a format to the variable in
the FSVIEW window by issuing the format command as follows,

   format longVar '$60.'

The width of the format must be a value that the window can accomodate.
If the width you specify is too long, you will still not be able to see
the values for this variable in the window and the above listed error
message will again be written to the SAS Log window.

If you use the FORMAT command in the FSVIEW window, the format will
only be associated to the variable until you exit the FSVIEW window. If
you prefer to permanently associate the format with the variable, use
the Properties window to modify the column format.

An alternate circumvention for this problem would be to display the data
set in another window such as the FSEDIT window or the VIEWTABLE window
on a Unix or Microsoft Windows-based operating system.

Operating System and Release Information