THIS WORKED   I allowed me to move the catalog. Then, when opening the second program where I plan to do my analysis I called the libname and did an OPTIONS FTMSEARCH (libname.formats).   Thank you very MUCH ... View more

to answer your first question: Work.data is from an imported SPSS data file. The formats already exist and work in my original program. They were created when importing the data into SAS. They are being placed into the work folder when I am importing them as I do not immediately want to create a SAS datafile. They already exist and they already work in the data set where I import and do my recoding.    I need to figure out how to MOVE the formats out of the work folder to a permanant locations when I am creating a permanent SAS dataset that is being placed in the same location.   Unfortuantely, while I appreciate the very lengthy response, the formats already exist. I really do not want to hardcode 200+ of them. There has to be another way to accomplish this.    If my proc format coding is incorrect, this is what I am asking for help with. I need to move an existing work.formats catalog with work.data to another permanent location.  ... View more

The dataset and work.formats (catalog) are together. I want to move the catalog to be able to use it from step 7 and on below.   I believe you are saying that the CNTLOUT will create a dataset with the formats permanantly attached? If so, this would work.    So from start the finish: 1. Import dataset using proc import from SPSS file into work.datafile (creates data set and work.formats) 2. Recoding and Data management using work.datafile(s) 3. Libname for permanent file (libname) 4. Create permanant file (data libname.datafile; set work.datafile) 5. Proc format code listed above. Using OPTIONS FMTSEARCH 6. Close this program and SAS 7. Run my other analysis in mplus. 8. Open SAS back up and Merge data back from other analysis, import all data 9. Merge with with libname.datafile. Get format error for every variable (All 200+) (e.g. ERROR: The format NQ1A was not found or could not be loaded.) ... View more

Hi Cynthia,   I have been through both of these to no avail. The resulting libname.format is empty and the original work.formats is still a temp.   The code I was trying was (Ive tried different variations, but this is what I keep coming back to):   libname Perm "C: location"; data Perm.original_data; set work.data;  */ creating the permanent data set/*;   Proc FORMAT library= Perm.original_data; OPTIONS FMTSEARCH= (work.formats); run;   What am I missing? ... View more

This is actually exactly what I attempted to do. I needed to data to be saved after recoding so it could be re-merged with data from a secondary analysis that had the same identifier variable.   The creation of the permanent dataset did not pull the formats over from work.formats. Upon closing out of SAS and then reopening a new SAS program and attempting to call the data, I get errors that the formats were not found or loaded. This is because SAS is holding the original formats from the other program as temp.formats.  ... View more

The spss formats are created and placed into a work.formats catalog when the data is imported using proc import.   ROC IMPORT OUT= WORK.cluster0 DATAFILE= "C:\Users\micha\Dropbox\1. Dissertation\Paper 2\Data\ACHA-NCHA FALL 2015 REFERENCE GROUP-1R BLIND-SAWDEY.sav" DBMS=SPSS REPLACE;RUN;   I then continued to use the work folder as in this program, there is quite a bit of recoding and checking of recodes happening. Later on in the program, I needed to then take the recoded data set and save it as a permanent to be used at a later time for merging it back with data that we conducted a latent class analysis with in mplus.    The problem that arises, is, even when saving the data to a permanent dataset, the formats folder is a temp.formats. This is what I cannot overcome  ... View more