To check out the contents of the format library, we use the proc format statement with a fmtlib option.

proc format fmtlib library=catlgdata;
select $class $desc;
run;

catlgdata is the name of the SAS library that contains the format datasets.  fmtlib is the option that is seeking a listing of the formats. If you don’t use a select statement, all formats will be listed and output to your SAS lists. The above statements select two put formats or what are called formats. These map to a character value.

proc format fmtlib library=catlgdata;
select @prc;

The above calls a listing of the informat prc which maps to a numeric value. You don’t need the ending period when using the select statement as in $class. however you do need them when you are calling a format in regular SAS programs.