The function vformat will return a variables format.

e.g. f= vformat(myVariable);

>hi, > >I have a variable myVariable that is formatted somewhere else in the >program. > >I have a macro that i pass in the name of a variable (i.e myVariable) >and that macro will have a proc tabulate that produces the sum of >myVariable in the cell of the table. > >the number (sum) of the variable (myVariable) will not be formatted the >same way the variable is (myVariable is comma8. for example) > >so you have to do *f=comma8. or such. > >is there a way to detect the formatting of the variable that is being >passed in, and to format the sum of it the same way it is? > >I know I can do that indirectly (and undesirably) by outputting a >dataset from porc content and them getting the format of the variable >(myvariab;e) and then assigning that to a macro, then using that >format...etc, But i was trying to find a better solution. > >is there some function to extract the format of a variable? or is there >a way to tell proc tabulate that the sum of a variable should have the >same format as the variable it self? > >thanks