PROC TABULATE by Example, Second Edition

Use Appropriate Formats for Statistics

The FORMAT= option in the PROC TABULATE statement applies a format for the value in each table cell. You can use any SAS or user-defined format. The FORMAT= option is a great way to control the formatting of your table row by row or column by column.

But first, a quick review of the basics. If you do not specify a value for the FORMAT= option, PROC TABULATE uses the format BEST12.2. This is a "one size fits all" solution that does not work well for tables like that produced by the following code:

PROC TABULATE DATA=TEMP;
   CLASS SECTOR OCCUP;
   VAR INCOME;
   TABLE OCCUP=' ', SECTOR=' '*INCOME*(N MEAN);
RUN;

Output 10.1 shows how the BEST12.2 format gives our values of the mean two decimal places. Our values ...