FORMCHAR Option

From sasCommunity

The SAS Monospace font includes a series of characters which can be combined to draw the lines and boxes of a table. For example, this code

proc tabulate data=sashelp.class;
class sex age;
table sex, age*f=3.;
run;

will ordinarily generate this in the Output window:

However, if this table is copied or otherwise carried to an environment which does not have or does not use the SAS Monospace font, it can look like this

„ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ…ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ†
‚                      ‚          Age          ‚
‚                      ‡ƒƒƒ…ƒƒƒ…ƒƒƒ…ƒƒƒ…ƒƒƒ…ƒƒƒ‰
‚                      ‚11 ‚12 ‚13 ‚14 ‚15 ‚16 ‚
‚                      ‡ƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒ‰
‚                      ‚ N ‚ N ‚ N ‚ N ‚ N ‚ N ‚
‡ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒ‰
‚Sex                   ‚   ‚   ‚   ‚   ‚   ‚   ‚
‡ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ‰   ‚   ‚   ‚   ‚   ‚   ‚
‚F                     ‚  1‚  2‚  2‚  2‚  2‚  .‚
‡ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒˆƒƒƒ‰
‚M                     ‚  1‚  3‚  1‚  2‚  2‚  1‚
Šƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ‹ƒƒƒ‹ƒƒƒ‹ƒƒƒ‹ƒƒƒ‹ƒƒƒ‹ƒƒƒŒ

To avoid this, use the FORMCHAR= option to substitute common printable characters (specifically: the hyphen -, the pipe |, and the plus sign +) for the special drawing characters. The output won't look as nice in the SAS Output window, but it should at least look the same wherever you move it.

The FORMCHAR= option is available as a SAS System Option. In addition, several of the procedures which render tabular output (including TABULATE, FREQ, and CALENDAR) support FORMCHAR= as a procedure option.

Here are four variations;

proc tabulate data=sashelp.class formchar="|----|+|---";
class sex age;
table sex, age*f=3.;
run;

------------------------------------------------
|                      |          Age          |
|                      |-----------------------|
|                      |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |
|                      |---+---+---+---+---+---|
|                      | N | N | N | N | N | N |
|----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---|
|Sex                   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|----------------------|   |   |   |   |   |   |
|F                     |  1|  2|  2|  2|  2|  .|
|----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---|
|M                     |  1|  3|  1|  2|  2|  1|
------------------------------------------------

proc tabulate data=sashelp.class formchar="|-+-+|+|+-+";
class sex age;
table sex, age*f=3.;
run;

+----------------------------------------------+
|                      |          Age          |
|                      |-----------------------|
|                      |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |
|                      |---+---+---+---+---+---|
|                      | N | N | N | N | N | N |
|----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---|
|Sex                   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|----------------------|   |   |   |   |   |   |
|F                     |  1|  2|  2|  2|  2|  .|
|----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---|
|M                     |  1|  3|  1|  2|  2|  1|
+----------------------------------------------+

proc tabulate data=sashelp.class formchar="|-+++++++++";
class sex age;
table sex, age*f=3.;
run;

+----------------------+-----------------------+
|                      |          Age          |
|                      +---+---+---+---+---+---+
|                      |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |
|                      +---+---+---+---+---+---+
|                      | N | N | N | N | N | N |
+----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Sex                   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+----------------------+   |   |   |   |   |   |
|F                     |  1|  2|  2|  2|  2|  .|
+----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|M                     |  1|  3|  1|  2|  2|  1|
+----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+

proc tabulate data=sashelp.class formchar="|-+++|+|+++";
class sex age;
table sex, age*f=3.;
run;

+----------------------+-----------------------+
|                      |          Age          |
|                      |---+---+---+---+---+---|
|                      |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |
|                      |---+---+---+---+---+---|
|                      | N | N | N | N | N | N |
|----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---|
|Sex                   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|----------------------|   |   |   |   |   |   |
|F                     |  1|  2|  2|  2|  2|  .|
|----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---|
|M                     |  1|  3|  1|  2|  2|  1|
+----------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+

To restore the default value to the system option, on an ASCII system, use this code:

options formchar = '82838485868788898A8B8C'x ;

References

• Documentation for FORMCHAR system option