An error message is generated when you execute an SQL procedure (PROC SQL) query that references a format that does not exist and the system option FMTERR is in effect. The error, which appears in the SAS log, might look similar to the following:
ERROR: The format DOESNOTEXIST was not found or could not be loaded.
If you use the NOFMTERR system option, a note rather than an error should be written to the log. However, with the SQL procedure, SAS does not write either one. The problem exists, but nothing is written to the SAS log that indicates that there was an issue with the format.
There is no workaround for this issue.