In reply to Hildy.

Hildy, I think that the 4096 formats limit is an internal value that cannot be extended. However, you may be able to work around it by limiting the number of variables/formats that you reference in subsequent steps, after you import the SPSS file. You can limit the variables by using the DROP= or KEEP= data set option to include just the variables that you need for a given step.

Beyond this, if you want to provide more specifics with code examples and perhaps some sample data, I recommend that you work with SAS Technical Support.