A00-215 Exam Dumps - SAS Institute Programming Fundamentals Questions and Answers

In SAS, the code you provided involves creating two datasets, table1 and table2, from the dataset sashelp.shoes. The key part to understand here is how the DATA statement and OUTPUT statement interact with the specified datasets.

• DATA Statement: The statement data table1 table2; initiates the creation of two new datasets named table1 and table2.
• SET Statement: The set sashelp.shoes; statement is used to read data from the sashelp.shoes dataset. This dataset includes data on shoe sales from SASHELP library, which is commonly used for demonstration purposes in SAS.
• OUTPUT Statement: In the context of the DATA step where multiple datasets are specified in the DATA statement (as in table1 table2), the OUTPUT statement without a dataset name specified outputs the current observation to all datasets listed in the DATA statement. This is a critical point because it determines where the data goes after processing in the DATA step.
• Execution: When the run; statement is executed, it processes each observation from sashelp.shoes. For each observation, because there is no condition or additional OUTPUT statements specifying dataset names, each observation is output to both table1 and table2.

Therefore, the correct behavior as described is that each observation in sashelp.shoes is written to both table1 and table2. This effectively duplicates each row from the source into both target datasets.

References:

• SAS 9.4 Language Reference: Concepts, "DATA Step Processing" and "OUTPUT Statement" sections provide detailed explanations on how DATA steps process and how OUTPUT statement works in different contexts.
• Practical examples and explanations from SAS programming courses and official SAS documentation, which discuss DATA and SET statements, and their interaction with OUTPUT in data duplication scenarios.

The program fails because option C is correct: you must include the dataset height2 in the DATA statement. The DATA step is trying to write to a dataset named height2, which has not been defined in the DATA statement. The correct syntax to create two datasets in one DATA step is to list them both in the DATA statement like so:

data height1 height2;

The use of numbers in dataset names is not a problem in SAS, nor is outputting to different data sets within a single DATA step. Additionally, using two different DATA statements for HEIGHT1 and HEIGHT2 is not required and is not the cause of the failure.

References:

• SAS documentation on the DATA statement and creating multiple data sets.

https://v8doc.sas.com/sashtml/lrcon/z0961108.htm

In SAS, the automatic variable _N_ represents the number of times the DATA step has iterated. It starts at 1 and increments by 1 each time the DATA step loops back to the top. This variable can be used within the DATA step to monitor the iteration count but is not written to the output data set. The other options, A, C, and D, are not automatically created variables that track iterations in the DATA step.

References:

• SAS documentation on automatic variables.

The type of error that does not produce expected results and does not generate errors or warnings in the log is a logic error. Logic errors occur when there is a flaw in the program's logic, which causes it to operate incorrectly, but the syntax is correct so it does not produce any error or warning messages. Unlike syntax errors which are mistakes in the program's code that prevent it from compiling or running, logic errors are more insidious because the program still runs but yields incorrect results. For example, a programmer may accidentally code an incorrect formula or use a wrong variable name that still exists, so the program runs but produces incorrect output.

References:

• SAS documentation on error types.

To rename a variable when reading a dataset in SAS, you use the rename= option inside the parentheses following the dataset's name in the set statement. The correct syntax for renaming the variable 'Name' to 'StudentName' is: rename=(oldname=newname). Therefore, the correct option is A, which correctly places the old variable name 'Name' first, followed by an equal sign, and then the new variable name 'StudentName'. The parentheses enclose the rename operation, and it is correctly nested within the set statement.

References:

• SAS documentation on the RENAME= data set option, SAS Institute.

In SAS, the correct syntax for assigning labels to variables is to use the LABEL statement within a DATA step or a PROC step. Labels are assigned to variables using the format variable='label'. The correct syntax for the LABEL statement is represented by option B.

Here’s the breakdown:

• FName=’First Name’ correctly assigns the label First Name to the variable FName.
• LName=’Last Name’ correctly assigns the label Last Name to the variable LName.
• Each variable and label pair is separated by a space, and the overall statement ends with a semicolon, which is the proper syntax for a LABEL statement in SAS.

Options A, C, and D are incorrect due to various syntax errors like the use of the wrong character for the apostrophe, missing apostrophes, incorrect punctuation, and in the case of option C, an incorrect conjunction ‘and’ which is not used in LABEL statements.

References:

• SAS 9.4 documentation for the LABEL statement: SAS Help Center: LABEL Statement

In the PROC PRINT statement, the LABEL option is used to display variable labels in the report. If the variables in the dataset have labels associated with them, the LABEL option will ensure that these labels are used in the output instead of the variable names.

Here's how the LABEL option is used:

• proc print data=sashelp.class label; (assuming sashelp.class is the dataset in question)
• The LABEL keyword after the dataset name within the PROC PRINT call activates the use of variable labels in the output report.

The other options provided are incorrect for the following reasons:

• SHOWLABELS is not a valid SAS option.
• COLS does not exist as a PROC PRINT option in SAS.
• LABELS= is not a correct syntax for any SAS procedure.

References:

• SAS 9.4 documentation for the PROC PRINT statement with LABEL option: [SAS Help Center: PROC PRINT]

The report shown is a cross-tabulation of 'Region' by 'Product'. The FREQ Procedure indicates that PROC FREQ has been used, and the presence of 'Frequency', 'Percent', 'Row Percent', and 'Column Percent' suggests that a cross tabulation (or contingency table) has been requested. The correct code for this output would include the tables statement to specify the two variables ('Region' and 'Product') with an asterisk between them, which indicates a request for a cross-tabulation of these two categorical variables, and the crosslist option to display the table in a cross-tabulated list format. Therefore, option D is the correct answer:

proc freq data=sashelp.shoes;

tables region*product / crosslist;

run;

Options A and C use the order=freq option incorrectly, as this option would order the table by frequency counts rather than providing a cross-tabulation. Option B is missing the crosslist option needed to produce the cross-tabulated format.

In SAS, the DATA step is a powerful tool that allows programmers to perform a variety of tasks such as reporting, managing, and analyzing data. The DATA step processes data one observation at a time, making it highly efficient for data manipulation tasks. It enables the creation of new datasets, modification of existing ones, and complex data transformations. Additionally, within a DATA step, you can use a wide range of programming statements and functions to calculate new variables, merge or sort datasets, and perform conditional processing. The flexibility and functionality provided by DATA steps make them a fundamental part of SAS programming for handling and preparing data for further analysis or reporting.References: SAS 9.4 Language Reference: Concepts.

In the given DATA step, the do weeks=1 to 3; loop iterates three times for each row in the original WORK.RUN dataset, incrementing the miles value by 5 for each iteration and outputting a row after each increment. However, no output; statement is given within the loop to create the extra rows, which means only the last iteration of the loop will be outputted for each original row. Hence, the miles value for each name will be incremented by 15 (5 miles for each of the 3 weeks).

The original data set WORK.RUN has:

John 16

Mary 20

After the DATA step, it should be:

John 31

Mary 35

Each name appears only once because without an explicit output; statement inside the loop, only the final iteration is outputted. The variable weeks is not retained in the output dataset, as it is not used outside the loop and no output statement is used inside the loop. Thus, option D is correct.

References:

• SAS documentation on DATA step processing, SAS Institute.