A00-215 Exam Dumps : SAS Certified Associate: Programming Fundamentals Using SAS 9.4

In SAS, the FORMAT procedure (PROC FORMAT) allows users to create custom formats that can be used to change the way data is displayed without altering the data itself. The VALUE statement within PROC FORMAT is a key component of this procedure.

The VALUE statement can indeed create both numeric and character formats, which is why option C is correct. Numeric format names typically do not start with a $ sign (this is reserved for character format names), and the keyword UNKNOWN is not a part of the VALUE statement syntax; it is used in a different context within PROC FORMAT, specifically for handling undefined data values when using custom formats.

Moreover, the LIB= option is not used within the VALUE statement. The LIB= option is used at the PROC FORMAT level to specify the library where the formats should be stored or from which they should be read.

References

• SAS 9.4 documentation for the PROC FORMAT and VALUE statement.
• "SAS Formats and Informats." in "Step-by-Step Programming with Base SAS 9.4" from the SAS Institute.

In SAS, the PROC SORT procedure is used to sort data. To save the sorted data into a new dataset, the OUT= option is used in the PROC SORT statement. This option allows you to specify the name of the output dataset that will contain the sorted data.

Here is how it's used:

• proc sort data=original out=sorted; by variable; run; will sort the dataset original by variable and create a new dataset named sorted containing the sorted data.

Option A, Data=, is not valid for the PROC SORT procedure. Option B, SORTOUT=, is a common misconception but is not correct; OUT= is the right option. Option C, OUTPUT=, is not used within PROC SORT; it is used in other procedures such as PROC TABULATE and PROC SUMMARY for output datasets.

References:

• SAS 9.4 documentation for the PROC SORT statement: SAS Help Center: PROC SORT

In the DATA step provided, average is calculated using the mean function, which calculates the average of the non-missing values of the variables listed. The variables provided are:

• var1 = 2
• var2 = 4
• var3 = .
• var4 = 6

The mean function in SAS ignores missing values, represented by a period (.). Hence, the average is computed using the non-missing values (2, 4, and 6). The mean of these three numbers is calculated as: (2 + 4 + 6) / 3 = 12 / 3 = 4

Therefore, the value of average is 4.

References:

• SAS documentation on the MEAN function, SAS Institute.