SAS 1 PRACTICE EXAMS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
A record that is being held by a single trailing at sign (@) is automatically released
when:
A. another INFILE statement is executed
B. another value is read from the observation
C. the input pointer moves past the end of the record
D. the next iteration of the DATA step begins - Answers -D
What is the difference between the following two programs?
data finances;
infile 'account.dat';
input type accountnum;
inputamount;
input date date9.;
run;
and
data finances;
infile 'account.dat';
input type accountnum / amount /
date date9.;
run;
A. The step stops processing with errors in the top program because there are multiple
INPUT statements.
B. The step stops processing with errors in the right program because there are slashes
on the INPUT statement.
C. Both steps stop processing with errors.
D. Both programs run correctly and produce the same output data set - Answers -D
What is the difference between a single trailing @ and a double trailing @@?
A. there is no difference, SAS ignores the duplicate @ symbol.
B. the single trailing @ tells SAS to load the next record, and the double trailing @@
tells SAS to hold the record in the buffer.
C. the single trailing @ tells SAS to hold the record and position in the buffer, and the
double trailing @@ tells SAS to release it.
D. The single trailing @ tells SAS to hold the record and position in the buffer. The
double trailing @@ tells SAS to read the variables on the same record one after the
other, only loading a new one when the end of the record in encountered. - Answers -D
Which of the following is false about BY-group processing?
,When you use the BY statement with the SET statement,
A. FIRST. and LAST. are stored in the data set.
B. FIRST. and LAST. identify the first and last observation in each BY group, in that
order.
C. the DATA step automatically creates two variables, FIRST. and LAST. for each
variable in the BY statement.
D. the data sets that are listed in the SET statement must be indexed or sorted by the
values of the BY variable(s). - Answers -A
What is the value of first. variable for the first observation in a BY group?
a. 0
b. 1
c. missing
d. the first value of the variable - Answers -B
Which statement would output only the last observation of each BY group?
a. if first.group = 0;
b. if last.group = 0;
c. if first.group = 1;
d. if last.group = 1; - Answers -D
When you use more than one variable in the BY statement, a change in the primary
variable forces the Last.BY-variable for the secondary variable to equal what?
a. the same value as the first variable.
b. missing
c. 1
d. 0 - Answers -C
Which statement is false regarding the sum statement?
a. the sum statement ignores missing values.
b. the sum statement requires a retain statement.
c. the sum statement initializes the variable to zero before the first iteration of the DATA
step.
d. the sum statement creates the variable on the left side of the plus sign if it does not
already exist. - Answers -B
How is SAS different from other programming languages?
a. the program is complied in its entirety and then executed.
b. it is not different, all programming languages are alike.
c. SAS processes each step at a time, statement by statement, independently of one
another.
d. SAS processes the first half of the program, and then the second half. - Answers -C
SAS steps begin with
a. DATA statements or PROC statements
b. DATA statements and PROC statements
, c. RUN statements
d. a semicolon - Answers -A
SAS detects the end of a step when it encounters
I. a RUN statement
II. a QUIT statement
III. the beginning of another step
a. I only
b. I and II only
c. I and III only
d. I, II, and III - Answers -D
SAS will work on which of the following operating systems/platforms?
I. Windows
II. Unix
III. Mainframe
a. I only
b. II only
c. I and III only
d. I, II, and III - Answers -D
What contains information about the processing of the SAS program, including any
notes, warnings, and error messages?
a. SAS output
b. SAS Editor
c. SAS Log
d. None - Answers -C
________ contains reports generated by most SAS procedures.
a. SAS Program Editor Window
b. SAS Output Window
c. SAS Log Window
d. SAS Editor window - Answers -B
Where can you type the INCLUDE command to open a SAS program?
a. Editor Window
b. Enhanced Editor Window
c. Command Box
d. Run Window - Answers -C
Within the Editor, the syntax in your program is ________ to show step boundaries,
keywords, variable, and data set names.
A record that is being held by a single trailing at sign (@) is automatically released
when:
A. another INFILE statement is executed
B. another value is read from the observation
C. the input pointer moves past the end of the record
D. the next iteration of the DATA step begins - Answers -D
What is the difference between the following two programs?
data finances;
infile 'account.dat';
input type accountnum;
inputamount;
input date date9.;
run;
and
data finances;
infile 'account.dat';
input type accountnum / amount /
date date9.;
run;
A. The step stops processing with errors in the top program because there are multiple
INPUT statements.
B. The step stops processing with errors in the right program because there are slashes
on the INPUT statement.
C. Both steps stop processing with errors.
D. Both programs run correctly and produce the same output data set - Answers -D
What is the difference between a single trailing @ and a double trailing @@?
A. there is no difference, SAS ignores the duplicate @ symbol.
B. the single trailing @ tells SAS to load the next record, and the double trailing @@
tells SAS to hold the record in the buffer.
C. the single trailing @ tells SAS to hold the record and position in the buffer, and the
double trailing @@ tells SAS to release it.
D. The single trailing @ tells SAS to hold the record and position in the buffer. The
double trailing @@ tells SAS to read the variables on the same record one after the
other, only loading a new one when the end of the record in encountered. - Answers -D
Which of the following is false about BY-group processing?
,When you use the BY statement with the SET statement,
A. FIRST. and LAST. are stored in the data set.
B. FIRST. and LAST. identify the first and last observation in each BY group, in that
order.
C. the DATA step automatically creates two variables, FIRST. and LAST. for each
variable in the BY statement.
D. the data sets that are listed in the SET statement must be indexed or sorted by the
values of the BY variable(s). - Answers -A
What is the value of first. variable for the first observation in a BY group?
a. 0
b. 1
c. missing
d. the first value of the variable - Answers -B
Which statement would output only the last observation of each BY group?
a. if first.group = 0;
b. if last.group = 0;
c. if first.group = 1;
d. if last.group = 1; - Answers -D
When you use more than one variable in the BY statement, a change in the primary
variable forces the Last.BY-variable for the secondary variable to equal what?
a. the same value as the first variable.
b. missing
c. 1
d. 0 - Answers -C
Which statement is false regarding the sum statement?
a. the sum statement ignores missing values.
b. the sum statement requires a retain statement.
c. the sum statement initializes the variable to zero before the first iteration of the DATA
step.
d. the sum statement creates the variable on the left side of the plus sign if it does not
already exist. - Answers -B
How is SAS different from other programming languages?
a. the program is complied in its entirety and then executed.
b. it is not different, all programming languages are alike.
c. SAS processes each step at a time, statement by statement, independently of one
another.
d. SAS processes the first half of the program, and then the second half. - Answers -C
SAS steps begin with
a. DATA statements or PROC statements
b. DATA statements and PROC statements
, c. RUN statements
d. a semicolon - Answers -A
SAS detects the end of a step when it encounters
I. a RUN statement
II. a QUIT statement
III. the beginning of another step
a. I only
b. I and II only
c. I and III only
d. I, II, and III - Answers -D
SAS will work on which of the following operating systems/platforms?
I. Windows
II. Unix
III. Mainframe
a. I only
b. II only
c. I and III only
d. I, II, and III - Answers -D
What contains information about the processing of the SAS program, including any
notes, warnings, and error messages?
a. SAS output
b. SAS Editor
c. SAS Log
d. None - Answers -C
________ contains reports generated by most SAS procedures.
a. SAS Program Editor Window
b. SAS Output Window
c. SAS Log Window
d. SAS Editor window - Answers -B
Where can you type the INCLUDE command to open a SAS program?
a. Editor Window
b. Enhanced Editor Window
c. Command Box
d. Run Window - Answers -C
Within the Editor, the syntax in your program is ________ to show step boundaries,
keywords, variable, and data set names.
