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SAS Interview Questions:Base SAS

Very Basic:

What SAS statements would you code to read an external raw data file to a DATA
step?
INFILE statement.

How do you read in the variables that you need?

Using Input statement with the column pointers like @5/12-17 etc.

Are you familiar with special input delimiters? How are they used?
DLM and DSD are the delimiters that Ive used. They should be included in the infile statement.
Comma separated values files or CSV files are a common type of file that can be used to read
with the DSD option. DSD option treats two delimiters in a row as MISSING value.

DSD also ignores the delimiters enclosed in quotation marks.

If reading a variable length file with fixed input, how would you prevent SAS from
reading the next record if the last variable didn't have a value?
By using the option MISSOVER in the infile statement.If the input of some data lines are shorter
than others then we use TRUNCOVER option in the infile statement.

What is the difference between an informat and a format? Name three informats or
formats.

Informats read the data. Format is to write the data.

Informats: comma. dollar. date.
Formats can be same as informatsInformats: MMDDYYw. DATEw. TIMEw. ,
PERCENTw,Formats: WORDIATE18., weekdatew.

Name and describe three SAS functions that you have used, if any?

LENGTH: returns the length of an argument not counting the trailing blanks.(missing values
have a length of
1)Ex: a=my cat;x=LENGTH(a); Result: x=6

SUBSTR: SUBSTR(arg,position,n) extracts a substring from an argument starting at position

for n characters or until end if no n.
Ex: A=(916)734-6241;X=SUBSTR(a,2,3); RESULT: x=916

TRIM: removes trailing blanks from character expression.

Ex: a=my ; b=cat;X= TRIM(a)(b); RESULT: x=mycat.
SUM: sum of non missing values.Ex: x=Sum(3,5,1); result: x=9.0

INT: Returns the integer portion of the argument.

How would you code the criteria to restrict the output to be produced?
Use NOPRINT option.

What is the purpose of the trailing @ and the @@? How would you use them?
@ holds the value past the data step.@@ holds the value till a input statement or end of the line.

Double trailing @@: When you have multiple observations per line of raw data, we should use
double trailing signs (@@) at the end of the INPUT statement. The line hold specifies like a stop
sign telling SAS, stop, hold that line of raw data.

Trailing @: By using @ without specifying a column, it is as if you are telling SAS, stay tuned
for more information. Dont touch that dial. SAS will hold the line of data until it reaches either
the end of the data step or an INPUT statement that does not end with the trailing.

Under what circumstances would you code a SELECT construct instead of IF statements?
When you have a long series of mutually exclusive conditions and the comparison is numeric,
using a SELECT group is slightly more efficient than using IF-THEN or IF-THEN-ELSE
statements because CPU time is reduced.

SELECT GROUP:
Select: begins with select group.When: identifies SAS statements that are executed when a
particular condition is true.
Otherwise (optional): specifies a statement to be executed if no WHEN condition is met.
End: ends a SELECT group.

What statement you code to tell SAS that it is to write to an external file?

.What statement do you code to write the record to the file?

PUT and FILE statements.

If reading an external file to produce an external file, what is the shortcut to write that
record without coding every single variable on the record?

If you're not wanting any SAS output from a data step, how would you code the data
statement to prevent SAS from producing a set?
Data _Null_

What is the one statement to set the criteria of data that can be coded in any step?
Options statement: This a part of SAS program and effects all steps that follow it.

Have you ever linked SAS code? If so, describe the link and any required statements used
to either process the code or the step itself

. How would you include common or reuse code to be processed along with your
statements?
By using SAS Macros.

When looking for data contained in a character string of 150 bytes, which function is the
best to locate that data: scan, index, or indexc?

SCAN. If you have a data set that contains 100 variables, but you need only five of those,

.what is the code to force SAS to use only those variable?

Using KEEP option or statement.

Code a PROC SORT on a data set containing State, District and County as the primary
variables, along with several numeric variables.
Proc sort data=one;
BY State District County ;
Run ;

How would you delete duplicate observations?

NONUPLICATES

How would you delete observations with duplicate keys?

NODUPKEY

How would you code a merge that will keep only the observations that have matches from
both sets.
Check the condition by using If statement in the Merge statement while merging datasets.

How would you code a merge that will write the matches of both to one data set, the non-
matches from the left-most data.

Step1: Define 3 datasets in DATA step

Step2: Assign values of IN statement to different variables for 2 datasets
Step3: Check for the condition using IF statement and output the matching to first dataset and no
matches to different datasets

Ex: data xxx;

merge yyy(in = inxxx) zzz (in = inzzz);
by aaa;
if inxxx = 1 and inyyy = 1;
run;

What is the Program Data Vector (PDV)? What are its functions?
Function: To store the current obs;PDV (Program Data Vector) is a logical area in memory where
SAS creates a dataset one observation at a time. When SAS processes a data step it has two
phases. Compilation phase and execution phase. During the compilation phase the input buffer is
created to hold a record from external file. After input buffer is created the PDV is created. The
PDV is the area of memory where SAS builds dataset, one observation at a time. The PDV
contains two automatic variables _N_ and _ERROR_.

The Logical Program Data Vector (PDV) is a set of buffers that includes all variables referenced
either explicitly or implicitly in the DATA step. It is created at compile time, then used at
execution time as the location where the working values of variables are stored as they are
processed by the DATA step program(source: http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi24/Posters/p235-24.pdf).

Does SAS 'Translate' (compile) or does it 'Interpret'? Explain.

SAS compiles the code At compile time when a SAS data set is read, what items are created?
Automatic variables are created. Input Buffer, PDV and Descriptor Information

Name statements that are recognized at compile time only?

PUT

Name statements that are execution only.

INFILE, INPUT

.Identify statements whose placement in the DATA step is critical.

DATA, INPUT, RUN.

Name statements that function at both compile and execution time.

INPUT

In the flow of DATA step processing, what is the first action in a typical DATA Step?
The DATA step begins with a DATA statement. Each time the DATA statement executes, a new
iteration of the DATA step begins, and the _N_ automatic variable is incremented by 1.

What is _n_?
It is a Data counter variable in SAS.
Note: Both -N- and _ERROR_ variables are always available to you in the data step

.N- indicates the number of times SAS has looped through the data step.This is not necessarily
equal to the observation number, since a simple sub setting IF statement can change the
relationship between Observation number and the number of iterations of the data step.The
ERROR- variable ha a value of 1 if there is a error in the data for that observation and 0 if it is
not. Ex: This is nothing but a implicit variable created by SAS during data processing. It
gives the total number of records SAS has iterated in a dataset. It is Available only for data step
and not for PROCS. Eg. If we want to find every third record in a Dataset thenwe can use the
_n_ as follows
Data new-sas-data-set;
Set old;
if mod(_n_,3)= 1 then;
run;

Note: If we use a where clause to subset the _n_ will not yield the required result.

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