SAS Interview Questions and Answers
Ques 11. What is the purpose of the ODS statement in SAS?
The ODS (Output Delivery System) statement in SAS is used to control the output destination and format of SAS output, such as creating HTML, PDF, or RTF files.
Example:
ODS HTML FILE='output.html'; PROC PRINT DATA=dataset; RUN; ODS HTML CLOSE;
Ques 12. Explain the concept of an informat in SAS.
An informat in SAS is used to read data into SAS variables during input. It defines the input format of raw data.
Example:
DATA formatted_dataset; INPUT name $20. age height; DATALINES; John 25 180 Alice 30 165 ; RUN;
Ques 13. What is the purpose of the SUM statement in the DATA step?
The SUM statement in the DATA step is used to accumulate the sum of numeric variables across observations within a BY group or across all observations.
Example:
DATA summary_dataset; SET original_dataset; BY category_variable; /* Create a running total of variable */ RUNNING_TOTAL + variable; IF LAST.category_variable THEN OUTPUT; RUN;
Ques 14. How can you identify and handle missing values in SAS?
Missing values can be identified using functions like NMISS or special operators like IS MISSING. Handling missing values involves using techniques such as imputation or excluding observations with missing values.
Example:
DATA non_missing_dataset; SET original_dataset; /* Exclude observations with missing values */ IF NOT MISSING(variable) THEN OUTPUT; RUN;
Ques 15. What is the purpose of the TRANSPOSE procedure in SAS?
The TRANSPOSE procedure in SAS is used to reorganize data, transforming rows into columns and vice versa. It is often used for reshaping datasets.
Example:
PROC TRANSPOSE DATA=input_dataset OUT=output_dataset; VAR variable; BY category_variable; ID observation_variable; RUN;
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