Advance SAS Syllabus (A00-212)

Required Exam

Candidates who earn this credential will have taken and earned passing scores of the following two exams: 1) SAS Base Programming for SAS 9 exam, and 2) SAS Advanced Programming for SAS 9 exam. This exam is administered by SAS and Pearson VUE.

    63 multiple-choice and short-answer questions (must achieve score of 65% correct to pass)
    2 hours to complete exam
    Use exam ID A00-212; required when registering with Pearson VUE. Exam topics include:

Accessing Data Using SQL:

Generate detail reports by working with a single table, joining tables, or using set operators in the SQL procedure.
Generate summary reports by working with a single table, joining tables, or using set operators in the SQL procedure.
Construct sub-queries and in-line views within an SQL procedure step.
Compare solving a problem using the SQL procedure versus using traditional SAS programming techniques.
Access Dictionary Tables using the SQL procedure.

Macro Processing:

    Create and use user-defined and automatic macro variables within the SAS Macro Language.
    Automate programs by defining and calling macros using the SAS Macro Language.
    Understand the use of macro functions.
    Use various system options that are available for macro debugging and displaying values of user-defined and automatic macro variables in the SAS log.
    Create data-driven programs using SAS Macro Language.

Advanced Programming Techniques:

    Demonstrate the use of advanced data look-up techniques such as array processing, hash objects, formats, and combining/merging data.
    Reduce computing resource requirements by controlling the space required to store SAS data sets using compression techniques, length statements, or eliminating variables and observations.
    Reduce programming time by developing reusable SAS programs which incorporate data step views, DATA steps that write SAS programs, and the FCMP procedure.
    Perform effective benchmarking by using the appropriate SAS System options and interpreting the resulting resource utilization statistics.
    Determine the resources used by the SORT procedure and avoid unnecessary sorts by using appropriate indexes, data set options, BY statement options, and the CLASS statement.
    Identify appropriate applications for using indexes and create them using the DATA step, the DATASETS procedure, or the SQL procedure.
    Compare techniques to eliminate duplicate data using the DATA step, the SORT procedure, and the SQL procedure.

Exam Questions:

QUESTION NO : 1

The following SAS program is submitted:
Data sasuser.history;
Set sasuser.history(keep=state x y
Rename = (state=ST));
Total=sum(x,y);
Run;
The SAS data set SASUSER.HISTORY has an index on the variable STATE.
Which describes the result of submitting the SAS program?
A. The index on STATE is deleted and an index on ST is created
B. The index on STATE is recreated as an index on ST
C. The index on STATE is deleted
D. The index on STATE is updated as an index on ST
Answer: C

QUESTION NO : 2

one(input);
%two;
%put the value is &date;
%mend;
%macro two;
data _null_;
call symput('date','12SEP2008');
run;
%mend;
%let date=31DEC2006;
%one(&date)
What is the result when the %PUT statement executes?
A. A macro variable DATE with the value 12SEP2008 is retrieved from the local symbol
table for the ONE macro
B. A macro variable DATE with the value 12SEP2008 is retrieved from the local symbol
table for the TWO macro
C. A macro variable DATE with the value 12SEP2008 is retrieved from the global
symbol table
D. A macro variable DATE with the value 31DEC2006 is retrieved from the global
symbol table
Answer: C

QUESTION NO : 3

Which SET statements option names a variable that contains the number of the
observation to read during the current iteration of the DATA step?
A. OBS=pointobs
B. POINT=pointobs
C. KEY=pointobs
D. NOBS=pointobs
Answer: B

QUESTION NO :4

When reading a SAS data file, what does the NOBS=option on the SET statement
represent?
A. A variable that represents the total number of observation in the output data set(s)
B. A variable that represents a flag indicating the end of the file
C. A variable that represents the total number of observations in the input data set(s)
D. A variable that represents the current observation number
Answer: C

QUESTION NO :5

CORRECT TEXT
CORRECT TEXT
The following SAS program is submitted:
%macro check(num=4);
%let result=%sysevalf(&num+0.5);
%put result is &result;
%mend;
%check(num=10)
What is the written to the SAS log?
result is
result is 10
result is 10.5
result is 10+0.5
Answer: C

 QUESTION NO :6

Which SAS procedure changes the name of a permanent format for a variable stored in a SAS data set?
A. MODIFY
B. FORMAT
C. REGISTRY
D. DATASETS
Answer: D

QUESTION NO :7
The following SAS program is submitted:
%let test = one;
%let one = two;
%let two = three;
%let three = last;
%put what displays is &&&&&test;
What is written to the SAS log?
A. what displays is one
B. what displays is two
C. what displays is three
D. what displays is last
Answer: B

QUESTION NO :8
Which of the following is true about the COMPRESS= YES data set option?
A. It uses the Ross Data Compression method to compress numeric data.
B. It is most effective with character data that contains repeated characters.
C. It is most effective with numeric data that represents large numeric values.
D. It is most effective with character data that contains patterns, rather than simple repetitions.
Answer: B

QUESTION NO :9
Given the SAS data set ONE:
ONEREP COST
SMITH 200
SMITH 400
JONES 100
SMITH 600
JONES 100
The following SAS program is submitted:
proc sql;
select rep, avg(cost) as AVERAGE
from one
group by rep;
quit;
The following output is desired:
REP AVERAGE
SMITH 400
Which SQL procedure clause completes the program and generates the desired output?
A. having avg(cost) < (select avg(cost) from one)
B. where avg(cost) > (select avg(cost) from one)
C. having avg(cost) > (select avg(cost) from one)
D. where calculated average > (select avg(cost) from one)


Answer: C

QUESTION NO :10
The following SAS program is submitted:
proc contents data = testdata.one;
run;
Which SQL procedure program produces similar information about the column attributes of the dataset
TESTDATA. ONE?
A. proc sql;
contents testdata.one;
quit;
B. proc sql;
describe testdata.one;
quit;
C. proc sql;
contents table testdata.one;
quit;
D. proc sql;
describe table testdata.one;
quit;
Answer: D

QUESTION NO :11
The following SAS program is submitted:
%let lib = %upcase(sasuser);
proc sql;
select nvar
from dictionary.tables
where libname = "&lib";
quit;
Several SAS data sets exist in the SASUSER library.
What is generated as output?
A. a report showing the numeric columns in each table in SASUSER
B. a report showing the number of columns in each table in SASUSER
C. a report showing the names of the columns in each table in SASUSER
D. a report showing the number of numeric columns in each table in SASUSER
Answer: B

QUESTION NO :12
 Given the SAS data set ONE:
ONENUMVAR
1 A
2 B
3 C
Which SQL procedure program deletes the data set ONE?
A. proc sql;
delete table one;
quit;
B. proc sql;
remove table one;
quit;
C. proc sql;
drop table one;
quit;
D. proc sql;
delete from one;
quit;
Answer: C

QUESTION NO :13
Given the SAS data set ONE:
ONE JOBLEVEL SALARY
ACC2 300
SEC1 100
SEC2 200
MGR3 700
ACC1 .
ACC3 .
MGR2 400
The following SAS data set TWO is required:
TWO JOBLEVEL BONUS
ACC2 30
MGR3 70
MGR2 40
Which SQL procedure program creates the data set TWO?
A. proc sql;
create table two as
select job, level, salary * 0.1 as BONUS
from one
where 3 > 20;
quit;
B. proc sql;
create table two as
select job, level, salary * 0.1 as BONUS
from one
where calculated 3 > 20;
quit;
C. proc sql;
create table two as
select job, level, salary * 0.1 as BONUS
from one
where bonus * 0.1 > 20;
quit;
D. proc sql;
create table two as
select job, level, salary * 0.1 as BONUS
from one
where calculated bonus > 20;
quit;
Answer: D

QUESTION NO :14
 Given the SAS data set ONE:
ONEDIVISIONSALES
A 1234
A 3654
B 5678
The following SAS program is submitted:
data _null_;
set one;
by division;
if first.division then
do;
%let mfirst = sales;
end;
run;
What is the value of the macro variable MFIRST when the program finishes execution?
A. 1234
B. 5678
C. null
D. sales
Answer: D

QUESTION NO :15
The following SAS program is submitted:
%let first = yourname;
%let last = first;
%put &&&last;
What is written to the SAS log?
A. first
B. &&first
C. yourname
D. &yourname
Answer: C