The correct answer is D. This option uses the PROC PRINT procedure, which is used to print SAS data sets. The format statement within PROC PRINT temporarily assigns a format to a variable for the duration of the PROC PRINT step. Here is how it works:

data=sashelp.shoes; tells SAS which dataset to print.

Format sales comma12.; temporarily assigns a comma format to the sales variable, making it easier to read, especially if the numbers are large. The comma12. format adds commas for thousands, millions, etc., and displays the number in a field that is 12 characters wide.

The format is only applied for the duration of the PROC PRINT step and does not permanently change the dataset.

The other options are incorrect for the following reasons:

Option A attempts to use a PROC FORMAT step, which is for creating custom formats, not for assigning formats to variables in a dataset.

Option B uses a DATA step which could permanently assign the format to the sales variable if it were syntactically correct (it should be set sashelp.shoes; instead of Set sashelp,sheoes;).

Option C mentions PROC CONTENTS which displays metadata about variables in a dataset and does not have the capability to assign formats.

SAS 9.4 documentation for the PROC PRINT statement: SAS Help Center: PROC PRINT

When using a BY statement in a DATA step, SAS creates two temporary variables for each BY variable: FIRST.variable and LAST.variable. These are used to indicate the beginning and end of each BY group.

For Ellen's observation:

First.State=1 because this is the first occurrence of the state 'OH' in the dataset when sorted by the state variable, which makes it the beginning of a new group for 'OH'.

Last.State=0 because Ellen is not the last observation

for the state 'OH' group. In the given dataset snippet, there appears to be only one observation for the state 'OH', but since the data is sorted by state, and we don't see another 'OH' below Ellen, we can deduce that Ellen's observation is not the last 'OH' observation in the entire dataset. If there were no more 'OH' observations following Ellen's, then Last.State would be 1.

The FIRST.variable is set to 1 for the first observation in each BY group and 0 for all other observations in the group. Conversely, LAST.variable is set to 1 for the last observation in each BY group and 0 otherwise. Since we're assuming that the dataset is larger than the snippet shown, and the data continues beyond what is visible, we must assume there are more observations for 'OH' unless indicated otherwise.

Reference

'SAS 9.4 Language Reference: Concepts.' SAS Institute Inc.

'BY-Group Processing' in 'SAS Programming 1: Essentials' course material, SAS Institute.

Data set options in SAS, such as KEEP= (to specify variables to keep in a dataset) and RENAME= (to change the names of variables in a dataset), have specific rules for their usage:

A . The options must be placed in parentheses - This is correct. When specifying dataset options in SAS, they must be enclosed in parentheses immediately following the dataset name, without any spaces in between.

D . The options are placed after the data set name - This is also correct. Dataset options follow the dataset name and are enclosed in parentheses to modify how SAS reads or writes the dataset in that step.

Option B is incorrect because data set options are allowed in both DATA and PROC steps, provided they are relevant to the procedure being used. Option C is incorrect because data set options can be applied to both input and output datasets, depending on the context and specific operation being performed.

The PROC MEANS statement is used to compute descriptive statistics of data in SAS. Option A is the correct code to produce the report shown in the first image because of the following reasons:

data=sashelp.shoes specifies the dataset on which the procedure is to be performed.

sum mean specifies that the summary statistics should include the sum and mean of the variables.

var Sales; specifies that the variable Sales is the analysis variable for which the summary statistics are to be computed.

class Product; specifies that the procedure should classify results by unique values of the Product variable. This will produce separate statistics for each type of product, which aligns with the structure of the report provided in the image.

Options B, C, and D are incorrect for the following reasons:

B uses group instead of class, and group is not a valid statement in the context of PROC MEANS. Also, var Sale; is incorrect as the variable name is Sales.

C includes nobe; which is not a valid SAS option and seems to be a typo. The by statement is used for sorting data, not for classifying groups as class does.

D incorrectly uses sum Salad; and mean Sales; as separate statements and has an invalid use of by product; which is not needed here.

SAS 9.4 documentation for the PROC MEANS statement: SAS Help Center: PROC MEANS

To rename a variable when reading a dataset in SAS, you use the rename= option inside the parentheses following the dataset's name in the set statement. The correct syntax for renaming the variable 'Name' to 'StudentName' is: rename=(oldname=newname). Therefore, the correct option is A, which correctly places the old variable name 'Name' first, followed by an equal sign, and then the new variable name 'StudentName'. The parentheses enclose the rename operation, and it is correctly nested within the set statement.

SAS documentation on the RENAME= data set option, SAS Institute.