The following SAS program is submitted: data work.month; date = put('13mar2000'd,ddmmyy10.); run; Which one of the following represents the type and length of the variable DATE in the output data set?
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numeric, 8 bytes
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numeric, 10 bytes
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character, 8 bytes
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character, 10 bytes
The PUT function always returns a character value. The format specified is ddmmyy10., which has a width of 10 characters. Therefore, the resulting variable DATE is created as a character variable with a length of 10 bytes.
To answer this question, we need to understand how the PUT function works in SAS and how it affects the variable type and length.
In the given SAS program, the PUT function is used to convert a numeric value (the date '13mar2000'd) into a character value. The format specified in the PUT function is 'ddmmyy10.', which means that the resulting character value will have a length of 10 characters.
Therefore, the variable DATE in the output data set will be of character type and will have a length of 10 bytes.
Let's go through each option to understand why it is correct or incorrect:
Option A) numeric, 8 bytes - This option is incorrect because the variable DATE is converted into a character value using the PUT function, so it will not be of numeric type.
Option B) numeric, 10 bytes - This option is incorrect because the variable DATE is converted into a character value using the PUT function, so it will not be of numeric type.
Option C) character, 8 bytes - This option is incorrect because the length of the variable DATE is specified as 10 characters in the PUT function, so it will have a length of 10 bytes, not 8 bytes.
Option D) character, 10 bytes - This option is correct because the variable DATE is converted into a character value using the PUT function, and the length of the resulting character value is specified as 10 characters.
The correct answer is option D. The variable DATE in the output data set will be of character type and will have a length of 10 bytes.