SAS A00-231 Certification Exam Syllabus

Download SAS A00-231 Syllabus, SAS Base Programming Dumps, and SAS Base Programming Specialist PDF for SAS 9.4 Base Programming - Performance-Based Exam preparationWelcome to your one-stop solution for all the information you need to excel in the SAS 9.4 Base Programming - Performance-Based Exam (A00-231) Certification exam. This page provides an in-depth overview of the SAS A00-231 Exam Summary, Syllabus Topics, and Sample Questions, designed to lay the foundation for your exam preparation. We aim to help you achieve your SAS Certified Specialist - Base Programming Using SAS 9.4 certification goals seamlessly. Our detailed syllabus outlines each topic covered in the exam, ensuring you focus on the areas that matter most. With our sample questions and practice exams, you can gauge your readiness and boost your confidence to take on the SAS Base Programming exam.

Why SAS Base Programming Certification Matters

The SAS A00-231 exam is globally recognized for validating your knowledge and skills. With the SAS Certified Specialist - Base Programming Using SAS 9.4 credential, you stand out in a competitive job market and demonstrate your expertise to make significant contributions within your organization. The SAS 9.4 Base Programming - Performance-Based Exam Certification exam will test your proficiency in the various syllabus topics.

SAS A00-231 Exam Summary:

Exam Name SAS 9.4 Base Programming - Performance-Based Exam
Exam Code A00-231
Exam Duration 135 minutes
Exam Questions 40-45
Passing Score 725 / 1000
Exam Price $180 (USD)
Books / Training SAS Programming 1: Essentials
SAS Programming 2: Data Manipulation Techniques
Exam Registration Pearson VUE
Sample Questions SAS Base Programming Specialist Certification Sample Question
Practice Exam SAS Base Programming Specialist Certification Practice Exam

SAS A00-231 Exam Syllabus Topics:

Objective Details

Access and Create Data Structures (20-25%)
Create temporary and permanent SAS data sets. - Use a DATA step to create a SAS data set from an existing SAS data set.
Investigate SAS data libraries using base SAS utility procedures. - Use a LIBNAME statement to assign a library reference name to a SAS library.
- Investigate a library programmatically using the CONTENTS procedure.
Access data. - Access SAS data sets with the SET statement.
- Use PROC IMPORT to access non-SAS data sources.
  • Read delimited and Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) files with PROC IMPORT.
  • Use PROC IMPORT statement options (OUT=, DBMS=, REPLACE)
  • Use the GUESSINGROWS statement
  • Use the DELIMITER statement.

- Use the SAS/ACCESS XLSX engine to read a Microsoft Excel workbook.xlsx file.
Combine SAS data sets. - Concatenate data sets.
- Merge data sets one-to-one.
- Merge data sets one-to-many.
Create and manipulate SAS date values. - Explain how SAS stores date and time values.
- Use SAS informats to read common date and time expressions.
- Use SAS date and time formats to specify how the values are displayed.
Control which observations and variables in a SAS data set are processed and output. - Use the WHERE and IF statements in the DATA step to select observations to be processed.
- Subset variables to be output by using the DROP and KEEP statements.
- Use the DROP= and KEEP= data set options to specify columns to be processed and/or output

Manage Data (35-40%)
Sort observations in a SAS data set. - Use the SORT Procedure to re-order observations in place or output to a new dataset with the OUT= option.
- Remove duplicate observations with the SORT Procedure.
Conditionally execute SAS statements. - Use IF-THEN/ELSE statements to process data conditionally.
- Use DO and END statements to execute multiple statements conditionally.
Use assignment statements in the DATA step. - Create new variables and assign a value.
- Assign a new value to an existing variable.
- Assign the value of an expression to a variable.
- Assign a constant date value to a variable.
Modify variable attributes using options and statements in the DATA step. - Change the names of variables by using the RENAME= data set option.
- Use LABEL and FORMAT statements to modify attributes in a DATA step.
- Define the length of a variable using the LENGTH statement.
Accumulate sub-totals and totals using DATA step statements. - Use the BY statement to aggregate by subgroups.
- Use first. and last. processing to identify where groups begin and end.
- Use the RETAIN and SUM statements.
Use SAS functions to manipulate character data, numeric data, and SAS date values. - Use SAS functions such as SCAN, SUBSTR, TRIM, COMPRESS, UPCASE, and LOWCASE to perform tasks such as the tasks shown below.
  • Replace the contents of a character value.
  • Remove unwanted characters from strings.
  • Search a character value and extract a portion of the value.
  • Convert a character value to upper or lowercase.

- Use SAS numeric functions such as SUM, MEAN, RAND, SMALLEST, LARGEST, ROUND, and INT.
- Create SAS date values by using the functions MDY, TODAY, DATE, and TIME.
- Extract the month, year, and interval from a SAS date value by using the functions YEAR, QTR, MONTH, and DAY.
- Perform calculations with date and datetime values and time intervals by using the functions INTCK, INTNX, and YRDIF.
- Use variable lists to efficiently reference multiple variables (OF operator, :,-,--).
Use SAS functions to convert character data to numeric and vice versa. - Explain the automatic conversion that SAS uses to convert values between data types.
- Use the INPUT function to explicitly convert character data values to numeric values.
- Use the PUT function to explicitly convert numeric data values to character values.
Process data using DO LOOPS. - Explain how iterative DO loops function.
- Use DO loops to eliminate redundant code and to perform repetitive calculations.
- Use conditional DO loops.
- Use nested DO loops.
Restructure SAS data sets with PROC TRANSPOSE. - Select variables to transpose with the VAR statement.
- Rename transposed variables with the ID statement.
- Process data within groups using the BY statement.
- Use PROC TRANSPOSE options (OUT=, PREFIX= and NAME=).
Use macro variables to simplify program maintenance. - Create macro variables with the %LET statement.
- Use macro variables within SAS programs.
- Use the macro variable name dot delimiter (.)

Error Handling (15-20%)
Identify and resolve programming logic errors. - Use the PUTLOG Statement in the Data Step to help identify logic errors.
- Use PUTLOG to write the value of a variable, formatted values, or to write values of all variables.
- Use PUTLOG with Conditional logic.
- Use temporary variables N and ERROR to debug a DATA step.
Recognize and correct syntax errors. - Identify the characteristics of SAS statements.
- Define SAS syntax rules including the typical types of syntax errors such as misspelled keywords, unmatched quotation marks, missing semicolons, and invalid options.
- Use the log to help diagnose syntax errors in a given program.

Generate Reports and Output (15-20%)
Generate list reports using the PRINT procedure. - Modify the default behavior of PROC PRINT by adding statements and options such as
  • use the VAR statement to select and order variables.
  • calculate totals with a SUM statement.
  • select observations with a WHERE statement.
  • use the ID statement to identify observations.
  • use the BY statement to process groups.
  • use the NOOBS and LABEL options.
Generate summary reports and frequency tables using base SAS procedures.

- Produce one-way and two-way frequency tables with the FREQ procedure.
- Enhance frequency tables with options (NLEVELS, ORDER=).
- Use PROC FREQ to validate data in a SAS data set.
- Calculate summary statistics and multilevel summaries using the MEANS procedure.

  •  WAYS, CLASS, VAR, OUTPUT statements

- Enhance summary tables with options.
- Identify extreme and missing values with the UNIVARIATE procedure.
Enhance reports using user-defined formats, titles, footnotes, and SAS System
reporting options.
 - Use PROC FORMAT to define custom formats.
  • VALUE statement
  • CNTLIN= option

- Use the LABEL statement to define descriptive column headings.
- Control the use of column headings with the LABEL and SPLIT=options in PROC PRINT

output.
Generate reports using ODS statements. - Identify the Output Delivery System destinations.
- Create HTML, PDF, RTF, XLSX, and PPTX files with ODS statements.
- Use the STYLE=option to specify a style template.
- Generate comma separated value (CSV) files with ODS statements
Export data - Create a simple raw data file by using the EXPORT procedure as an alternative to the
DATA step.
  • Control the export file format with common DBMS identifiers: (csv, jmp, tab,
    dlm).

- Export data to Microsoft Excel using the SAS/ACCESS XLSX engine.

The SAS has created this credential to assess your knowledge and understanding in the specified areas through the A00-231 certification exam. The SAS Certified Specialist - Base Programming Using SAS 9.4 exam holds significant value in the market due to the brand reputation of SAS. We highly recommend thorough study and extensive practice to ensure you pass the SAS 9.4 Base Programming - Performance-Based Exam exam with confidence.

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