Date:         Mon, 4 Oct 2010 22:34:09 -0700
Reply-To:     "Nordlund, Dan (DSHS/RDA)" <NordlDJ@DSHS.WA.GOV>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Nordlund, Dan (DSHS/RDA)" <NordlDJ@DSHS.WA.GOV>
Subject:      Re: Another good (?) question for a certification exam
In-Reply-To:  <201010050121.o94IPBlw012275@malibu.cc.uga.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

> -----Original Message-----
> From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Arthur Tabachneck
> Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 6:21 PM
> To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Another good (?) question for a certification exam
>
> Will the following produce the desired frequency distribution, without
> notes or errors?
>
> data test;
>   set sashelp.class;
> run;
>
> procedure %*;
>   freq; tables sex;
> run;
>
> Of course, testing on SAS is not allowed.  And, for extra credit, why
> does
> it do what it does or doesn't do?

Art,

My guess is that *%; is a macro comment, and therefore will be removed by the macro processor before the rest of the code is compiled.  So, yes it will run and it will produce the expected (?) frequency table.

Dan

Daniel J. Nordlund
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
Planning, Performance, and Accountability
Research and Data Analysis Division
Olympia, WA 98504-5204